Weird Question, can you recommend small easy to swallow vitamins?

[...................]

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

[MerryAtHope]

Not sure, but my friend's older children learned how to take pills by drinking through a straw when they took them.

[KrissiK]

Can you get chewables!

[She Reads a Lot]

Vitamin D pills are usually tiny. Mine are 2,000 IUs, and it's an itty bitty pill.

[Arcadia]

My mom use a pill cutter. Strong gag reflex runs on the maternal side of my family.

[Ms.Ivy]

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!

[kiwik]

I just crush pills and mix them with nutella or something.

[Tanaqui]

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.

[abacus2]

My husband takes gummy vitamins.

[Cosmos]

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.

 

 

[Another Lynn]

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.  

[SebastianCat]

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.

[...................]

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.  

[prairiewindmomma]

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.

[wendyroo]

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

[Tammyla]

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.

[Vida Winter]

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.

[Alice]

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. 

[wapiti]

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

[73349]

Like crushing, cutting is not recommended for some medicines.

 

I like the candy suggestion.

[Katiebug1976]

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!

[Petrichor]

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. :)

[Janeway]

I use Chewables. I got a calcium pill caught in my throat a few months ago. Now I am back to chewables on everything.

[Tanaqui]

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 :)