................... Posted February 10, 2016 Share Posted February 10, 2016 (edited) My dd 12 has had a longstanding inability to swallow pills. Unfortunately not all medicines are always available in children's formulas and also, children's are MUCH more expensive. She has a VERY strong gag reflex so I am trying to ease her into taking pills. Today she started with the Nordic Naturals fish oils and she took 3 with no problem! When she finishes the entire bottle (a few months) I would like to move her onto something not so smooth but also very small. But, I can't overdose her on adult vitamins either. :o) DO you have any recommendations for small vitamins that she could take as more practice? I am thinking the next step would be Lactaid pills as they are narrow, small and would not be too much of any one vitamin. More ideas are appreciated though. Edited February 10, 2016 by Calming Tea Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MerryAtHope Posted February 10, 2016 Share Posted February 10, 2016 Not sure, but my friend's older children learned how to take pills by drinking through a straw when they took them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KrissiK Posted February 10, 2016 Share Posted February 10, 2016 Can you get chewables! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
She Reads a Lot Posted February 10, 2016 Share Posted February 10, 2016 Vitamin D pills are usually tiny. Mine are 2,000 IUs, and it's an itty bitty pill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted February 10, 2016 Share Posted February 10, 2016 My mom use a pill cutter. Strong gag reflex runs on the maternal side of my family. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ms.Ivy Posted February 10, 2016 Share Posted February 10, 2016 Thorne Research has some children's vitamins that are in very small capsules. If she can't get them down whole, they are easy to open and sprinkle on food, too. But they are small enough for some of my kids to swallow. I never heard of the straw trick.... I'll have to try that, too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwik Posted February 10, 2016 Share Posted February 10, 2016 I just crush pills and mix them with nutella or something. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanaqui Posted February 10, 2016 Share Posted February 10, 2016 If she wants to practice, why not practice on tictacs? Then she can move up to m&ms and eventually other candies. You're not worried about overdoses with sugar :) Re: the straw trick - good advice! I'm going to try that with the younger kiddo when we practice the pill swallowing concept. We've been using liquid medicines for her whenever she needs them, but like the OP we're aware that pretty soon it's going to be harder to get, especially for OTC medicines like advil. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abacus2 Posted February 10, 2016 Share Posted February 10, 2016 My husband takes gummy vitamins. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cosmos Posted February 10, 2016 Share Posted February 10, 2016 If she wants to practice, why not practice on tictacs? Then she can move up to m&ms and eventually other candies. You're not worried about overdoses with sugar :) Yes! That's what my ds' doctor suggested when we asked. These resources might help as well: The New Method of Swallowing Pillswallowing.com My ds finally was able to swallow a pill last year at age 14. Whew! It's a relief to know he can do it now. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Another Lynn Posted February 10, 2016 Share Posted February 10, 2016 Not to de-rail op's purpose, but one of mine can swallow adult ibuprofen okay, but that doesn't mean he can swallow the big honkin' horse pill of a multi-vitamin for teens I bought him once. When I was little, One-a-Day made a child's vitamin about the size of a red-hot. I wish they still did. Some of mine hate the taste of gummy vitamins, so they are no help. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SebastianCat Posted February 10, 2016 Share Posted February 10, 2016 My DD used to take these vitamins that I got through Vitacost online. They were very small compared to adult multivitamins and were easy for her to swallow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
................... Posted February 10, 2016 Author Share Posted February 10, 2016 Can you get chewables! A few people didn't read the OP... I am not trying to find VITAMINS for her to take because she needs to take vitamins/ I am trying to USE Vitamins to teach her to be able to take any and all pills that may come her way. Everyone else, thank you for all these suggestions! I have a few on my list now that will work great as the next step! Also, I also like Arcadia's idea about getting a pill cutter for the really large ones. At her age she has never been prescribed a super large pill but the Mucinex she takes for her asthma is huge, and we normally crush it but then that changes how it's absorbed by the body. Crushing is not always a good idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiewindmomma Posted February 10, 2016 Share Posted February 10, 2016 tic-tacs, m&ms, jellybeans, then mike & ike's is the progression we used. Ds can now swallow all of his normal medications. He still sometimes has to remember to relax his throat but a glass of water does the trick when he a large pill (like adult super multivitamin) gets stuck. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wendyroo Posted February 10, 2016 Share Posted February 10, 2016 tic-tacs, m&ms, jellybeans, then mike & ike's is the progression we used. Ds can now swallow all of his normal medications. He still sometimes has to remember to relax his throat but a glass of water does the trick when he a large pill (like adult super multivitamin) gets stuck. Your kids are way luckier than mine - I always make them practice with frozen peas. Wendy 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tammyla Posted February 10, 2016 Share Posted February 10, 2016 Mini M&M's... :thumbup: They also make a special cup that has a ledge to put a pill on above the liquid; you just open your mouth and drink it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vida Winter Posted February 10, 2016 Share Posted February 10, 2016 I would avoid it altogether and use gummi-vitamins. Coated pill multivitamins can cause extreme stomach distress. I have never been able to take them for that reason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alice Posted February 10, 2016 Share Posted February 10, 2016 If she wants to practice, why not practice on tictacs? Then she can move up to m&ms and eventually other candies. You're not worried about overdoses with sugar :) This is always what I tell people to do. I did it with my own son also and it worked pretty well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wapiti Posted February 10, 2016 Share Posted February 10, 2016 (edited) I also recommend mini M&Ms and tic tacs. One of my kids could not do it but finally got it down at 12. The biggest help were these videos, especially video #2 and the duck shake: http://research4kids...pillswallowing/ I *highly* recommend these videos for anyone who is struggling with pill swallowing. We tried so many things (applesauce, Oralflo cup, handouts from dr offices, etc.) and this was the only thing that worked for my ds. Edited February 10, 2016 by wapiti 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
73349 Posted February 10, 2016 Share Posted February 10, 2016 Like crushing, cutting is not recommended for some medicines. I like the candy suggestion. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katiebug1976 Posted February 14, 2016 Share Posted February 14, 2016 I know it's not a vitamin, but m&m's work great! Start out with the Mimi's, then move on to the regular size! It's a great way to learn and not a whole lot of sugar if you just use them for practice. I wish I would have known about this when I was younger...I have a Horribly sensitive gag reflex!! Good luck! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petrichor Posted February 14, 2016 Share Posted February 14, 2016 Not the same, perhaps, but I always have to swallow pills/capsules with food. I chew up the food until it's ready to swallow, then stick the pill in my mouth, surround it with the food, and swallow. I find marshmallows to work well for this. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janeway Posted February 15, 2016 Share Posted February 15, 2016 I use Chewables. I got a calcium pill caught in my throat a few months ago. Now I am back to chewables on everything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanaqui Posted February 15, 2016 Share Posted February 15, 2016 Welp, from now on I'll never be so embarrassed when I have to edit a comment because a re-read of the OP shows too obviously I'd skimmed it the first time around! Clearly, I'm not the only one who sometimes posts first and asks questions after :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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