Any parent knows that getting children to take medicine can often be quite difficult. A simple trip to the pharmacy is sometimes enough to evoke fear in a parent, particularly for those of us with strong-willed kids.
Over the past 11 years, we have tried a variety of methods, from applesauce to peanut butter, and trickery to bribery, to make “the medicine go down.” Interestingly enough, a simple change in perspective may have been all we needed. Let me explain.
Over the weekend, my 8-year-old was prescribed an antibiotic by her pediatrician, to treat an infection. My heart sunk as I read the dosage on the bottle: four teaspoons, twice a day. Yikes – that’s a lot! Normally I would have asked for a pill, but it was late (I was at a 24-hour pharmacy) and I forgot. So, we had to make due with what we had at least until I could get back to the pharmacy to swap it out (if need be).
I found a small medicine cup that held four teaspoons perfectly and carried it up to her bedroom. Thus, the thrashing about began. After spilling most of the first cup, we tried again and finally got it down (followed by a hefty chaser of water). Whew. One dose down, only nine more to go.
The next day was more of the same… crying, yelling (not just the child), spilling, and so on. It’s never fun to fight a sick child to take her medicine.
This morning, I couldn’t find the medicine cup. After searching through all the kitchen drawers, I finally found a different medicine cup – one a bit bigger.
I decided to simply sit the cup (filled with medicine) on the counter next to her breakfast, and not say anything about it (you know, the classic “ignorance is bliss” approach). Shortly after, my sick child came in to eat her pancakes and shocked me by saying, “Awesome! I only have to take half the dose now?!” She then held her nose and swallowed the whole four teaspoons (and the whole cup of juice sitting next to it) in the same amount of time it took me to blink twice.
Wait a minute. What just happened? Why was it that easy? Oh yes – all it took was a simple change in perspective. The bigger cup made it look like she only had to drink a smaller amount of the nasty white liquid. I told her it was the same amount and she shrugged, then dug into her pancakes.
Hmmm… wonder what else a change in perspective could fix? 
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