We were at clinic the other day and the CF team mentioned that our 3 1/2 should start swallowing her enzymes soon. Currently we are opening them and she is taking the beads from a spoon. I asked her this morning if she wanted to try it and she said no. She will be going to school in Sept. and I would like her to be able to take them properly before then. She is on Cotazym 4......6 per meal or 4 per snack. They are bigger than creon.They suggested practicing with tic tacs but I was wondering if anyone else had any suggestions.AM
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Swallowing Pills
- Thread starter anonymous
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This worked for my daughter, she started swallowing pills at 2 yrs old. First we would put 1 pill in a spoon of applesauce. I wouldn't use the word swallow, I would just say to eat it down. Most kids don't chew applesauce so it's not usually a problem. After a coulpe days of this, I would then put a pill in her mouth and tell her to drink it down. It worked really great for her. The biggest thing I feel, is for us parents not to make a big deal out of it. Don't make it seem like a unatural thing to do. Just be matter of fact. On another note, I have a 13 yr old that still has a hard time taking pills. He never did have to take them at a young age though. Hope this helps.
Our son started swallowing pills when he was two. He is now four, and can swallow 3 pills at once with water, or swallow 1 pill at a time with no water. I can't really give you any tips if she doesn't want to try. Maybe make it a game, where you swallow 1, then she swallows 1. We've had to do that to get our son to eat (since he doesn't like eating at all). Try getting her involved, like asking her how many pills she needs, letting her open the bottle, and then counting them out. Give her her own special cup, and let her get her own water. Our son has a feeding tube, and loves helping me get it ready for him at bedtime.
Well after reading these posts, I thought "hey, my daughter is two...maybe she can swallow them too..." so just this a.m. I prepared things like normal. Put Mylee in her enzyme taking spot, put the peaches (we use baby speeches since they are thinner than applesauce and doesn't seem to gag her as much) on the spoon and pressed an entire capsule into it. And she did it!! The big thing was that I never let on to her that I was trying anything different. I just told her take a big bite and she really didn't see it coming. So maybe try a surprise attack. Good luck.Christiemommy to twins Malachi wocf and Mylee wcf
My daughter is 5 and still takes her enzymes on a spoon of babyfood peaches. I have tried a few things to get her to take the enzymes without opening them up - including hiding them in the peaches and trying to get her to swallow m&m's as practice. For a long time she refused to even try to swallow them but now she has agreed to try the tic tac way.........we'll se what happens.Anyway, I think it depends on the kid. The clinic should not be pushing anyone to swallow pills early. So if it works , great, if not, don't put pressure on your daughter, it might make matters worse.Good luck with it!Andrea
I remember when my daughter swallowed pills for the first time, I was so excited as I'm sure you are. To let you know, she did regress at one point and for about 4 months we went back to the applesauce. She did go back to swallowing though. Life is so much easier without having to take applesauce to restaurants and every where else. My daughter still struggles with drinking enough boost or pediasure. I think swallowing more pills, instead of changing to bigger one and taking less, helps out. She takes a drink with each pill and it's just that much more drink in her. She can swallow 3 or more at a time but I encourage one just to get the drinks in. Congrats!!
Wow, I guess I got really lucky. I suppose I never really thought of it. My son was 2 when he started swallowing 3creon 20's with water. I can see thier point, time release does play a factor in the aided digestion, but you can't force a child to do something they just can't or won't do. Seems that as with most things, the earlier they catch on, the easier it is for mom . (smile)MatsMom
I rember when my son started school trying to get him to take his creion for the first year his teacher opened the tablet and put it on his yougart.It took about a year .Then one day he was in his grandmothers and she said to him to pretend that it was his favorate sweet he was swollowing and it worked after a few trys.I hope this is some help
My daughter is two and a half. She swallowed a creon for the first time the other day. She has swallowed one creon since with every meal. I just place it in the applesauce and she doesn't know it is there. She has been on Ultrase, but they are so much bigger. I have read that two is a good time to start swallowing pills, so I just tried it. She is going to pre-school next fall and I know it would be much easier for her teachers to just hand her the pills.Sharon, mom to Sophia, 2 and Jack 6 months, both with cf
Hi hi. I'm 20, have CF. I swallowed the little beads for years and years. My first few years of elementary school, my pills were at the nurse's office, and because she knew me personally, she learned real fast what to do for me. The whole beads in the spoon extavaganza. I started swallowing the pills when I was in, I think, 3rd or 4th grade. It doesn't matter how it's done, as long as it works for your child. Let her start swallowing them whole on her own time. -Emily
AbsintheSorrow
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Oops. That was me. Forgot to login. -Em
WOOOOHOOOO!Rachel finally has started swallowing her Creon 5 pills instead fo having them in babyfood peaches! This is a big step forward for her. She had agreed to try it with the tic tacs, but after a few times gagging on them she didn't want to do it anymore. Then, I bought a flavor of tic tacs that I knew she would not like and a flavor that she would. I let her have one tic tac to eat and then one to swallow, then one to eat. Then I said that she could not have any more unles she swalloed 2 and then she could have one of the ones that she likes. Well I got her up to swallowing 7 tic tacs, before having the "reward" one that she likes. (she has to swallow 7 creon 5 pills with meals) Then I started giving her one creon to swallow at the begining of meals before I would open the other 6 caps, then she got a "reward" tic tac after the meal. Then yesterday am I moved it up to needing to swallow 2 pills. Last night before her tube feed, she just kept swallowing them as I handed them to her. She took all 7 of the pills that she needed and all day today, she has swalloed them with no problem. She was so resistant to the idea of swallowing them for so long I am in shock about this! This will make things much easier for her! (me too)Andrea
Andrea, Congrats on getting her to swallow her pills. I am the one that started this posting and I too have succeeded at getting my daughter to swallow her enzymes etc. Life is much easier when you do not have to carry around apple sauce, a spoon, container etc. She feels like a big girl now and we are giving her a bit more control of her meds. Now that she can do it on her own we let her get her enzymes from the fridge, count them out take them on her own. We are trying to make her more self-sufficient because she will be going to pre-school in Sept and I want to make sure she knows-in case the adults forget.Maybe next, I can get her to go to the pharmacy every month and get them too<img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif" border="0">AM
When i was a little kid my mom put the enzyme beads in apple sauce and i ate a spoonfull to get em down.But i'm almost 18 (Apr 6th) and i've been taking all kinds of pills w/no prob.I took a whole Tums once, i didn't know u were soposed to chew em. haha I take McNeil MT16 enzymes.
My daugter is 15 months old and just yesterday she swallowed her pills. I would put one pill on her highchair, she put it in her mouth and then took a drink of milk thru a straw. She too 3 pills this way one at a time. The 4th i put into the straw and let her take a drink. I did not make a big deal about it until she took all 4 pills. I was quiet proud of her it is such a big step, atleast for the parents it is. Christina momkendall daughter wcf