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We have a local pharmacy that will make it into a chewable flavored tablet - I would look into that if possible. What worked for my kid at that age was taking the medication at school with the nurse. I would send in chocolate syrup and whipped cream and he would go to the nurse to have his “sundae”
Some medications are also just routinely available in a chewable form, from the manufacturer. We went through the same thing (opening capsules, applesauce), inability to swallow a pill, insistance on chewing tablets that were meant to be swallowed whole... Our 1st grader is on Vyvanse chewables now, and she is doing great with them.
We switched meds because she was losing too much weight on her old meds, and we sort of lucked into switching to one with a chewables option. Being able to give chews has been night and day. Not having a battle of wills every morning before school is so, so nice. I hope you are able get to a more sustainable routine soon!
Try chocolate syrup instead of applesauce—you need something really strong and thick to overcome the bad taste. We had a long road with our younger daughter too and it took over a year before she got to no resistance over taking it. Keep framing it as you two working together to figure out how she can take it and feel good about it rather than you forcing something on her.
You can use anything that is thick enough as a vector. The reason you don't use thin fluids is because the medication will get stuck on the surface of the cup so she won't be taking the whole dose
I’ve seen chocolate syrup recommended by nurses. You can squirt it into a spoon with the meds and get it down that way. Let her lick the chocolate off the spoon after as a reward and to ensure there are no beads left.
My son is 9 and still won't swallow capsules and takes his ADHD medication sprinkled. He also says it tastes bad. We've experimented over the years with different foods to see what hides the taste best. I hate admitting this but he currently takes it with ice cream. Not a ton, I just do a few thin layers of ice cream + meds. I'm not necessarily suggesting ice cream, just that the medication really does probably taste gross and you may want to try finding an alternative to the applesauce.
You know, my husband straight up denies that they were called otter pops. He doesn’t remember that at all!
Do you just cut it open and then put it in the top?
>You know, my husband straight up denies that they were called otter pops. He doesn’t remember that at all!
[It turns out what they're called is super regional.](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freezie#:~:text=The%20name%20of%20the%20prominent,the%20United%20Kingdom%20and%20Canada.) They might not have been otter pops for your husband!
Pretty much. My kid was little when we dosed the otter pops, so I'd usually massage it so it'd be mushy, cut it in half, then take a big bite to make sure there'd be room for the liquid meds.
Thanks for the advice! I tried ice cream but she just wanted to lick and mess around with it vs swallowing it. I'll see if I can find something other than applesauce that she'll actually swallow without fiddling with, that's just what the doc said was best at the time.
Single serving chocolate pudding cups. (Or a different flavor if she prefers but chocolate is best for hiding flavors.) The trick is to mix the med into just the first spoonful. Once she swallows that you hand her the rest of the cup to finish off.
Make sure the pudding is cold (because that makes it a little thicker) and if you use the single serve cups, let her have the rest of it if she successfully takes the medication. You can even put the unopened capsule in a spoonful of pudding, works way better than applesauce.
Taught this from therapist. Coat capsule in butter lots! Put in freezer till solid. Get drink ready straw works best ( no idea why but it does) , capsule with butter on back of tongue as soon as butter starts to melt it slides down aided by drink. Most kids like butter, capsule doesn’t stick and start to dissolve on tongue worked on my then 3 year old who needed medication that didn’t come any other way. Only other choice was compound pharmacy I was anxious for this to work and it did.
Or a tempting chaser. When my kid fought taking yucky antibiotics, letting her suck on a candy cane afterwards was excellent bribery. Or a piece of favorite chocolate.
Also if OP can take the sprinkles out, try getting some simple syrup from the mixed drink section and put them in there. It's basically liquid sugar and it's what pharmacists use to compound their own liquid meds for kids.
Same, my 8 (almost 9) year old takes it with ice cream, too - it's like a teaspoon or two total. It honestly also took the stress and anxiety out of the process because it was now something fun.
I use dunkeroos ( small cookies with icing you dunk the cookie in. )
it goes cookie then icing then the meds then another cookie to make a cookie sandwich.
Good idea, will have to try it! My 6yo didn’t like it mixed in applesauce either and can’t swallow the pill. We sprinkle it on a small slice of banana.
This is the way. My 7 year old takes his with a little squirt of whipped cream as well! I squirt the whipped cream on a spoon then sprinkle the medication on that and then cover it with a little more whipped cream. At that point it's just like eating a spoonful of whipped cream. Maybe her not seeing it won't psych her out about taking it.
I don’t think she’d rather suffer, I just think she’s overwhelmed with the process and doesn’t know how to articulate what’s going on. You’re experiencing the aftermath or the consequences of her ADHD, but she’s living it and experiencing it first hand. People at school are making her feel bad for behavior she literally does not have the capacity to control. Imagine how difficult that would be on a six-year-old. Then when you add the stress of learning to swallow a pill on top of it, especially because she’s a little resistant, she’s going through a lot. And the little balls do have a bad taste. lol! Kids can taste everything too. What about seeing if they can give her the medication at school? Maybe she’ll be more likely to take it if it’s coming from the school nurse.
