OP here - update - I moved directly to the realm of bribes which we had not yet tried in our family:
a stick of butter just for you?
a little bowl of salt just for you?
ice cream? (I was thinking of the So Delicious coconut stuff)
stickers?
tattoos?
your favorite applesauce in the eco-unfriendly containers?
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All of this got a firm NO.
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Then I said - If you take five doses, we'll go to the zoo!
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And I got him!
He went ballistically happy, we made a rewards chart so he can see the five doses in a visual format, and I upped the happy factor with a sheet of stickers right after swallowing the medicine.
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Down it went. 4 to go! Love the bribery thing!