Pookie is a medicine monster. He will not take it. He had surgery a year or so back and afterward the nurses, professional nurses mind you, tried to give him pain killer medicine afterward…and failed. They said they had never seen a kid so good at refusing medicine.  It sounds like he’s teaching some other kids his tricks.
Fortunately, he must have insane pain tolerance because as soon as we got home from the hospital, he was bouncing around the house and banging the parts that should have been sore without any complaints.

But, why is Pookie so bad at taking medicine? Or should that be why is he so good at refusing medicine?

When he was about a year old, he had a doozy of a fever. He needed baby tylenol or something similar. We held the dropper up and he took a sip and then got mad. We held him down and forced it in.

Because medicine is important, right?

Ever since that early cold, he has mastered spitting out his medicine (which is funny because he still swallows toothpaste). I am very good at getting the dropper in and holding his head and covering his mouth, etc, etc. And thet medicine does not ever go down.

So we gave up. There was another time were we needed to lower a fever and we gave him the kind of medicine that goes in the wrong hole. He didn’t like that much, but it did the trick.

Finally, about a year ago, we gave up. He’s a tough kid and doesn’t really seem all that bothered when he gets sick. I hardly ever take medicine and Beagoodmom is the same.

The only time we ever give him medicine is when he’s really congested or really feverish. Then we sneak it into food.

Here are some foods that work to hide medicine from Pookie:

  • waffles
  • chocolate pudding
  • toast with jelly and/or peanut butter
  • ice cream with chocolate syrup

Here are some things that do not work to hide medicine from Pookie:

  • Milk
  • Fruit juice
  • Water
  • Any food that we cannot guarantee that he will eat

That last point is important. If you cannot guarantee that he will eat it, then it is not a good place to hide the medicine. When Pookie is sick, his appetite disappears. He will not eat a plate of spaghetti or bowl of cereal with any regularity. Then we are stuck without any idea of how much medicine he has taken.

If you plan on offering real food at the same time as the medicine, use the trick food first. So what if ice cream comes before the pizza for a day or two while your kid gets better. If you are offering medicine, getting the medicine in should become the primary focus especially since your kid probably will not be eating much anyway.
Another thing that I do is tell him that I am putting medicine in the food. I am not a big fan of being sneaky. I am willing to work out a compromise where Pookie gets to eat fun food, but the payoff is Pookie is taking some medicine, too.

Strangely enough, Geetle would take medicine at anytime. She loves the stuff. As soon as her nose starts running she runs to get her pillow and blanket to plop on the couch and suck down some medicine.

By the way, if you have not heard about or entered the Carnival of Family Life that I am hosting here, go check out the information about how to submit your post. The entry deadline is Sunday (9/24/06) at 8pm CT.