Difficulty getting 6 year old to take medication

[yogimomi]

We've attempted the chewable (flavored and unflavored), and capsule in all the ways possible to get my child to take her medication. We've given it to her whole, crushed up on foods she loves, in bubbly water, in smoothies, etc. She fights for over an hour each morning until we practically have to shove it down her throat. It is literally the worst struggle. She takes Intuv at night and even that doesn't help this morning issue. Once she takes it it's totally fine and everything runs much smoother, it's just the taking of medication in the morning that really really sucks. Anyone have any other ideas? We've talked about why it's taken, how it helps, etc. We've asked her various ways she'd agree to take it. We've tried stickers, coins and other immediate rewards. She just hates how it tastes so much that it's a huge problem.

[Onthemove1971]

Sorry for the struggles... it should not take even 5 min.

It is strange.. I have the same thing. I suggest you bring her to the store and ask her to pick out her favoriate squeeze flavoring.for water. Then have a small amount of water and squeeze some flavoring in and have her hold the flavored water in her mouth then she will lean her head back and drop the pill in right into the back of her mouth and together swallow it. It might take a few practices.

It might also help to tell her it is a requirement and that you guys will help her but it must be taken daily.

Also ask her what reward she wants.

Some kids love whip cream, squeeze a small amount in her mouth then drop it in her mouth in the back of her mouth.

Then quickly move on with things so it becomes normal.

Once our son knew there was no chose he has never refused since. Now he doesn't even use water, just dropps it in and swallows..

Hope that helps.. good luck

[yogimomi in reply to Onthemove1971]

Thank for those ideas! It has been really hard trying to teach her to swallow, but I like the whipped cream idea!

[SurvivorFan in reply to Onthemove1971]

I'm sorry you are struggling with this. My son also had an extremely hard time at first with taking the meds. We too had to pretty much hold him down. It is emotionally exhausting for everyone to start your day like that. He was like this with every med he had to take since age 4. Unless you have a child who is like this it is hard to understand the extreme fear they have. Talking it out, bribes/rewards...none of it worked. Could have said we can go right to Disney world as soon as you swallow it and it wouldn't work.

When he started stimulants at age 5 1/2 we had a few hard days like this and then simply said you don't have a choice so we can either do this the hard way every morning where you get very upset, dad has to hold you down, you dont get your i pad in the morning, and you waste all your free time before school OR you can do it the easy way and get to feel much better and have lots of free time. Since that day he chose the easy way.

I hope you find something that works for you guys!

We started with taking it with a spoonful of yogurt and then a drink of sprite right away. Over the next few months he was able to just take meds with water.

[yogimomi in reply to SurvivorFan]

Thank you so much, she is 100% the same way, so glad you can relate! We have discussed that and yet it still is an issue, but we will hopefully breakthrough some day so it’s not so tough.

[BVBV]

My son is 9 and just started taking a medication he HAD to swallow. The only thing that worked for him was putting it in a spoonful of Greek yogurt and he doesn’t even need a liquid to swallow with- we tried everything and he has a strong gag reflex. Along with that I offered a monetary reward for his first time because I was desperate but it worked! Best of luck to you.

[yogimomi in reply to BVBV]

Lol also tried this, even with a smoothie bowl (which she loves typically), but once we tried it with her medication she immediately flipped out and didn't eat anymore.

[Imakecutebabies]

I had my 6 year old practice swallowing pills with mini M&Ms before we started him on his medication. For some reason, swallowing M&Ms causes much less aversion, lol. Since I kept giving him M&Ms that day as long as he took a swig of water and swallowed them whole... He got the hang of it. Now he's so proud of his ability to swallow pills that he ASKS to take his medication.

[yogimomi in reply to Imakecutebabies]

Yes, we've tried that too - She really struggles with that, but we keep trying (and trying not to make this all traumatic)!

[Imakecutebabies in reply to yogimomi]

Good luck finding what will work.

[MNmom99]

So sorry to hear your struggle. Is the medication made in capsule form or is that an option? Our son couldn’t swallow med either and eventually we needed to up his dosage and have a slow release version that we were able to open the capsule and pour on food or right in his mouth then he swallows. The only thing that really helped with the swallowing is that the first pill was small enough we could put it on top of a food he liked and he’d just chew it up with the food. I’m sorry for your struggles and hope you can find a good solution for you and your daughter take care

[Aloysia]

Continue working daily/weekly with her on swallowing pills since this is a life skill.

Meanwhile talk to her Dr about getting the medication in a patch.

I have had huge struggles with my daughter (now 11) with both swallowing a pill and with swallowing the insides after opening a capsule. But then last month her Dr suggested a patch. This one is called Daytrana (methylphenidate) but there may be others available. Huge difference!

The other thing we tried was purchasing empty capsules via Amazon. We started with the smallest size and I'd fill them with sugar for practicing pill swallowing. This is the next phase once your child can swallow mini-m&m's and/or tic-tacs. Also try regular m&m's. I spent a lot of time opening up her medication capsule and splitting it into two of the smallest capsules we bought online. Then we started having her practice with the 2nd smallest capsules. Then she backslid and now has trouble swallowing the smallest size again. That's when I begged the Dr for an alternative and she mentioned the patch.

Wishing you the best!

[yogimomi in reply to Aloysia]

great ideas! I’ve wondered about the patch, do you put that on once a day? I’d still love for her to practice and figure it out though, but at least with a patch she’d be getting her proper dose.

[Aloysia in reply to yogimomi]

Yes, you put the patch on in the morning before school (takes about 60 min for meds to work). And you take it off later in the day. The box says it's a 9 hour patch. My daughter has sensitive skin so the area is red when she takes it off, but goes back to normal by the next day. We have her switch sides every day. She puts it on her hip usually.

You have to keep practicing with pills though. Think about when your kid will need to swallow an advil/tylenol, allergy meds, or antibiotics. We've had some success with the newer mini-gels.

[ELucas13]

I know someone who's son would only take the medicine at school. For some reason, taking at home with his parent was not working but the change of scenery at school made a difference.

We always have our child swallow medication with applesauce which made a difference for us in ease of taking the medication.

[yogimomi in reply to ELucas13]

I could see that working, though she is extremely shy and would probably then dread going to school (more than usual)!