Pill Swallowing

[joneshockey]

Hey everyone!
I was wondering if anyone has any good ideas as to how to get my 7 year old son to swallow his medication. He was just perscribed Vyvanse yesterday and he is having a VERY difficult time trying to get it to go down. I bought tic tacs yesterday and we tried to practice last night, since this is the first time he has been required to swallow anything, but were not successful. I also tried putting the tic tac on a spoon of applesauce and that did not work either. I tired having him sip through a straw to force the tic tac back, but it seems that his tougue is getting in the way everytime!! He can't figure out how to lay it flat in his mouth. This morning when he actually had to take the pill I ended up pushing it all the way back with my finger and he gagged quite dramatically, but it went down... I REALLY want him to be able to do it on his own, but just don't know what else to try. Any insight would be GREATLY appreciated!!

On a more positive note... I did notice for the first time EVER that he did something I asked him to do the first time I asked!!!

 

[liz]

For my son, we put the medication on a spoon with some chocolate sauce. But, sometimes kids cannot get it down no matter what. Hopefully, he will be able to do it on his own soon. Is it OK if you open the capsule and pour it into his milk in his cereal or something like that? Maybe that will work

 

[LittleDudesMom]

We tried the whole summer before first grade to get my difficult child to take a pill! We used the tic tac method, tried the easy swallow pill cup, as well and even bribed him with a trip to Toys R Us - no success. A week before school started I wanted him to start taking the pill so, knowing he loved the book Stellaluna, I told him, "Son, you are just going to have to be Stellaluna. I'll be the mommy bird and I'm going to drop a bug an icky bird down your throat!" It worked! For years I just had him put his head back, open his mouth, and I dropped it in while he held a glass of water to drink right away!

You never know......

Sharon

 

[nvts]

Hi! The "Alien Slime Swallow" is king!!! Chocolate or vanilla pudding cups OR applesauce or something similar (yogurt too!). Spoon out a bite, bury the pill in the spoonful and pop it in the mouth. You don't chew pudding, yogurt or applesauce so he's used to just swallowing. After a while he'll be a pro and life will get much easier.

Call it the Alien Slime Swallow and he'll really get into it - after all he's 7 and a boy!!!

Good luck!

Beth

 

[susiestar]

The Alien Slime Swallow sounds like a great method to me. Get the mini M&Ms to practice with - for some reason they work better than tic tacs. Maybe it is the shape? You can get them in tubes at the candy counter or in the baking aisle in semisweet chocolate by the chocolate chips.

I don't think vyvanse is a medication you can open up because it is time released. If this is an insurmountable issue they do make a patch with a stimulant in it, I think it is called daytrana. You just stick it on your child someplace where he won't pull it off and let it go.

There is also a thread in the Early Childhood Archives titled "Pill Swallowing Help". You can either skim the Easy Child Archives or use the phrase in a search to find other ideas.

For medications you can open up, putting them into a spoonful of choc syrup and letting the child have a second spoonful to get rid of the taste works like a charm. Just be sure to use a small spoon (Wiz once brought me a serving spoon thinking I would fill it full with choc syrup!) and stir the medication in with a toothpick.

 

[KTMom91]

I used the mini M&M's with Miss KT...with the benefit of eating the leftovers! It worked really well.

 

[Wiped Out]

We used applesauce at one point!

 

[graceupongrace]

Have you tried having him tip his chin forward when he tries to swallow? I know it's counterintuitive, but pills really go down easier than tipping your head back. It works for both my kids (and me!).

 

[TerryJ2]

Joneshockey, my son only learned to swallow pills after he was in the psychiatric hospital 2 yrs ago, at age 11, so I am the absolute worst person to ask. I just wanted to lend support.

 

[DammitJanet]

there is also a straw thingy that you can put one pill in and the child drinks it down. We could get Keyana to take a pill with just a plain straw a 3. Not a cup though. Not even a sippy cup. But if I used a straw in a plastic cup the pill went right down.

When my boys were young and started ritalin we had to make them take the pills and they started with the tic tacs and mini m&m's. After they learned they could swallow a pill they refused to take anymore nasty liquid medicine...lol.

 

[shellyd67]

My difficult child is on 36mg of concerta and we had the psychiatrist break the RX down so difficult child takes 2 18mg pills since the 36mg is too big for him to swallow. I am not sure how big the vyanese pill is but is there any way you could see if this is an option?
Unfortunately, the RX in not covered under our RX plan and we have to pay $300.00 per month. If difficult child could take the 36mg pill we would save a few bucks but as we all know difficult child's can't always roll with the punches. I do remember how difficult it was to get him to swallow the pill in the beginning. It was a huge challenge but as time goes on it gets easier. I wish you good luck!

 

[barneysmom]

No other suggestions -- you got some good ones. Your little guy will get it soon.

Regarding graceupongrace's tip -- I remember when I worked in medication-surg and we wanted to pass a naso-gastric tube, we would have the patient tip his/her chin down and swallow -- this would facilitate entry of the tube into the esophagus rather than the trachea. I'll have to try that when I take my Xanax tonight, LOL.

Good luck.

 

[GoingNorth]

The first time I had a NG tube passed, I was too sick with a bowel obstruction to fight much. When I re-obstructed, it took four people and 10mgs of IV Valium to get that damned tube down.

It was not one of my proudest moments in medicine as I slugged a nurse, but I was totally panicked about choking.

 

[joneshockey]

ugh... it still isnt going very well. I pretty much have to cram it back there and then he almost gags. I think today was the worst so far - he kept trying and trying so much on his own that the capsule broke open and it tasted so nasty that he refused to attempt to swallow the other half! I am going to get some vanilla pudding at the store today and see if that works at all. We have already tried applesauce and that didnt work either, I guess here comes the "Alien Slime Swallow" tactic tomorrow morning... I will keep you all posted.

 

[timer lady]

I know my anxiety over medicating my children didn't help so I was the one who had to relax. I took my daily medications the same time as the tweedles to demonstrate how I took my "power pills" as I called them back then. husband would stand by laughing as he watched the 3 of us take our medications different ways but at the same time.

I had to relax & have kt & wm tell me what would help the most with swallowing their medications. kt used to put her pill as far back on her tongue as she could & used a straw & chocolate milk. wm used applesauce most of the time. By the time the tweedles were 8 or so they could down their medications like pros. I wonder if giving difficult child the choice of how he wants to take his medications might help. It sure did here.