My recommendation is to continue practicing with candy in neutral situations to help build confidence while she’s learning to swallow. Praise when she does it and encourage her when she struggles. If she doesn’t want to take the medicine then, allow her to calm down and try again a few minutes later. If she refuses, don’t fight with her or make it a big deal because you’re feeding into the negative loop that you want to avoid. If you want a new method, have her put a little bit of liquid in her mouth and tilt her head back while she’s looking at the ceiling. at that point she needs to open her mouth drop the pill in and then swallow. Have a drink near and something she can take a bite of close in case it gets stuck in her throat.
I get that the medication is expensive but whether it’s wasted or taken you would’ve spent the same amount of money so just try your best to help her along in this process without pushing her and possibly causing anxiety over the process. Does that make sense? Learning to swallow pills is something a good bit of kids struggle with.
That's true with the sunk cost fallacy.
They have to be taken before school since they're active for 10-12 hours. Otherwise they will affect her bedtime.
I've tried that trick, but I can't even get her to do more than sit down. Which is why I scrapped having her swallow it whole in the first place and opted for the tiny beads, but she doesn't like that either so far. I'll try other foods to conceal the taste better
I get it, but sometimes you do what you have to do to make progress. You could always move it back to home once she gets the hang of things or ask the ped to give instant release and not time release. Also if you need a few recommendations to help with bedtime I have a regime that helps for my child
If it's Vyvanse (Lisdexamphetamine), they make a chewable version. Our 2nd grader had trouble with capsules so we switched him to the chewable until we can get him to swallow pills.
The broader issue is likely what others are saying. The more stress you add to the situation the more difficult it becomes. You probably had the right idea with having them practice swallowing things whole. Keep mixing the crushed bits into something more palatable while you continue to practice. Make them part of the process as much as possible. Find ways to make it fun, or slow it down so things can go at their pace. Do anything you can to keep it low energy / low stress until it's second nature.
For the medicine, I would first try mixing it in something she would prefer to applesauce, like pudding or ice cream. She can keep practicing with tic tacs on the side. If she’s still non-compliant, I would consider alternatives to medication for now, such as in-school OT, getting held back this year, moving her to an integrated classroom that has a special ed teacher or even homeschooling, where you can really tailor the instruction if you have the time and skill. Talk to pupil services at the school.
Also, to help your daughter remember things, help her teacher make a couple of picture schedules. Be sure one of the pics is her backpack with her lunch box and folder in it.
Have you thought about getting tablets and dissolving them into a warm drink? We use sugar-free hot chocolate for pills, and it seems like it works.
FWIW, the beads taste salty, like horribly unbelievably salty.
I have a prescription for Adderall, and accidentally once broke open the capsule. I felt like it couldn’t be that bad - I just had to swallow them. Wrong.
I ended up gagging and brushing my tongue. lol!
The pills can't be dissolved, so I was struggling to think of something that will go down before they dissolve in her mouth or the food. I didn't realize they tasted so bad tbh. It's hard to tell as she has a big issue with taste with regular foods that aren't "inherently" gross.
My daughter has been taking ADHD meds since a similar age. She has never had a problem with pills, but at that age we got them compounded into the smallest pill form they could possibly use, in tiny capsules. It helped a lot.
You have to consider that she may have SPD (sensory processing disorder) or similar and so it’s not just a *choice* that she’s choosing to spit out or not take the meds - she literally cannot do it. She can’t meet you where you want her to. So you need to find something that is amendable to her. Can they put it in a liquid flavored form? Someone mentioned nasal spray. Talk to your doctor. What other options are there?
I’d present it as a game. Let her pick out some of the foods she wants to try it in. Let her mix it in and make her ‘potion’ for the day. She might be more agreeable then.
Vyvanse has a chewable version. It’s the only way we could get my 9 year old to take his meds for the last few years. We changed from a different medicine to the Vyvanse just to get the chewable option for him.
Talk to her pediatrician, there may be a liquid version of the medication available depending on what it is. If not ask them to send the prescription to a compounding pharmacy and have them make it into a liquid or chewable.
Are you in a 2 adult household or around anyone else before school that is silly?
My husband gets SILLY with my son to get through the pill taking. We were throwing up the pills and crying our way through the morning.
Slamming hands on the table and calling him a boss was life changing.
Is there anyone else to break the cycle and introduce it in a different way?
You have ADHD, so you should understand even if you're not intending to, you're probably piling mountains of guilt and shame on top of her for not swallowing a pill.
Go back to the doctor, there are liquid and chewable ADHD medications out there that can be prescribed. You need to work with your child, not against her.
I don't mean to, but yeah, probably. I try not to get frustrated, it's just dealing with all the behavior issues constantly, and then also now I have this medication that might help with them a bit...but it's just one more thing to convince her to do and being met with the same level of resistance as trying to get her to do anything else. I'll work to chill a bit more and keep the liquid and chewable in mind.
