The winter brings the inevitable annual fight we dread: getting our sick little ones to take their antibiotics. But instead of bribery (admit it, you've tried that) or an exhausting battle, pharmacist Joelle Smithmier Dew, a mom, has a brilliant solution that will only cost you the price of a bottle of coffee creamer.
This is the second year in a row that the mom shared her helpful hack, and once again, it's exploded online.
The mom shared her message on her Facebook page, where she had two words for parents trying to get their kids to take their Tamiflu: International Delight.
"Word to the wise!" she wrote. "If you have a child that is having to take nasty smelling/tasting antibiotics like Clindamycin or Tamiflu for the flu, this coffee creamer is a life saver."
She also posted a photo of the coffee creamer in the flavor Hershey's Chocolate Caramel, which TBH seems pretty tasty to us.
"Back in the summer, the doctors at childrenâs hospital turned us onto this jewel," she continued. "It works better than chocolate cake frosting etc.."
According to Smithmier Dew, all you need to do is mix about four tablespoons of the creamer with your child's dosage. And voila! No tears or tantrums.
"Tamiflu is super nasty," she added. "My kids threw it up until we started mixing this with the dose. It works even if youâve already had them flavor the Tamiflu; our kids canât taste it just the coffee creamer."
The pharmacist tells CafeMom that this hack works so well, it's the one parenting tip that she recommends to all of her patients and mom friends.
As a pharmacist, she says that getting kids to take liquid medication — especially during flu season — is a common complaint she gets from parents. "Tamiflu is palatable, but to a sick child, not so much," she says. "This, and many other ideas, to help a child take medication are commonly recommended to parents and used in hospital settings."Â
And the mom says that her 11-year-old son, Cassyn, is proof of how well it works. "Lots of my customers have used the hack and stated that it helped the 'take your medicine' battle with their little sick one," she adds. "I think we all like to pick our battles with our children, so anything that makes it easier is a parent WIN!!!!"
This spreading post isn't the first time she's shared flu season advice on Facebook.
Smithmier Dew frequently posts about healthy habits on her page: "I always post health posts — washing hands, hand sanitizer, flu vs cold posts, vaccination posts, whatâs going around posts, etc this time of year," she tells CafeMom. "This went viral last year and popped up on my memories, so I reshared."
Other things parents can do to help avoid getting sick is to keep their hands (and their kids' hands) clean. "The biggest tip for this season is that usually when we all gather together to celebrate the holidays, we 'spread the love' in the form of the flu, strep throat or stomach viruses," she says. "Washing your hands, using hand sanitizer, covering your cough and not touching your face, eyes or mouth until you wash your hands would be my important tips."
Smithmier Dew says that with her position in the community, she often acts as "mom" to a bunch of different kids, so she likes to share health tips and advice to help everyone and not just her own kid. "My patients/parents are my community, my schools, my church," she says. "My husband is a football coach and teacher. We are very active with our student athletes."
But ultimately, taking care of people is her job. And this mom tries to be darn good at it. "As a pharmacist, helping others is why we do what we do," she says. "Anything that can help someone get well is great."
