how to convince your child to take a pill | ADHD Information
Hi, I'm not sure how to explain this, but my major problem now, is to convince my son that swalling a capsule won't make him choke. Note: hi's a 9 year old and has had used the patch already. Unfortunatly, he started to have a skin reaction to the sticky part of it. Now he won't take any pill form. Also, he hates applesauce and he did not like at all the flavored ones either! Help!!![QUOTE=spamula]my son was terrified of swallowing pills when he was 8. we finally convinced him to try a small pill, Zoloft 25mg. he finally did it and has worked his way up to concerta 54mg. along the way we has to try Vyvance because you can open it and put it in most any drink non acid. it turned out not to be the med for him so we started on Concerta 18 mg which is very small. since then he is 11 now and no longer scared of the pills[/QUOTE] For us Ice cream was the answer in the begining. It was hard but then he started Zoloft which is a very small pill. once he realized that he could swallow a pill without ice cream we gave him the choice of what to take it with. Sprite was his choice and that's what he got. he started soon after with Concerta 18 mg and worked his way up to 54mg which is not a small pill. alot of encouragement helped along the way. now he takes 3 pills and doesn't complain. Good luck to you and your situation we have all been through it.My son is 8 and tried Adderall at first. It didn't work and we saw no change. So now they are going to try Concerta. I went to pick it up at the pharmacy today only to find out you have to swallow these. My son has never swallowed a pill before. There I stood, wondering what to do. They said if I use even one I would have to pay for all of them. Well, I took them anyway and I said I would try them. They are pretty small, but I am having visions of this not going so well. Any helpful hints?I tried some of the classics: practice with tic-tacs/m&m's, try putting it into ice-cream, jelly, etc. Rewards for swallowing the m&ms (he got some that he could chew so he could taste them, but only after he swallowed one)For us, the answer was applesauce...but he doesn't like to see it, so I have to make sure it's covered. The jelly worked alright too, but he would sometimes 'gag' on it.
It was a real pain in the neck for the first month or so, but I just played it down. I would get the spoon ready then come up and say, "Open up, time for your med." Then just slip it into his mouth and walk away.
Mind you, I had to pretend to ignore him but really keep a close eye on him to make sure he swallowed it. There were a few times where I'd catch him spitting it out. But, that was when we used the jelly and it would stay in his mouth. Applesauce goes down much faster.
I think the easiest thing is to just make it very matter-of-fact. And keep at it. I think, eventually, ds will be able to swallow it with just water...I'm keeping my fingers crossed!!my son is 5 and he is on fast acting ritalin which can be crushed. i make
chocolates and put it in there and he loves it. The shool gives him a
chuckles with the pills pushed into it. because i want to get him to take a
longer acting med i have been practicing using non-perels. You have to
be careful eause the capsules cant be chewed in any way, they have to be
swallowed whole and digested. Its ok to open the capsul the beads inside
need to be whole in the belly.
Anyays, we have been practicing by me making jello (alot of it) and
putting it in a flat dish. I cut out squares of the jello, pour a bit of the
non-perels in the middle of the square (like i split it open) and he has to
swallow the jellow without chewing or crunching the beads. When he is
more comfortable with this, i will talk to the doc about trying a long
acting pill but this was the only thing i could think of that works.
He refuses anything like danimals, applesauce, yogurt, pudding etc
because of the texture and his sensory issues. he gets a reward if he does
it successfully.
Hi! I want to say thanks to eveyone who tried to help me with suggestions on how to convince my son to take pills, without chewing them. After a long time working with him and his doctor and, after a breakdown, I went to his school nurse to discuss his issues, she told me the same that one of you guys has suggested, to use something else to mix with, like pudim or ice-cream. I actually, have been mixing his meds with ice-cream and is working just fine. I always had that in the back of my mind, but no one had talked about it before. Anyway, thank you very much to all of you who tried to help!
We used ice cream in the begining and it worked great! Good luck to you!
i GOT MY DD TO START SWALLING PILLS BY MAKING "ICEE"
DRINKS
FIRST ALL FINLEY CHOPPED ICE JUST LIKE REGUAR ICEE
ICEE - CHOPPED ICE AND FLAVORING
HER FAVORITE WAS CHERRY
BUT
I STARTED MAKING OVALTINE ICEE
BECAUSE SHE LIKES CHOCOLATE
SO IN THE HEAT OF SUMMER AN ICE COLD CHOCOLATE ICEE IS EQUAL TO A REWARD.
I STARTED TO LEAVE THE ICE A LITTLE CHUNKY LET I MELT TO SMOOTH IT AND SHE DID NOTICE .
"ITS CHUNKY " SHE SAID
I EXPLAINED THAT WHAT ITS LIKE TO TAKE A PILL.
