Mom Advice! Making the medicine go down--can you change the medicine?

     I have recently accepted a part-time position on Moms.com as a Site Hostess, and as such, I've been composing a lot of short advice articles related to my first-time parenting experineces. I thought it could be helpful to share some of those advice articles here.

     Getting your baby or toddler to take medicine can be difficult. I realize that if you are talking about a perscription, then that's that, and there may be no other options. However, if you are talking about OTC medications, you may be able to try different brands or formulations. While my baby is teething, we offer pain reliever. My daughter hates all pain relievers EXCEPT dye-free CVS generic ibuprofen--that she takes without issue. We've tried name brands, and even CVS generic with dye, and she refuses them. I'm glad we found a version that works, and maybe if you fall into this situation, you can too.

     I also once read advice that if you give baby a small dropper of water every day, baby will get used to this and be more likely to take medications in the future. I haven't tried this exactly, but when my Angel-Pie was under six months old, we did have to give her reflux medication. Because of that, when I had to give her other medications later on (like ibuprofen), she didn't fight them as much as I expected--she was used to the idea of drinking liquid from a dropper. I think that saved us a lot of trouble.


Cross-posted @ Moms.com