Evangeline has a drippy nose, and, worse than that she was cranky yesterday...

[conuly]

And worst of all, yesterday she was *warm*, so I left the museum early and put her to nap a bit late, and today we're having an in day.

Angelique seems fine, but she keeps grinning and telling me she's sick.

So, for our morning snack, I made us each a slice of cinnamon toast (special treat!). And as we're sitting around the table eating our snack, I told the girls that "cinnamon toast always makes me feel better when I'm sick".

Angelique politely informed me that no, medicine did that... and smiled and said she needed medicine.

*sighs*

Now, a few weeks ago, somebody elsewhere, their kid wouldn't go to bed, and they (the parent) didn't want to let the kid sleep in their (parent's) bed. I'm all for parents not co-sleeping if they don't want to - no point doing something that makes you unhappy, right? The point of co-sleeping, as I understand it, is for everybody to sleep better, and if you're not, you shouldn't do it.

Turns out, we find later, that he really wanted some "medicine", so she gave him some candy, and he went to bed.

*taptaptap*

As I said there, I'd rather do almost anything rather than encourage a child to think that candy = medicine, or that medicine is some sort of treat. Kids can get into lots of stuff you thought was put away carefully. Look at what Angelique said above - she already has this idea that medicine is something she can have on special occasions, and we've all worked really hard to disabuse her of that notion. (What she needs is some really nasty-tasting medicine that doesn't have candy syrup in it to make it taste good for kids. But try getting that at the pharmacy.)

Comments

[phoenixdreaming.livejournal.com]

Cod-liver oil, perhaps? Particularly any less-palatable brands. Or this vile, vile red cough syrup I used occasionally have to take when I was little. After a dose of that, I couldn't imagine *wanting* to take medicine.

[elenbarathi.livejournal.com]

Chopped garlic in a spoonful of honey. Good for what ails ya, and the child isn't likely to ask for it a second time.

The less-palatable brands of cod-liver oil taste that way because the oil's gone rancid; don't buy them. And cod-liver oil is one of the most important foods in preventing a number of serious illnesses, so one wouldn't want to create an aversion to it. Carlson's Cod-Liver Oil (http://www.mercola.com/forms/carlsons.htm) tastes good - no fishy taste at all - and the kids should be having a spoonful every day. I guess it would do no harm to tell them it's medicine, and to give an extra spoonful to anyone needing a little more attention that day.

[elenbarathi.livejournal.com]

LOL, in my house "medicine" tends to be of the home-made herbal kind, so my kid never saw it as a treat. Hot ginger tea with honey and lemon tastes pretty good, and if one's clogged-up enough to need it, 'Fire Soup' (chicken noodle with garlic, cayenne and rosemary) does too, but nobody drinks echinacea/goldenseal or chamomile/valerian because they enjoy it. "Foot Tea", we call that last one, because it tastes a lot like dirty socks.

That stuff you're buying at the pharmacy is only prolonging the illnesses by supressing 'symptoms', i.e. interfering with the body's natural disease-fighting functions. The purpose of fever is to make the environment too hot for the germs; the purpose of increased respiratory mucus is to wash them out of the system. If you help the body with hot aromatic baths and hot spicy drinks instead of hindering it with pharmaceuticals, the kid will get well a lot quicker.

LOL, the kid will also claim to be 'sick' a lot less frequently if your response to such claims is to fire up the kettle, get out the garlic-press and start running a hot bath. Chamomile tea, Peter Rabbit, and go straight to bed... oh, you're feeling better now? I'm so glad.

*grins* Hey, it works.

[conuly]

She hardly ever gets pharmacy medicine - it's a lot of raw garlic with a honey chaser. But she has once or twice needed antibiotics, and I've got some midol and cough drops and teething gel around....

[gingembre.livejournal.com]

I think it was the tastes-like-pink-bubblegum antibiotics that really done did us in. ;-)

I think next time btw I will just use the garlic press, to make sure it is small enough pieces for her to swallow. And the ginger tea comment makes me laugh (knowing your loathing of it!)

[conuly]

Not long after I posted this, I took a midol - I waited as long as I could, but then I took it. And Angelique was amazed: "You swallowed it like garlic!"

I refrained from saying that no, she takes garlic like medicine.

(She also wanted to know why grown-ups can take medicine and she can't. I refrained as well from pointing out that sometimes grownups can't be trusted to take their own over-the-counter medications, and just said that, because we're bigger, it's less dangerous, but we still try to avoid it as much as possible.)