SO I TRY TO REMEMBER TO MAKE THE ICEE WHEN SHE NEEDS TO TAKE PILLS.
I LET HER PUT THE PILL ON A SPOON JUST LIKE THE ICEE
.
IF I REMEMBER CORRECTLY ICE NUMBS ALSO .
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I ALSO LET HER PICK OUT A PILL CUP AND SPOON OF HER CHOICE.
THIS ENCOURAGES HER AND GIVES HER A SENSE OF CONTROL AND EMPOWERMENT.
--------
I HAVE TO GIVE TIME FOR HER TO TRY SOMETIMES MORE THAN ONCE.
NO PRESSURE BUT LOTS OF POSITIVE ATTENTION
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I GIVE CHILDRENS VITAMINS WEEKLY SO THAT WE ALREADY PRACTICE THIS "RITUAL" OFTEN ENOUGH TO BE COMMON AND MAKES HEALTHY.
WITH EACH SUCCESS WITH VITAMINS AND ICEE CHUNKS - I BELIEVE SHE TRUSTS ME WHEN I NEED TO GIVE HER A PILL.
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ON A SIDE NOTE ITS HOE I CONTROL MY WIEGHT TOO.
100 CALORIE SLIM FAST WITH ICEE
ON BIG MEAL DAYS WHEN I KNOW MY CALORIES ARE WAY OVER MY LIMIT
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I MENTION THAT BECAUSE WHEN SHE SEE'S ME DOING IT , SHE GETS INTRESTED AND WANTS TO TRY IT TOO.
THIS WAY THERE IS LITTLE COAXING--
USUALLY JUST A LITTLE INVITE TO POSITIVE OUTCOME.
" DO YOU HAVE YOURE SPECIAL CUP FOR ICEE? '
THEN WITH OUT WORDS I SMILE AND GIVE HER A PILL ON HER SPOON
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IT DOESNT WORK EVERYTIME BUT PRACTICE MAKE PERFECT.
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A DISTRACTION DOSENT HURT EITHER.
A RACE
I SAY " WHOEVER GETS TO THE MIDDLE OF GLASS LAST HAS TO EAT TURTLE LEGS ! TAKE THE MEDICINE (AVOIDING THE WORD PILL" TAKE THE MEDICING AND THEN WE'LL START GET READY GETS SET THEN I POINT TO THE PILL ON THE SPOON.
---
I NOT SURE IF THE ICE EFFECTS MEDCINES BUT DOESNT SEEM TO.
BESIDES I MAKE SURE SHE HAS A STRAW AND THE BOTTOM IS VERY LIQUID.
< =text/>_popupControl(); What about a kid's yogurt? The kind with the chocolate rice krispies to shake in? Or a chocolate pudding cup? Thanks for the tip! The problem is that supposely, this especific pill can only be taken, if not swallowed whole, sprinkled in applesauce. That, because it was study only using applesauce, so any other type of food are not garanteed to be as effective. I've tried all sorts of things, you name it, I did. The school nurse suggested to use ice cream anyway, because I other kids at school are doing the same, even though, it's not recommended. I actually am using ice cream and my son is taking the medication mixed in it. It is still too early to know if it's working effectively. I can only hope. Thank you again.I'm not a doctor but I wouldn't think ice cream vs applesause would make any difference at all. The doctors are just VERY cautious about these studies. If applesauce is used then that's the ONLY thing they can recommend. That doesn't mean other things won't work. When my son was taking Adderall we sprinkled the capsule on pudding. The doc said "technically" she wasn't supposed to recommend that the capsule be broken open but everyone does it and it's fine. Adderall ended up not being the medicine for him but it wasn't because we sprinkled it! Good luck!hi!
i know i had asked the psychiatrist about pils being swallowed, because my 9 yr old refuses to swallow them as well :( the only one that she mentioned that HAD to be swallowed (and therefore we never tried lol) is concerta.
right now my dd is taking adderal xr capsule and we open it and sprinkle in one of the kids yougurt drinks like dananimals and she drinks it down.
she also takes celexa, clonidine and melatonin.... all of which she chews a little before swallowing YUCK! but it works for her.
good luck!
oh! i should have also mentioned...
it was advice here to have your child try practicing by swallowing a tic tac or m&m to practice...
that didnt work for my dd though.. she was totally motified at the thought... but something u may try ;)
my son was terrified of swallowing pills when he was 8. we finally convinced him to try a small pill, Zoloft 25mg. he finally did it and has worked his way up to concerta 54mg. along the way we has to try Vyvance because you can open it and put it in most any drink non acid. it turned out not to be the med for him so we started on Concerta 18 mg which is very small. since then he is 11 now and no longer scared of the pills