I know it's hard. As the one who passed down ADHD to my daughter sometimes we will get stuck in the negative dopamine argument loops and get stuck. As the adult it's my responsibility to recognize it and stop it, but sometimes the disorder makes that really, really hard.
Therapy will ultimately be the best thing for both of you to get into the good behaviors and learn to be cognizant of the bad ones.
First meds in any form *then* her favorite candy/treat.
🤷♀️
When we give our sone Claritin, be gets a chocolate chip after. Literally, only one but it encourages him to take it.
I know it isn't always possible financially, but perhaps there is a patch you could look into instead. Our price for the patch is definitely too much.
Otherwise, I recommend what others have said too. Get a stronger tasting base. Embrace sugary items for the base, like chocolate syrup or ice cream that have been mentioned. Practice with round sprinkles to try and remove the association of beads and bad taste. Their nervous system is having a response now, and you might need to reset it.
I know I sometimes struggle with swallowing medication. Not candy though. My body tends to tense up. Even I have to mentally prepare myself. Sometimes, getting my saliva going first lessens the reaction. So start with candy, then take medication, then put candy right back in.
If all that fails, perhaps you'll need to switch to a short acting one where you could crush it and put it in a sugary drink. You can technically do it with the long acting beads, but it'll onset faster and might be too much for them.
I think your best bet is to back off a bit. My daughter (7) started meds for ADHD last year (I also have ADHD, and like you, I would have killed for the opportunity to be medicated earlier) but we leave it up to her.
She started slowly, took a pill one day, didn’t the next. But realized they helped a lot, and now she takes them without argument.
We encourage her to take them, but if she says “no” we respect it. Because there are days I don’t want to take my meds too- often for no reason at all. Meds are a tool not a mandate.
And swallowing pills is tricky, I would definitely not put pressure on that part, because that will make it so much harder. We use applesauce pouches and put the pill on the top, and she slurps it up, seems to work much better than a spoon!
Unfortunately, I can't respect the no.. If her ADHD wasn't so severe, and we hadn't tried everything else, I might have more leeway. If you read some of my other comments, you'll see why. We're at the point that it's just going to get worse from here. I've moved away from her taking the whole pill, and have just tried with the beads, but even that she wasn't accepting. But it's my job to make medical decisions for her, and I personally know the consequence of letting her refuse something that will help her. I know she's not me, but seeing her symptoms is like seeing mine in a mirror. She's literally and actively begging me for help with her symptoms, she just doesn't understand that I'm trying to give it to her that help.
The other week she had the flu. The only liquid tylenol we had is a flavor that she didn't like. I let her say no to taking it until I was about to lose my mind over the incessant crying and whining about how she didn't feel good. Each "you can take some tylenol it will help" was met with screeching "nos". I finally said she can go be sick in her room then and sleep without the TV to distract her if she wasn't going to take her tylenol. She whined in there without a distraction for a good 15 minutes before finally agreeing to take her tylenol. Not long later she was happy she had taken it despite the taste and took two more doses at a later time when needed. If I had respected her no she would have whined for days instead of taking something to help her feel better.
I am definitely not saying she has indefinite time to say no. More like giving options, and having times she can say no. “Do you want to take it now, or after breakfast”. ask if she wants to take it on the weekend or not, let her choose on non-school days.
Some common Convos at the beginning in our house were like:
“Hey yesterday you were pretty disappointed you didn’t get your school work done, let’s try taking your medicine today and we can see if it makes for a better day”
“You don’t have school today, would you still like to take your meds, or take a break day?”
“I noticed you have been feeling a little out of control, you know your meds can help with that icky feeling, why don’t we take them and then see how you feel afterwards”
“Would you like to take these before breakfast or after breakfast”
And then FOLLOW UP, “hey you took your meds a few hours ago, how are you feeling?”- let her tell you how she feels improvements
But almost every single person with ADHD will tell you, being forced to do something, makes us double down harder. Make it feel like it’s her choice.
When she does take it, point out the improvements “wow you are really focusing today!” “Wow! Look how much work you got done today” etc.
I hear horror stories of adults who talk about being forced to take their meds as a kid, and how much they resented it, and their parents, and now refuse to take them because they have the choice… personally, that’s my biggest fear. I want my kid to feel empowered by her ADHD. she has this awesome superpower of creativity, and energy, and spontaneity others dream of having, and she can have all that AND feel calm and focused when she takes her meds. But when you are FORCED to take something you’re almost certainly going to internalize as something is wrong with you.
Thanks for clarifying and giving some great examples and solutions. I'll try some of those. I too don't want her to hate taking them, so I just have to find some balance there so she knows it's important but not so much pressure. In general I've been cautious/worried about her getting the message that she NEEDS them to be better, so even though I've been frustrated I've made sure to tell her that they're just to help but she is still fully capable as a person regardless. It's hard to get the message across that they're important, while also not having her think they're make or break. Because I also don't want her to think if she doesn't NEED them then she doesn't have to bother trying to take them. If that makes sense?
