How to give herbal decoctions to children

1. Decoctions of traditional Chinese medicine are generally bitter and children are often reluctant to take them. For children over 3 years of age, parents should be patient and persuasive before taking the medicine, explaining the reasoning of “good medicine is better for the disease”, striving for its initiative to take the medicine, and in the presence of the child, he first drank 1~2 mouths to make an example. You can also add some sugar to the medicine to reduce the bitterness. Try not to force the child to take, so that the child to produce resistance. 3 ~ 4 months of small infants, can be poured into the bottle, in the nipple coated with some honey, in the child to sleep, let it suck, when the child feels the bitter taste, has been swallowed part of the medicine. For infants and young children up to 3 years old, often have to take the method of instillation. Do not pinch the child’s nose to avoid choking and vomiting. When feeding the medicine, hold the child in your arms in a semi-recumbent position, fix his head and hands, press the middle of the tongue with a tongue depressor or a small spoon, or pinch the child’s cheeks with the left thumb and forefinger, so that his mouth is open, and then use a small spoon full of medicine to send it to the root of the tongue along the corners of the mouth, and then take out the small spoon when you hear the sound of the medicine going down the throat, and then feed it for a second time. After feeding the medicine, feed the child some warm water to wash away the medicine left in the mouth, pick up the child and gently pat his back to prevent vomiting. 2, it is best to decoct the Chinese medicine twice in a row, blend it together, and then divide it into two or more portions to be taken in separate doses. Pediatric medication is different from adults, school-age children can be divided into 3~4 times, infancy can be divided into 5~6 times or even more times to finish, each time can be separated by half an hour or 1~3 hours to feed again. Must not be too hasty, a feed too much, often cause vomiting, so that the previous work is wasted. 3, Chinese medicine has a “hot cold, cold hot” theory, so the medication has a hot service and warm service points, which can improve the efficacy of drugs. General drugs should be served warm, to dispel wind and cold, sweating and symptomatic drugs (medicines for cold and fever) should be served hot, after serving the drug, you can also feed some hot water, hot milk or hot porridge, and then covered with a quilt, prompting the child to sweat, in order to help reduce fever. 4, usually acute diseases take medication regardless of time; tonic drugs, laxative drugs to empty stomach is appropriate; treatment of throat disease medicine should be slowly swallowed, or gargle swallowing; stomach medicine or gastrointestinal tract irritation of the drug to be served after meals. If the child is prone to vomiting after taking the medicine, the medicine can be taken before meals. 5, Chinese medicine has “spit medicine does not vomit sex” said, even if the child some vomiting after taking medication, parents should not lose confidence, can be fed again after a while, usually always feed more, spit out less.