My 5th grader has to take Phillips Milk of Magnesia, unfortunately. Has anyone successfully disguised the minty mediciney taste?She can't get past the taste and refuses to swallow it. Well, she tries to refuse. Personally, I think it tastes a bit like wintermint gum and don't understand her reaction. I have tried to get her to drink it from a straw, so that the stuff can skip most of the taste buds, but she's a stubborn one. She wont' even consider mixing it in regular milk.
Thanks for any suggestions!
Thanks all for your suggestions! I bought the Hershey KIsses, and she liked that, but what seemed better for her was mixing it into some hot coco. Since you have to drink liquid after anyway, we didn't see the harm in sending it all down at once.
She has to take this because her large intestinal track, the whole thing, was completely blocked up. She holds so she doesn't go in school, then I guess she wasn't doing it at home. The ER doc ( she was in pain and spiked a fever) said it looked to be like a whole weeks worth in there. Full from end to end! I guess they don't give enima's to children so everything had to be done at home. Supposits, Miralax and MOM.
It comes in Wild Cherry. Can she take a caplet or tablet?
Variety shown here:
http://www.drugstore.com/templates/brand/default.asp?bran...
Ask your pharmacist - mixing it with foods may actually compromise the effectiveness of the Phillips MOM.
They may also have tips, tricks, etc. to help with the aversion as well as possibly being able to order it into the store in a different flavor.
My grandmother had to take it regularly at one point and her nurse used to make it as absolutely cold as possible. Somehow it was less revolting ice cold than luke warm!
Why does she need to take milk of magnesia? Maybe there is something else that would solve her problem. Can you give me more info?
I agree with the Wild Cherry suggestion - it doesn't taste at all like medicine!
Has she tried Wintermint gum? Maybe if she has a piece, she won't associate the taste with 'medicine'. Or have her chew the gum, drink it, and chew again. Some pharmacies offer a flavor for prescribed meds - I don't know if they are allowed to do that with OTC meds, but you could ask. Chewables are a good suggestion, too. Some more homeopathic remedies may have a better flavor with the same results if you have a Whole Foods or Sprouts grocery store nearby.
There is truth in blocking your nose and taking the medicine. I have tried it with different foul tasting things, like Cod Liver Oil! (there is nothing that tastes worse than that!) and it works. You do have to swallow all of it before you unblock your nose, and take a bit of water to wash the rest of it down, otherwise the taste buds in the back of the tounge will taste it. Good luck with your daughter. My kids never gave me a hassle with meds. They were only too eager to take whatever the doctor prescribed!
I think it's so awful too, have to take it sometimes when I travel (I really don't mind all other medicines but it gets in my mouth and I start to gag and then can't swallow it). Can you bribe her with cookies? That's what I do for medicine that my kids think is terrible. Or ice cream. Or make her eat dried apricots instead, they are extremely high fiber and have the same results.
Eating a Hershey Kiss coats the tongue and helps mask the flavor a bit. Sorry she has to go through that.
I'm not sure how much this will help - but I have similar problems with one of my daughters with other medicines. One way we have succeeded - and you'll have to ask the pharmacist if it will affect the medicine or not - is to put the medicine in a cup with an icecube. We swirl the icecube around so that it makes the medicine icy cold (but not so that the ice cube melts a lot and just increases the volume that needs to be swallowed!) - and then she drinks it with a straw - like you said, it hits fewer taste buds that way. Sometimes we also have her suck on an icecube - careful not to choke - beforehand so that her tongue is numb before she takes it. Finally - if she chokes it down - she gets a small piece of chocolate - such as a hershey's kiss - to take away the bad aftertaste in her mouth.
Good luck!
It comes in caplet form. Will she swallow a pill?
Does it come in a chewable? That might help just a little.
There are many medications that can be taken in pill form that treat constipation, if your pediatrician has her taking this then I would consider taking her to a internal physician or one for stomach issues.
One thing we had to do in Group Homes with people who didn't get enough activity or took meds that made them constipated is cut out bananas and other food that are very hard to pass. Eating foods that helpful for this issue was a main factor in the making of the menu too.We gave them stool softeners plus pills for constipation in desperate cases.
If she's taking it for acid then maybe the doc can recommend an acid reducer that comes in pill form in smaller doses.
Poor girl, MOM tastes nasty and it does come in pill form.