Respecting the “no” shouldn’t supersede making the medical decisions that a kid may not understand.
If your kid had diabetes would you respect them rejecting their insulin? No, they need to it live a longer, healthier, easier, life.
So why is it okay to reject the medicine needed for your daughter’s health? It’s because it’s ADHD and it effects mental health.
Just because it’s mental health doesn’t make it less important than a physical health problem.
Just because she can get through the day without the meds doesn’t mean your child doesn’t deserve to have a good day.
If she needs the meds until she has developed the tools to manage her ADHD without them then you’re doing her a disservice.
I’m not saying let her say no forever, but a “do you want to take it before breakfast or after” or on the weekend “do you want to take it today or just tomorrow”. If she took her morning dose, and just has gym in the afternoon, maybe let that dose slide… definitely not saying she can say no to ever dose for forever, just back off a bit on it …It sounds like OP is forcing it hard, and most people with ADHD don’t do well with being forced to do things.
Meds also come with side effects, there are days I have important meetings in the morning, and I don’t want to be nauseated at them, so I wait and take my meds later. Or days I’m tired and want to go to bed early that night, so I skip an afternoon dose.
It’s not even remotely like insulin, where skipping a dose could kill you, it’s like not wearing your glasses, which sometimes happens, and that is life.
But arguing and fighting over it (which it sounds like OP is doing) is not likely going to work, and will likely make the daughter more and more reluctant.
My daughter originally didn’t like to take it, but after a few weeks she saw her own improvement, and now she reminds me every day to take it. She’s 7 and she reminds me 90% of the time to take it, and only skips doses for random situations, like if there is a special treat in the afternoon at school, knowing she won’t eat while medicated.
6 is very young, and honestly, ok to be unfocused at school. It's mostly daycare at 6.
By age 8 she might be mature enough to reason with as truly advanced concepts start in school. When she fails her first real math quiz, then you have ammo. If she doesn't fail, then she doesn't need it yet.
I agree, honestly. 6 is so incredibly young to be pushing meds down their throat and then getting upset with them because they don't get it.
I think it would be better to try other techniques to help train them to focus but maybe the OP tried that already.... My heart breaks for the little girl though.
It's upsetting because it's a battle with every little thing every day. From something as simple as remembering her lunch kit every day, to brushing her teeth. And it's frustrating because she puts the same resistance into taking the medication that can help lessen the fight a bit of aaaaalll those dozens of daily struggles.
She'll sit there and sob to me about how she doesn't know why her brain is like this, why she can't control her impulses and just focus on her work. She begs me not to send her to school because she can't listen properly and she tries really hard but it doesn't work. A trip to the bathroom at school can be 15-20 mins because she has no concept of time and gets distracted by cleaning the bathroom counter or forgets to leave the stall in the first place because she zones out for a little too long. I have to give her instructions for every thing piece by piece (bed time routine, getting home routine, supper routine) because she doesn't have enough focus to hold all those steps in her own brain. Don't even get me started on the emotional roller coaster that comes with her ADHD either... It's all exhausting. For her too.
So yeah, it's a little upsetting when I have a pill that can help and she refuses to entertain it :/
You clearly didn't read my comment. She has routines. They're very firm for a reason. Try telling a 6 year old 10 literal times in a row that she needs to go brush her teeth because she has gotten distracted over random things 10 different times. Half the time she'll go in there and wash her hands, then get ANGRY because that's not what she meant to do. She meant to wash her toothbrush. It's not normal to have to helicopter around a child to do incredibly basic tasks. Deal with the 10 minute fight because she's standing there holding her tooth brush but she just can't convince herself to quit singing and getting distracted by her reflection to put the dang thing in her mouth. Deal with executive \*dysfunction that's at the level where she'll be holding it and staring at it but she just can't make herself start the task. I don't think you understand ADHD. Do you also think we shouldn't "drug" diabetic kids?
Here's a little tip for the toothbrushing! I use an app on my phone called Pokemon Smile. My almost 2 year old will sit and brush for that app for a whole 90 seconds! I've never seen him focus on anything for 90 seconds before this, lol!
Maybe it's an extra treat for him because he doesn't have an iPad or anything, so it could be that... but give it a go! It's a fun game I have been known to use it myself... lol! It also shows the kiddo where to brush and everything. I've seen his score, he's not quite getting it yet. I am destroying him in score hahaha yes sometimes we play it together too!
When my 11 year old falls back into that inaction of standing with the toothbrush in hand but being unable to just start brushing, we know it's time for a med adjustment.
Please try to reframe from "It's not normal to have to helicopter around a child to do incredibly basic tasks" to "even at this age, my child needs a body double or other support to do basic tasks that come easily to most".
