Fun fact: our girls have always HATED taking medicine.
We’ve been very lucky that they’ve only ever needed pain medication for the odd fever or discomfort—but wow, do they hate it. Every “kid-friendly” syrup? Nope. Immediate rejection.
It took three years of trying absolutely everything to hide the taste before Emmalyn finally agreed to take medicine… in chocolate milk. Three. Years.
And Izzy? She’s now five and we have exactly zero successful methods. ZERO. She hasn’t taken medicine in over three years—not even the tiniest amount of Tylenol. She fully understands what medicine is for, knows it can help her feel better, and simply does not care.
Case in point: she smashed her head in Costa Rica and had a bump the size of a baseball—and still refused pain medication.
We’ve tried sneaking it into everything you can imagine, and she seems to have some kind of sixth sense for it. Honestly, it’s both impressive and wildly frustrating.
…Anyway, thanks for listening to my rant
All of that backstory is exactly why we’re now focusing on something new: learning how to take pills.
When we’re in Kenya, we’ll need to take malaria medication for nearly a month, so it’s important that the girls get comfortable swallowing pills. And hopefully, it’s a skill that carries over if (or when) they need antibiotics or pain medication in the future.
So, if you’re curious—or ever need to try this—here’s what’s been working for us:
We started small. Sprinkles.
The girls would take a sip of water, pop a sprinkle in, and “picture the sprinkle riding the water” down their throat. They’re so tiny you can’t really feel them going down, but it’s great practice for the motion. Emmalyn did initially try to gulp and ended up spray-coughing water everywhere… so there was a bit of a learning curve.
Next up: mini M&Ms.
Same idea, just a slightly bigger “pill.” It took a few tries, but both girls managed to swallow them.
At that point, Izzy decided she was done—and we let her stop and run off to play. In the not-so-distant future, taking medicine won’t be optional, but we’re starting early so we have time to teach them at their own pace and (hopefully) keep it light and positive.
Emmalyn, on the other hand, was ready for the next challenge: a Smartie.
(For the non-Canadians, think of it like an M&M… but a bit bigger.)
She did it—and she was so proud. We celebrated the win and then let her run off to play too.
The key for us now is consistency. We’ve got a few months before daily pills become part of the routine, and the goal is for this to feel like second nature—not a daily battle.