Top Tips: Supplement Success for children

Before you begin giving your child supplements, ensure that they can follow instructions and comfortably handle chunky textured foods (e.g. oatmeal or chunky applesauce) without gagging or choking. Also, make sure they can swallow liquids without spilling or coughing. If this is ok, they should be ready to learn pill swallowing.

Tips for Pill Swallowing:

1. Gradual Introduction: Start by introducing larger pill-shaped candies gradually until the child can swallow them confidently on command.
   
   

2. Concealing the pill: Another technique is to use food as a method of concealing the pill. Some children who struggle to swallow pills have no problem gulping them down as part of a spoonful of yoghurt, applesauce, or peanut butter. Again, build up slowly by adding a tiny sweet such as a tictac or cake decoration to a spoon of yoghurt, and get them used to the swallowing mechanism.
   
   

3. Modeling: Show the child the simple steps to swallowing on command, which will demonstrate that it is easy and harmless.
   ’Modeling’ is showing a child that the action you want them to take is easy and harmless. When a child sees a parent successfully complete the action of pill swallowing or taking liquid medicine from a syringe, they may feel less anxiety about doing it themselves.
   
   

4. Positive attitude: Experts report that simply maintaining a positive attitude can help children take medicine and supplements without fear or resistance. But positive reinforcement in the form of rewards can also help. You need to send the message to your little one that the supplement is essential and there are no ifs or buts. Kids are very sharp and will pick up on any hesitation, so just go for it! Give (non-food) rewards: Praise kids for taking supplements and operate a reward chart or give other reinforcers to ensure it has been a positive experience.
   
   

5. Get organised: Place the supplements on your kitchen table or worktop before you go to bed, so they are ready for the next morning and there no excuses that you have forgotten. If multiple supplements are needed throughout the day, then invest in a supplement daily organiser with several compartments so you can count out seven days in advance.

Tips for Liquid/Powders: 

1. Special brew: Find a thick juice (think strawberry, banana, tropical or orange), fruit smoothie, fruit purée or yoghurt (apple juice does not work well) that is already popular and use this for the base for supplements.
   
   

2. Three day intro: If your youngster is reluctant to take medicine off a spoon then start with giving the fruity liquid without the supplement for 3 days in a row, before adding in any supplements. Once your child is used to the puree on its own, then start adding in a pinch of the contents of a capsule or one drop of a liquid supplement. Build this up pinch by pinch or drop by drop until you reach the recommended dosage.
   
   

3. Syringe Method: For the fussiest children then give the chosen “special brew” out of the syringe without any added supplements for three days so they get used to the process. If the specific supplement is not available in liquids or chewables, remember you can crush tablets between two teaspoons or open up the capsules. You then mix the supplement and purée together in a ramekin or small glass jar and give via a spoon or syringe.
   
   

4. Start low and slow: Introduce the supplement slowly over a week starting with a sprinkle of a capsule, or one drop and build up day by day until you reach the required dose. This helps get used to the taste slowly and the body can also get slowly used to it.
   
   

5. Try a straw: If the supplement is particularly strong tasting, even when added to juice, then try giving it through a straw (cut the straw in half so less suck-power is needed to get the contents into the mouth). A covered plastic cup can mask any new smell or colour.
   
   

6. Tasteless ones first: Start with supplements with little to no taste. Probiotics for instance, usually come in powder form or powder within a capsule, which you can easily open up. Probiotics can be added to fruit puree, smoothies, milk, dairy-free milk, cereal or yoghurt very easily. Ideally probiotics are given without food but a teaspoon or two of fruit puree is not going to affect its health benefits that much. Liquid zinc is usually tasteless to those who are deficient, so it should be easy to add to water or juice.
   
   

7. A sweet spoonful: Make you own super-charged raw chocolate mousse by blending the vitamins in a raw cacao power, avocado, banana and honey. If you are in a rush try a teaspoon of sugar-free jam, fruit powders, organic chocolate spread, maple syrup, or honey. These can be a magic way of hiding the stronger tasting supplements such as B vitamins. You can give the sweet tasting spoonful with the supplement, or as a “chaser” afterwards to take any nasty tastes away.
   
   

8. Prefers savoury?: If your child has a more savoury palate then mix the supplement into peanut butter, almond butter or cashew butter. You could also try hummus, mashed potato or pureed vegetables. Again, give the mixture off a spoon or through a little resealable food pouch.
   
   

Specific help for kids with ASD: https://www.singlecare.com/blog/teaching-children-with-autism-medication/

Good luck :)