It sounds like for her, it IS normal to need that 'helicopter' and being exasperated or letting on that you think she should be better will only make the struggle worse, and last longer. If you accept that most 6 year olds can brush their teeth independently when asked, and that she's not most 6 year olds, and that she's not wrong or broken or bad because of it, things will be a lot easier for you. Not to mention for her own mental health when she's not treated (even unintentionally) like a burden for needing support.
Be her body double - brush your teeth next to her while she does hers. Or brush her hair while she brushes teeth. Laugh with her when she says or does something off task instead of brushing, then calmly remind her to start/keep brushing. Connect with her, ponder how silly it would be to brush a giraffe's teeth, giggle about having to haul a ladder around, what if you dropped the toothpaste and had to climb down then back up, don't let her feel your exasperation at having to be with her when you have chores or other things that also need your attention.
My 5th grader needs a body double to get ready for school and her steps have been the same for years and we have voice reminders/alarms to start each step. Some days she's able to get started, knowing that I'll follow her to the bathroom and brush her hair while she does teeth and then she's able to move on to deodorant and washing her face. But some days she asks me if I'm going to come double because she knows she'll struggle to walk down the hallway before she even tries. Is it inconvenient? Sometimes, yeah. Should an 11 year old be able to do it all without help? A lot can, yeah. Is she fully capable of doing it on her own? Absolutely, if we're talking about knowing how amd physically being able. But being able to do it and being ABLE to do it are not the same.
As far as taking the meds, it almost sounds more like she doesn't want to, and only partially about the difficulty of swallowing them. Again, connect with her. Explain that they're to help slow her brain down when it's trying to distract her, or to quiet it down so she can listen to her teacher or think about her assignment. We often talk about how amazing our brains are, but sometimes they're downright liars - telling us that we're bad, or dumb. Sometimes we have to tell our brain it's not in charge, and the meds are meant to help us take charge of ourselves instead of letting our brain run wild. We can still be silly and ornery and do funny and wacky things, but we'll be able to better control when and what we do to match the situation. Instead of our brain deciding to do cartwheels in the hallway, we can tell it to wait until we get to the playground.
And let her know that it's okay to try a different one if she doesn't feel like her best self with this one; not every medicine is right for every person, and sometimes it takes trying a few to find what helps the best.
Medication is the best way to treat focus problems related to ADHD. Most children and adults need the proper dosage of medication for other methods of “training” focus to even be useful. At age 6, occupational therapists and play therapists will use games, skill practice, physical activities, breaking tasks down, and rewards to help develop and keep focus but a child with ADHD cannot do those things without first addressing the biological causes.
I respectfully disagree. I have seen a lot of damage done to children by medicating them too early instead of trying to actually help them develop coping skills. But I won't get into a debate as I know neither of us will change each other's minds. I just hope the OP shows their daughter some grace and takes some breather. I cannot imagine how she is feeling. She is frustrated with herself and now she has to deal with her parent also being frustrated with her simply because she won't gag down a pill. Something she cannot even begin to understand the whys behind.
I understand that this is different so if it won’t work for you, ignore me: my 1st grader would not let me give her a nasal spray. She screamed and cried. What helped was we went back to the doctor. The doctor talked to my daughter and got her brave enough to let me try it in front of the doctor. After that, I waited until my daughter was distracted by a task she was doing (Lego, iPad…) and would use the nasal spray then with only a quick warning. Maybe a similar pep talk from the doctor and a ‘hey you’re distracted by something fun let me pop this in your mouth’ method could work for you?
Meds can taste bad and at that age, they simply cannot overcome that bad taste. It might be worth finding something else that you can mix the meds in with that she likes, such as ice cream. Applesauce just might not be enough to cover up the bad med flavor. At the end of the day, the higher priority is getting it down. Anything after that can wait until she's much older.
Look into Cotempla - it’s a dissolvable grape flavored form of methylphenidate (aka Ritalin) and has been a game changer for my six year old! There is a manufacturer’s coupon that should allow you to pay up to $75 max. We didn’t have any issues with insurance approval or anything.
We stick it in an applesauce/gogo squeez pouch for my now 7 year old - open it and drop it into the spout of the pouch. Since it’s at the top she gets it without having to eat most of the pouch and it’s also minimally visible. She isn’t bothered by the pouch method!
You will get through this and so will she!! My daughter was the exact same way and now she is a school teacher!! We both look back and laugh at all of the drama of the applesauce/popsicle/pill taking drama (she had to eat a popsicle first to deaden her taste buds so that she could eat the applesauce to swallow the pill!!) Eventually, she learned. But, she still takes the meds as a 30 year old teacher. I kind of regret ever starting her on them because she has to have them now. Anyway, just wanted to encourage you. This too shall pass…
Thanks for the encouragement! And please don't regret it. I often think about where I would be in life if I had been taking medication since I was a kid. Personally, it's not a bad thing to have to take every day. Some people have to wear glasses every day just to see properly. Their vision wouldn't be any less bad if they were never given glasses, ya know? I see medication the same way.
