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!
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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.
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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.
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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