Strategies For Your Child’s Supplement Intake: How to get kids to take vitamins and medication
Autism can cause children to be picky eaters. This pickiness can lead to vitamin and mineral deficiency. Functional medicine doctors often treat autism by using therapeutic doses. There are also medications to manage, such as antibiotics, seizure medications, and prescription strength vitamins. The doctors don’t give you instructions on how to administer these medications and supplements to your picky kid. They just prescribe them.
Encouraging children to take their vitamins and medication can be a challenging yet crucial aspect of maintaining their health and well-being. Establishing positive habits early on not only supports their physical development but also fosters a proactive approach to healthcare. Understanding effective strategies to motivate and educate children about the importance of these supplements and medications is essential for promoting compliance and ensuring they receive the necessary nutrients and treatments for optimal growth and immunity. This introduction sets the stage for exploring practical approaches to engage children in their health routines with enthusiasm and understanding.
Strategies For Your Child’s Supplement Intake
Buy powders and capsules you can open to empty.
- Some capsules are not openable and must be swallowed in their entirety. Examples include:
- Some sustained-release capsules are coated differently.
- Betaine HCL is acidic and can cause esophageal erosion.
- Follow the instructions on the package insert and bottle.
Mix vitamins with a spoonful of your favourite food. Examples include:
- Well pureed Baby Food
- Applesauce
- Pearsauce is low in phenol.
- Dairy-free yogurt
- Dairy-free pudding
- Maple syrup
- Local honey
- Ketchup
- Jam / Jelly
- Banana mashed up
- Nut butters
- It is particularly good for masking strong flavours
Add heat-insensitive supplements to sauces, cookies or muffins.
- Baked goods such as muffins and pancakes can contain calcium.
- Check the label of the supplement to find out if it is heat-tolerant.
- If in doubt, always contact the manufacturer.
- The flaxseed and cod liver oils cannot be heated.
To hide the taste, dissolve the supplement in a cup of juice with a strong flavour.
- Examples include:
- Pomegranate Juice
- Grape juice
- Apple Cider (For herbs) Apple Cider (Ideal for herbs. It masks the strong herb flavour.
- The straw is useful because it prevents the drink from reaching the taste buds.
- Make liquids cold. You can taste fewer liquids the colder they get.
Food supplements can be hidden in foods
- Make sure that your child consumes the entire food if you choose this method.
- Fun examples include:
- Fill the strawberry with powder by hollowing out the fruit.
- Hide small pills inside a mini-muffin or a small piece of a muffin
Teach your children to use a syringe with vitamins/medication
- It is one of your best options.
- Syringe in the liquid supplement by dissolving it in water, juice or a small amount.
- Do not aim the syringe at the throat. Instead, place it on the cheek.
- You can buy plastic 20mL Syringes at Amazon.
- Allow the child to chase the syringe by giving them a glass of water
How to get your children to take cod liver or fish oil
- Mix some fibre, such as psyllium, juice, water and fish liver oil with lemon flavour.
- Serve with a straw
Use Behavioral Methods for Supplement Introduction
You should encourage your child to take supplements and medication every day. These methods are useful.
Create a visual calendar that shows your child the times when they should take their vitamins
- Visual schedules can reduce anxiety.
Have fun
- Who can finish their vitamin first?
Compliment your child
- “I can see that you’re getting stronger!” “Look at those muscles!”
- Did you grow up last evening? You must be taking vitamins.
Do not let your children see your fear
- Our children can detect fear from a distance.
- They will be able to tell if you are worried for them.
Your child can choose what they want to do
- Place the juice premixed in the refrigerator. They can then do it themselves.
- Giving kids more control of their environment may be helpful.
Reward your child
- Give your child a small treat such as an enjoy-life chocolate chip, or if they take their vitamin supplements, they can have a teaspoon of local honey.
Encourage and teach the taking of supplements
- Practice makes progress!
- ABA is a wonderful place to practice.
Bribery
- If all else fails, bribery is the answer.
- After your child has taken their vitamin, let them watch their favourite show on TV or on their tablet.
Teach your child to swallow pills
Children who don’t like the taste of supplements and medication will learn to swallow them. Occupational therapy or applied behaviour analysis can help teach your child how to swallow pills. You can start by using small candies like tic tacs or buy size 4 capsules on Amazon. These are the smallest capsules.
You may find these strategies helpful.
- Place the pill into a small amount (about 1 tablespoon) of applesauce, and let your child take it with you.
- Your child should take a small sip of water. Next, put the pill into your child’s mouth. Then, ask your child to lean forward while putting their head down. This will allow the pill to float towards the back of the throat. Last, lift your head and swallow.
- Place the pill as far away from your tongue as you can. Drink water afterwards.
- Try a Swallowing Spray Pill Glide.
- It coats the throat to make it easier for pills to slide down.
- Try it Oraflo The pill-swallowing cups
- This cup is specially designed to help children learn how to swallow pills.
- Use role modeling! Use role modeling!
- Find out how to best teach your child.
- This video shows you how to teach your child to swallow pills
It is possible to juice.
A lack of minerals is one of many reasons why children are picky eaters. This problem will only get worse if you continue to restrict your diet. The bioavailable vitamins, minerals and nutrients that are obtained by juicing can help your child develop better eating habits.
This is NOT the same thing as buying juice in the store. The juice sold in stores has been pasteurized and is processed. This process removes all of the digestive enzymes that are naturally present. It is much more beneficial to use a juicer at home to juice your vegetables and fruit.
For the following reasons, juicing is a great way to introduce vitamins and minerals to children:
- This method is effective for some children because they enjoy drinking calories.
- The enzymes in the juice make vitamins and minerals more bioavailable. This can make a big difference to the child.
- Add a little fruit to your juiced vegetables.
- Constipation can be relieved by juicing greens.
You can help your child to take the vitamins and medications prescribed by their doctor in a variety of ways. You may need to be creative at times. Sometimes, you have to use behavioural strategies. If these don’t work, try teaching your child how to take pills or juicing for vital nutrients. Keep a positive attitude! Even the pickiest child can become a good consumer of vitamins and medicines.
