Re: Teaching pill swallowing???

[Guest guest]

My son learned capsules in about 10 minutes (after spending 2 years trying

to find something that worked).

I'd take a cup of water with a straw. I'd hold the cup at his chest level

or a little lower. Put the capsule in his mouth then make him bend his head

to drink from the straw. His face should be straight down at the floor or

close to it. When you do this, and take a sip, the capsule floats to the

top of the liquid and when you swallow it goes down usually without being

felt. It's been 2 years or so since he learned and now he does it himself

this same way.

Tablets took a little longer, a few days maybe. I'd put the tablet in his

mouth, have him take a sip from a straw (hold cup in normal position), tip

the head back, then swallow. This way the tablet slides back along the

tongue to the back of the throat and goes down with the swallow motion

We tried 2 different kinds of cups, a special straw, and starting with tiny

things and working up. Nothing worked. This is what did it for us and from

day one my kid could swallow huge capsules without a problem. It may not

work for your child but give it a try.

I think once they swallow those first few and you make a huge deal out of

it, they are excited to keep trying. Once in a while my son will catch me

taking my vitamin and after I swallow it he says " good job " and claps.

Kerrie

[Guest guest]

My son hated the taste of the " mash " we made with all the supps in it. I

told him if he learned to swallow caps he wouldn't have to take the mash.

boy, was he motivated! You can buy different sized empty capsules to

practice with. We did a lot of modeling with my son, so he could see us

swallow a cap.

With learning anythi8ng new that seems difficult, my son will do a lot of

whining and crying and saying, " I can't, " but I would keep saying he could.

We started with the smallest caps first. Then he finally did it, and he was

so excited! Now he even swallows the big caps. Take pictures of him doing

each step and put captions underneath. We always end with a picture of the

whole family with big smiles and the caption will read " Now I can __________

all by myself, and Mommy and Daddy are so proud of me! "

We used these picture stories to potty train, swallow the pills, and learn

to hold his breath under water. All the training periods involved whining

and crying and took a few days, but all have been successful. Use short

training times bot no more than thirty minutes so neither of you goes

crazy. The potty training one, though, involved three days and he was taken

to the bathroom every hour. He got a prize if he did something int he

potty. The pill swallowing took two or three days, and the holding breath

under water took a week.

Patience and persistence pay off. Always model the behavior you are wanting

to teach --except the potty training one you can use pecs or picture

stories.

Hope this helps.

Haven

[Guest guest]

Honey? wouldn't that make it harder to swallow? There is a product

called Spray N Swallow that is flavored and makes the pill more slippery and

easy to go down.

We tried for 2 years to get my son to swallow pills, for him to LEARN to

swallow pills, When he was finally ready he got it. I'm not crazy about the

forcing it on them and pouring liquid down the throat of a child who

doesn't want the liquid. Sounds a bit barbaric to me. Sorry JMO It worked

for

your kid and I guess that's good, but there are less forceful ways to teach

kids this skill

Kerrie

In a message dated 7/21/2010 3:46:08 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,

april243@... writes:

What worked for us was putting a little bit of honey on the capsule and

once he had it in his mouth I immediately poured some liquid down his throat

(as best I could, sometimes he didn't want the liquid) and then followed up

with a reward. The old ABA technique of first take this then get this

worked in conjunction with the other things I mentioned.

[Guest guest]

The trick that worked for us is put the capsule in the mouth and pour 1 or 2

sips of water to swallow. Give more sips of water until completely swallowed.

Start with smallest capsule size and gradually up.

HTH,

Ragha

>

> Any tips?

>

> Our 4 y/o daughter is doing pretty well. Lately she is really not into taking

her supps. Normally she takes them without complaint.

>

> We are annoyed by her defiance but encouraged because it feels like she

understands much more. Know what I mean?

>

> Anyway, does anyone have any suggestions for pill swallowing for a 4 year old?

I know this is controversial for folks ASD or not (my 45 y/o sister still can't

swallow pills!). I'm tired of separating powders, etc and think if she could

swallow pills whole the whole supplement process would go well.

>

> Anyone?

>

> Thanks!

>

[Guest guest]

What worked for us was putting a little bit of honey on the capsule and once he

had it in his mouth I immediately poured some liquid down his throat (as best I

could, sometimes he didn't want the liquid) and then followed up with a

reward.  The old ABA technique of first take this then get this worked in

conjunction with the other things I mentioned.

http://aydansrecovery.blogspot.com/2009_08_01_archive.html

From: jazzyk298 <jazzyk298@...>

Subject: [ ] Teaching pill swallowing???

Date: Wednesday, July 21, 2010, 7:36 AM

 

Any tips?

Our 4 y/o daughter is doing pretty well. Lately she is really not into taking

her supps. Normally she takes them without complaint.

We are annoyed by her defiance but encouraged because it feels like she

understands much more. Know what I mean?

Anyway, does anyone have any suggestions for pill swallowing for a 4 year old?

I know this is controversial for folks ASD or not (my 45 y/o sister still can't

swallow pills!). I'm tired of separating powders, etc and think if she could

swallow pills whole the whole supplement process would go well.

Anyone?

Thanks!

[Guest guest]

When my son was 3, I taught him within 2 months with a pill shooter from my

local pet store. Place the pill inside the shooter, followed by the plunger.

Have him open mouth & place it right behind the gag reflex. Then gently push the

stopper on the plunger and follow up with water. Very easy! Cost approx $3. He

can now swallow pills better than I can...lol!

Valencia

Sent from Valencia's iPhone

On Jul 21, 2010, at 4:40 PM, ratlenhum@... wrote:

Honey? wouldn't that make it harder to swallow? There is a product

called Spray N Swallow that is flavored and makes the pill more slippery and

easy to go down.

We tried for 2 years to get my son to swallow pills, for him to LEARN to

swallow pills, When he was finally ready he got it. I'm not crazy about the

forcing it on them and pouring liquid down the throat of a child who

doesn't want the liquid. Sounds a bit barbaric to me. Sorry JMO It worked for

your kid and I guess that's good, but there are less forceful ways to teach

kids this skill

Kerrie

In a message dated 7/21/2010 3:46:08 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,

april243@... writes:

What worked for us was putting a little bit of honey on the capsule and

once he had it in his mouth I immediately poured some liquid down his throat

(as best I could, sometimes he didn't want the liquid) and then followed up

with a reward. The old ABA technique of first take this then get this

worked in conjunction with the other things I mentioned.

[Guest guest]

Yep. If it is a capsule, it floats. So, you place the capsule in your mouth,

drink a sip of whatever and then tilt your head FORWARD and the capsule floats

to the top, which is the back of your mouth. Then swallow. If you try to tilt

your head backwards for a capsule, you will inevitably have difficulty

everytime.

For the caplets, crush them. Add to grape juice 9masks the taste).

>

> Any tips?

>

> Our 4 y/o daughter is doing pretty well. Lately she is really not into taking

her supps. Normally she takes them without complaint.

>

> We are annoyed by her defiance but encouraged because it feels like she

understands much more. Know what I mean?

>

> Anyway, does anyone have any suggestions for pill swallowing for a 4 year old?

I know this is controversial for folks ASD or not (my 45 y/o sister still can't

swallow pills!). I'm tired of separating powders, etc and think if she could

swallow pills whole the whole supplement process would go well.

>

> Anyone?

>

> Thanks!

>

[Guest guest]

> Any tips?

Here is my page of ideas

http://www.danasview.net/capsules.htm

Dana