[marveen.livejournal.com]

Get some tonic water and give it to her as "medicine" also. (I *still* don't like that stuff.)

Back when I was a kid, we didn't get tasty sweet antibiotics. You got capsules, which mom broke open and mixed into applesauce and it STILL tasted nasty. (I did once fake a headache for orange-flavored baby aspirin, but that was only once.)

[sayga.livejournal.com]

kira has also gotten the idea that medicine will make her feel better. she fakes illnesses and begs for "tum-en-ol." we always tell her to drink a glass of water and wait half an hour and she'll feel better. it's hard to break her of that association, especially when the taste of it is a reward on its own.

[phoenixdreaming.livejournal.com]

Cod-liver oil, perhaps? Particularly any less-palatable brands. Or this vile, vile red cough syrup I used occasionally have to take when I was little. After a dose of that, I couldn't imagine *wanting* to take medicine.

[elenbarathi.livejournal.com]

Chopped garlic in a spoonful of honey. Good for what ails ya, and the child isn't likely to ask for it a second time.

The less-palatable brands of cod-liver oil taste that way because the oil's gone rancid; don't buy them. And cod-liver oil is one of the most important foods in preventing a number of serious illnesses, so one wouldn't want to create an aversion to it. Carlson's Cod-Liver Oil (http://www.mercola.com/forms/carlsons.htm) tastes good - no fishy taste at all - and the kids should be having a spoonful every day. I guess it would do no harm to tell them it's medicine, and to give an extra spoonful to anyone needing a little more attention that day.

[elenbarathi.livejournal.com]

LOL, in my house "medicine" tends to be of the home-made herbal kind, so my kid never saw it as a treat. Hot ginger tea with honey and lemon tastes pretty good, and if one's clogged-up enough to need it, 'Fire Soup' (chicken noodle with garlic, cayenne and rosemary) does too, but nobody drinks echinacea/goldenseal or chamomile/valerian because they enjoy it. "Foot Tea", we call that last one, because it tastes a lot like dirty socks.

That stuff you're buying at the pharmacy is only prolonging the illnesses by supressing 'symptoms', i.e. interfering with the body's natural disease-fighting functions. The purpose of fever is to make the environment too hot for the germs; the purpose of increased respiratory mucus is to wash them out of the system. If you help the body with hot aromatic baths and hot spicy drinks instead of hindering it with pharmaceuticals, the kid will get well a lot quicker.

LOL, the kid will also claim to be 'sick' a lot less frequently if your response to such claims is to fire up the kettle, get out the garlic-press and start running a hot bath. Chamomile tea, Peter Rabbit, and go straight to bed... oh, you're feeling better now? I'm so glad.

*grins* Hey, it works.

[conuly]

She hardly ever gets pharmacy medicine - it's a lot of raw garlic with a honey chaser. But she has once or twice needed antibiotics, and I've got some midol and cough drops and teething gel around....

[gingembre.livejournal.com]

I think it was the tastes-like-pink-bubblegum antibiotics that really done did us in. ;-)

I think next time btw I will just use the garlic press, to make sure it is small enough pieces for her to swallow. And the ginger tea comment makes me laugh (knowing your loathing of it!)

[conuly]

Not long after I posted this, I took a midol - I waited as long as I could, but then I took it. And Angelique was amazed: "You swallowed it like garlic!"

I refrained from saying that no, she takes garlic like medicine.

(She also wanted to know why grown-ups can take medicine and she can't. I refrained as well from pointing out that sometimes grownups can't be trusted to take their own over-the-counter medications, and just said that, because we're bigger, it's less dangerous, but we still try to avoid it as much as possible.)

[marveen.livejournal.com]

Get some tonic water and give it to her as "medicine" also. (I *still* don't like that stuff.)

Back when I was a kid, we didn't get tasty sweet antibiotics. You got capsules, which mom broke open and mixed into applesauce and it STILL tasted nasty. (I did once fake a headache for orange-flavored baby aspirin, but that was only once.)

[sayga.livejournal.com]

kira has also gotten the idea that medicine will make her feel better. she fakes illnesses and begs for "tum-en-ol." we always tell her to drink a glass of water and wait half an hour and she'll feel better. it's hard to break her of that association, especially when the taste of it is a reward on its own.