Support for infants who are reluctant to take oral medications and their responses

Abstract

 The purpose of this study is to clarify the behavior of infants who are reluctant to take oral medications, when they are supported to take oral medications. The authors observed five infants when they were orally given medications, interpreted and coded their understanding and perception of oral medications, taking into account their developmental stages at different ages. The code analysis revealed that the infants showed unpleasant feelings by crying and using their libs and oral cavity to the fullest. However, in some cases, they overcame unpleasant oral medications when they were given their favorite “pleasure” stimuli, such as favorite picture books or sucking their fingers. Furthermore, 4-month-old infants could differentiate the taste of medications from breast milk and understand the medications by their taste in the mouth or with the sense of the object in the mouth. Furthermore, 9-month-old and older infants could sense very bitter medications in the mouth. Their responses also indicated that they could understand oral medications by looking at the objects that are used for oral medications or the person who helped them take oral medications.