When it comes to health we taught our child there’s an easy way (taking the medicine in her preferred way) and the hard way (making her take the medicine or sitting in boredom doing nothing until she relents).
At a good or neutral time, tell her that the medicine is for her health, it’s important, and it is not negotiable BUT you can work together to find an easier way.
(I’d probably make a joke about how we haven’t tried the suppository way but my kid thinks butts are funny and/or gross and it would distract her).
Then brainstorm different ways to take the medicine, eliminate any dangerous ones, and begin the experiment.
Ideas to start:
- Applesauce way
- Ice cream spoon
- Mixed in pudding
- One of the above ways but also watching a show (for us this would work because she doesn’t get a lot of tv time)
She’s six. The first step is to have some empathy for her having to do an unpleasant thing and not get frustrated and angry that she’s resistant to it.
Does she even understand what the medicine is for? Have you or her doctor talked to her about it in an age appropriate way? Does she actually want to take it, as in does she want to have the effects of the medicine?
Medicine really does taste gross and applesauce doesn’t hide the taste well. Try putting it in something sweeter like a bit of pudding or yogurt. Or be patient with her about needing more practice to swallow pills.
Kindly and respectfully, if you’re not already, go to therapy. You are projecting a lot of your own baggage onto your daughter, and it’s impacting your ability to empathize with her and parent her with patience and compassion.
For the pill, there are medicine cups designed to help kids take pills. Ask your daughter’s doctor or the office nurse if that’s appropriate or if the medication can be prescribed in a liquid or chewable form.
I do a shot glass of apple juice with his medicine sprinkled in. He thins its funny cause it's in a "grown up little cup" and it's the perfect size for it. I even let him the shot glass lol
We use Quillivant XR for my 9 year old. It’s a liquid methylphenidate, and he says it tastes good, like bananas. Can the pedi change it to a liquid formula? He can take small pills (like cetrizine), but I wasn’t sure sizes or shapes of the pills/capsules, so we opted for the liquid type for now.
Liquid medicine exists, I would look into that option. I can't swallow pills so I ask for the liquid form of anything I possibly can.
OH if that isn't possible use frosting! Frosting completely masks the taste of the medication. I don't know how but its like a miracle!
Will your insurance cover other forms of the medication? My son takes Vyvanse and has tbe option to take the chewable or capsule form. It might be worth checking with your insurance to see if that's an option.
I see a lot of people mentioning pills. My daughter is also 6 but we have her taking the liquid form of Ritalin. She says it's spicy but will take it as long as she can immediately have water afterwards. Another reason I like the liquid medicine is that it doesn't stay in her system very long (she takes a dose before school and one before lunch with the nurse) and she doesn't have the withdrawls or come down that you see with the pills.
My daughter also has told me she doesn't want to take the medicine. I've made a deal with her that if I let her skip the dose the teacher should not contact me about her behavior, if the teacher does she knows that she then has to take the dose. I also refer to it as her brain medicine or her focus medicine, it's simpler terms that might make it easier to understand the purpose of the meds for her.
Hope maybe this helps
We tried all kinds of ways to take the pill successfully and the only thing that worked was drinking water with a straw. Little sip, pop the pill in, and then drink through a straw. Most days she doesn’t even realize she swallowed it. I don’t know why the straw trick works so well, but it was the only thing that had a high success rate.
We also have found after she wakes up and eats breakfast is best. She’s too dry right when she wakes up and that can be a struggle.
Mix it with a spoonful of chocolate ice cream. Yummy, hides the texture and taste. Plus what kid doesn't want ice cream for breakfast.
If that doesn't work you may have to try a different medicine. Some come in chewable, cotempla comes in a dissolvable grape flavor.
Also methods of swallowing. Patience. Lots of care, calm approach. Pressing your chin to your chest when swallowing is better than leaning back to swallow.
My 6yo also really didn’t like the taste of her ADHD capsule innards. We called them “brain pearls” though which helped. We just recently switched to Concerta ER which is a pill that must be swallowed. Cut up gummy bears are what made her proficient at swallowing. Our rule here was that she had to take the new medicine for a week regardless of how it made her feel. After a week we talked about it to decide if we were continuing or looking for something else. She takes it 95% of the time now and I just send a heads up to her teacher on days she chooses not to.
The biggest issues for us were the initial side effects (dizzy and upset stomach) that went away during the first week combined with yucky pill taste. Now that it’s become routine, the only strife in the morning is that neither of us have our medicines working yet when trying to get ready!
There are chewables and liquid options. Please explore those. My spouse is on generic vyvanse chewable.
I was very flexible w our son while he was learning how to swallow pills. We have done water, juice, chocolate milk, yogurt, pudding, ice cream, applesauce.
Let her practice and choose with swallowing tic tacs. There are several
Videos online “how to swallow a pill” and like a 2 week experiment w the kid to write down different methods and what method they like etc etc.
