Medications, Administration of

Getting children to take medicine can be very challenging for parents sometimes.  For babies try squirting just a small amount of medicine into the side of the cheek, not into the back of the throat which is likely to cause gagging and vomiting.  Sometimes gently blowing on your baby's face will encourage him to swallow.  Avoid mixing medicine into bottles or cups of liquid as your baby will likely not drink the whole thing and then will not get all of the medicine.  

For preschoolers and school-age children try this: pour the medicine into a small medicine cup, measuring out the exact amount prescribed by your doctor. Then, "top it off" with several teaspoons of either strawberry or chocolate syrup. Another option is to use a small scoop of frozen concentrated juice which has a strong sweet flavor.  You also can try this for medicine in tablet form. First, using two spoons, crush the pill into a fine powder. Then, put the powder into the medicine cup, and fill it with flavored syrup. Stir until the powder is dissolved, and let your child drink it up! 

Most school age children can swallow pills though you may have never tried before.  Some tricks are to use a special "pill swallowing cup" which can be purchased online or try having your child chew some starchy food (bread, crackers) and put the pill in the mouth right before swallowing this soft food bolus (this can be easier than swallowing with water sometimes).