How to Make your Child Swallow Tablets Easily

Most of the children have difficulty swallowing pills / tablets and capsules.  Tablets are given for kids when they are extremely sick and the medication is essential to bring down the illness / infection. When the baby is small doctors prescribe syrups and tonics with a pleasant taste, color and aroma to attract the kids. But as the child is above 6 years doctors prescribe tablets to take care of the health problem.

When the child is sick the parents have a tough time to ensure the child has taken the medication. Parents become desperate and try various tricks to make sure baby swallows the medicine. In my childhood days I remember my parents powdering the tablets adding with sugar and asking me to just gulp it down with a mouthful of water. Some attempts were successful and some failed. The pungent smell of antibiotic is very strong and the sticky taste when the tablet melts on the tongue makes it all the more difficult.

As a mother of a child I have gone thru’ several experiences myself and would like to share a few tricks to the young parents. At times I’ve stuffed the tablet in a piece of banana or diluted in soda to disguise the tablet. It is a good idea for parents to teach their kids the technique of pill swallowing before they really need it. A sick or cranky child will not cooperative to learn swallowing a tablet.

Train your child the technique of pill swallowing

Parents can help child swallow a tablet by gradual practice. You need to experiment it with tic-tacs that come with sweet and minty flavors. Place the tic-tac on the tip of the child’s tongue. Give a glass of water filled to the brim. Ask your child to sip in water and quickly tip head back. The tic-tac pill will be washed to the throat and swallowed with the gulp of water without the tongue being involved. This can be tried for children above 6 years.

Parents can also experiment with small peppermints, soft cake decorations, sugar candies (sugar coated soft ones) such that it does not get stuck in the throat.

With capsules (which float), you do just the opposite. Have your child look down at the floor instead of up at the ceiling while you slip the capsule into her mouth. Have her swallow while still looking at the floor. The capsule should float to the back of her mouth and roll down her throat with the water.

The child can have as many practice trials as she needs. Most children find swallowing these balls surprisingly easy, so the first attempt is almost always a positive one. Praise the child for both effort and success.

Few suggestions to make tablet swallowing easy

• Keep a calm and positive attitude.
• Eliminate distractions during medicine taking time. Close the door, turn the TV off, etc. allowing the child to concentrate on the job at hand.
• Be patient. Some normal children can’t accomplish pill-swallowing until their late teens!
• Some tablets are easier to swallow if they are broken into halves. Check with the pharmacist first, however, to make sure a divided pill does not lose its effectiveness.
• Encourage the child to do better. Avoid negative comments.

Swallowing the various sizes and numbers of pills can be a challenge for any child regardless of age. Make this requirement an easy one for your child. Children get scared of incidents happened in the past. Train the kid with simple steps such that when the need comes he will swallow the pill with ease.

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Health tips to Protect baby in Rainy season

Rainy season brings in nostalgic memories of our childhood days. The fun we had in the rain and how our parents warned us not to get wet again. They ensured we carried our raincoats, umbrellas always to avoid getting wet and falling sick. Dad always ensured the nets were tucked to prevent mosquito bites and associated illness.

Rainy season also reminds us of several crawling bugs and insects. There is greenery and colorful flowers all over. This is the time when planting takes place in the garden. Common sight of vendors with clay pots and fresh plants in the hand pulled trolleys.

With the arrival of monsoon many unfavorable diseases also set in. Diseases like jaundice, typhoid, cholera and other gastrointestinal infections also develop during this time. Common cold and cough among kids and elders is a common sight during rainy season. Babies are the ones who are prone to these diseases as the immunity is low and they are also much more exposed to the microorganisms than adults.

Following are some of the health tips which can protect the health of child during the rainy season.

• Children are highly prone to infections during rainy seasons. These infections are caused mainly due to fungal and bacterial infections. During rainy season these microorganisms get favorable environment to grow so proper care is required for the small babies. Ensure to bathe your little one at least once a day to keep her healthy. After the bath make sure that you wipe your child’s body with a cotton absorbent towel.
• Restrict your child from having outside food especially the ones sold by roadside vendors. This season is odd as it attracts infections due to improper hygiene conditions of the surroundings.
• Water should be filtered and then consumed. For small babies boil and cool water and then ensure storage is also maintained. Special care has to be taken for the water intake. Avoid outside water, carry a bottle of water when you plan going out with the baby.
• Make sure the kids do not play in stagnant and polluted water as it may lead to skin infections and other illnesses too.
• Give your child light and easy to digest food during monsoons. Basic reason is that the digestive system is weak during this time of the year and spicy/ oily foods can lead to digestion problems.

• Wash your hands thoroughly using a sanitizer before handling the food, feeding the baby. Make sure that your child is washing their hands before the consumption of food.
• Flies will be high in the external environment therefore make sure that all cooked food is covered so that the flies and other insects do not infect it.
• Avoid raw foods and always serve the kids freshly made food. Soups, stews and stir fried or baked vegetables are the good options to use during these seasons. If food is refrigerated ensure thawing and properly heating prior to serving.
• Nails are a major source of bacterial infection. Therefore trim nails on time and avoid the habit of nail biting in children; this may give rise to the infectious diseases.
• Ensure baby’s clothes are dried sufficiently. Damp clothes also lead to skin infections. The sunlight will be scanty during rainy season and it may not be possible to dry all clothes in the sun. Make sure to iron them.
• Make sure baby is covered well when you plan to take her out in unavoidable circumstances.
• Diseases like malaria, dengue are very common during this season. So wearing the full body clothes can help you to protect the child from these problems.
• Usage of mosquito net is mandatory, this will keep away from malaria, dengue and other allergies.
• Wipe floor at least twice a day with a germ free solution. Avoid strong chemicals and disinfectants at home.
• Ensure footwear is cleaned timely and removed at the entry to avoid carrying germs into the house.

Keep your premises clean and hygienic so that the infectious organisms do not harm you and your family.

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