Learning How to Swallow Pills

One of the most challenging parts of giving a lot of vitamins and supplements to a young child is how to get them to take it. Often times, they taste gross, so that adds a big challenge.

O has taken his vitamins well for a long time now (since he was 8 months old!). We usually mix the vitamins in Apple Butter or some kind of organic fruit spread. Using Nutrivene-D's Microencapsulated formula also makes a huge difference. It helps mask the taste a lot!

Well, now that O is getting older (6 yrs old), we decided to try a pill swallow cup that we had heard about years ago. That cup is the...

Oralflo Pill Swallowing Cup

We tried it with a couple of the older kids who have difficulty swallowing vitamins and it worked just as described. So, we tried it on O the next day and what do you know, it worked with him too! Perfect-o!

It hasn't been without it's challenges though. O likes to stick his tongue in the little pill spot. I think it's just the way he drinks with this cup, since it's slightly odd shaped.

But......

We've been able to work around that. Some of the vitamins (particularly the fish oil gel capsules) tend to get stuck in the little spout at times. So, we stick the vitamin in O's mouth and then have him drink out of the cup (without the lid on). And we remind him to drink & swallow.

It works pretty much every time. He just needs to get it down a little bit better. But, we haven't had any hiccups with it for a couple days.

So, here's to hoping we can be moved to all capsules or pills by the next time we have to order Nutrivene!