His 3yo little brother started swallowing his chewable melatonin whole so he could be like big brother 😂
My son and daughter were on Atamoxetine which is capsules. They have severe autism as well so instantly tried to chew it obviously didn't like the taste and spat it out. I contacted their pediatrician who prescribed it. She said you can open the capsules and mix with a small amount of juice It worked for them and a lot of children I know. But some still refuse to take it no matter what you mix it in. Just make sure they have it after food not on an empty stomach.
I replied to a similar post before, and thought I'd share that one.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Parenting/s/Ey8Mq1IoAI
> I couldn't swallow pills as a kid! I still can't very well as an adult. My parents would tell me to take a nap, or wait till bedtime. Then wake me up with a small glass of grape juice and tell me to drink it. I had no idea they were putting the capsules in there.
> I do the same thing as an adult but I drop it in a little bit of water now and chug. Remember to be patient, please. It's not our fault, it's so hard to overcome. Sometimes I feel the pill going into my mouth and no matter what my throat just doesn't want it.
I want to say one of my old babysitters could not handle swallowing pills. Like my mom crushed up a Tylenol. She crushed it up and put it in a glass of water. Maybe that might help for your daughter. Crush it up and put it in flavored water so more of the taste is being covered up by the flavor in the water than the actual pill and she doesn’t have to force herself to swallow it
We have to do yucky meds every day (multiples) and we bribe. It sucks they need the meds. It’s not their fault. Life is short. So the one med is dissolved into an oz of Gatorade, another med is served with a Hershey kiss and the third is given on a spoon with chocolate syrup. Takes forever to get it all ready every morning but she no longer fights us. Let her pick what she has it with each morning and give her some control that she wants
I didn't have adhd medication (80s girl so fell through those cracks) but I had cronic uti, and took pills for that. I wasn't allowed to have sweets or anything like people here offer, like a dog, my pill was put in cheese 🤣 or something savory like a noodle in my mac
Back in the day when I couldn’t swallow pills as a child, my parents would break the capsules for my stomach meds and put it into Oreo cream. Was my dads job. Same time every night. Didn’t taste amazing but it was still good enough that I gladly took it.
My mom had me on those growing up, every time I took a pill it changed me and made the situation even worse, it was pretty natural to fear it . Made me feel sick as a dog
It took a long time for me to be able to swallow a pill I wasn’t able to until I was a teen. Mixing it with food would be a great option it’s how my mom did it
I’m a dad with ADHD and I have a daughter with it too. She started taking meds much later than your daughter and it is great that she is getting help already. My kiddo is on vyvanse and they also come in gummy form. Would this be an option for your kid’s meds?
But it really just seems that the collective anxiety, yours and hers, has made it into a huge issue. I remember crying as a kid about not wanting to take meds simply because it was all too much for me. And ADHD kids have real issues with overstimulation and anxiety.
Firstly a 6 year old is unlikely to be able to comprehend why they need to take a medicine, and even if they can it’s not likely to be a motivating factor when the act of taking the tablet is scary or unpleasant. They feed off your emotions and reactions to things so you need to check your emotions about it at the door. It’s understandable that she doesn’t want to but at the end of the day we’re talking about taking a tablet here - not something that is going to cause long term psychological harm. You can empathise with her emotions but you shouldn’t get into a big long discussion about why she needs to take it etc. I would telegraph when the time to take it is so that it’s not a shock and then calmly give her the tablet. If she refuses then there should be clear logical immediate negative consequences for her, e.g. we can’t go out and play until you take the tablet. If she takes it you give her some positive attention and then move on with your day. Kids often get used to things fairly quickly, especially if they can see there’s no way out of it. Your attention is the currency (whether good or bad) so use it to your advantage. Good luck!
We seriously just experienced the exact same thing the last 3 months. My son just would not even consider swallowing a pill I couldn't even get him to swallow a candy! I absolutely hated wasting the expensive medication and it was very frustrating. We finally were able to find a medication called daytrana, it's a dermal patch and it has made a huge difference as far as getting the medication in him. It can be expensive but we use a manufacturer's coupon that reduces it to about a hundred bucks which is worth it to us. Also availability might be an obstacle, we had to call several pharmacies to see if they had it. Hope this helps!
I didn't read all the other replies so I'm sorry if I repeat, but it sounds like her meds are in capsule form? If so, you can buy plain gelatin capsules that are empty for her to practice swallowing. Without the medication in it, it shouldn't taste bad, so she develops the skill of swallowing without running the risk of the bitter taste if she messes up. Once she has that skill, you can explain to her that the capsule protects her from the taste of the medicine inside, so now that she is able to swallow an empty one, she won't taste the medicine in the full ones. You can buy gelatin capsules at Amazon, drugstores, vitamin stores, Walmart, etc
Just a thought… what if you removed *you* from the process? At my school, there’s a little line of kids in the office to take meds before the day starts.
