My 3 year old grandson has been getting stuck into strawberry milkshakes once a week, compliments of his grandma. It’s become quite a tradition. First the library then lunch.
I’ve found out that there’s something to be said for tradition when dealing with three year old children. Particularly when they are not well and you want them to take their medication. At that age you can’t reason and explaining does no good, as I realised when my own children were that age. Getting children to take their medication can be a nightmare.
When they are under two years old you can put them in a strangle hold and squirt the medicine down their unwilling throats, when they are five years old, they are beginning to be more amenable to reason and definitely open to bribes.
Three and four is the in between phase that parents dread. Until children reach that age of reason I think that every tactic an adult employs should be considered fair game. In my grandson’s case his parents poured the strawberry flavoured medicine into a Peter Rabbit egg cup and called it Nanna’s strawberry drink. Once he felt a bit better, it was easier to get him to keep taking the medication.
A Wondering Minstrel I 