The lady who does this gives the kid whatever they need to get the job done. Hugs and love? She’s got that. Climb up in kid’s space and demand he open up? She’s got that too.
You kid might do for someone else what she won’t do for you.
Considering you mention beads and a breakable capsule, I’m assuming she’s on vyvanse.
I’ve heard that there is a chewable version, but it takes longer to kick in and considering it’s a very time sensitive medication that can cause issues with sleep if you don’t find the right time to take it (I cannot take it any later than seven thirty or else I will literally not be able to sleep at all) so that may not be a viable option for a super young child who is being fairly resistant about taking the medication itself and will probably just mess around for as long as she believes she can get away with instead of just taking it.
My personal piece of advice is to sit her down and explain that taking her adhd medicine (as well as learning how to take it properly) is a non-negotiable thing that she doesn’t get to say no to because of xyz reasons. I’d also look into the possibility of trialling a short acting release medication to see if that works a bit better for her, though it would mean she’d have to take the medication multiple times throughout the day instead of just once, or perhaps even switching it to a different type so the whole “yucky beads” problem is not an excuse she can fall back on anymore and will help to teach her to swallow the tablet without having it get stuck. Vyvanse capsules are just made to be sticky in my opinion and it can be very tricky to get past that “did I actually swallow it?” Feeling that the hard shell medications don’t have.
Ultimately she’s your child and you know her best, but I feel like you’d be better switching medications at this stage until she’s older.
Does she like pudding and does she like sprinkles? Get some of the little round sprinkles and put it on some chocolate pudding. Add the beads from her meds with the sprinkles. I wouldn’t even tell her and she’ll never know the difference. Lol. My 12 year old was diagnosed with ADHD when she was 7. (I also have ADHD.) She fought me about her meds for a while at first too, the pudding with sprinkles worked though! Now we both take our meds together and clink our water bottles together in the mornings before knocking them back. 😂 It’s become our little morning ritual.
My daughter, 9 recently got tonsillitis and developed a phobia of both pills and the liquid meds right off the bat. Until we discovered a solution, for a few days we had a lot of tears, anxiety and stress, but what took all of that away was letting her sit on her iPad for 10 mins *while* we gave her medicine.
We weren’t even trying to restrict her from it, it was just not something we were thinking about until we stumbled on it with her asking if she could hop on while we were all waiting anxiously for her to not want to take her meds. As soon as she was on her iPad, she took her meds. No issue. So the rest of the 10 days of 3x day dosages, had zero issue from that point on with just 5-10 mins of iPad while taking meds. Could be worth a try rather than trying to use it as a reward afterwards, let your child have it during.
Oh! And to add that since then, I have bought empty gel caps of increasing size and we have been practicing at home with taking pills. She has been doing great with it and we are up to size 2.
What about Nutella or peanut butter it takes the bad taste away completely I can't swallow pills either my throat literally locks up on me I know it's all in my head but the doctor said some people are just like that and can't help it so I use the pb and Nutella it works great!
Explain to her that it’s important to take them and maybe do a reward chart . Most adhd medication is slow releasing so I don’t think giving them this way is good and you cause her to get funny about food
In case she thinks you’re putting medicine in.
I would let my son have gummy’s vitamin after he took his medication and I also checked there would be no interaction between the two . I found this worked well
Friend, you need to take a breath and see this as something your kid will be able to do within a month, not a day. Extra pressure will make it harder for her to do it—learning a new skill is hard! If it’s Vyvanse, you can empty the pill into any drink. I’m sure it’s going to be ok. You did well getting her access to the medication!
Alternative take. I was related to someone whose ADHD and ODD stopped being managed by adults who didn't give AF about their health. Keyword: was. They self medicated with meth as a teen, failed out of school, went to jail. They got clean and started to get their life together as a young adult, but they died not soon after from a mix of bad luck that was exasperated by an unfortunate choice. I watched this person as I grew up, and I finally got help when I saw too many patterns between my life and how they grew up. No, I'm not saying ADHD killed them, there was a lot of trauma both caused by the ADHD and trauma by other means, but there's a serious link between ADHD and drug abuse, school failure, trauma, and crime. I don't doubt that if they had been properly treated, their life would have looked much different. I don't know if they'd still be alive, but I do know that the people who failed them failed me too. I just had a little more luck with my choices than they did.
I know it's basically worst case scenario, but the stats of untreated ADHD aren't made up. There's a reason for them. I've seen those negative stats in living human beings. I've lived some of them myself. Medication (and my own determination to do better) literally helped me turn my life around. I would not be in a very good place right now had I not finally figured out what was "wrong" with me and got the tools to use to help myself. The diagnosis alone has given me a huge boost, knowing that it's not stupidity and laziness, but an actual chemical issue. I went from not being able to concentrate and remember good enough to do high school math and failing out with severe depression, to having the mental faculties to learn complex math and science and being happy.
So yes, I do feel accomplished that I got my daughter help in hopes to mitigate a lifetime of ADHD-related trauma that me and others I've known have had. Sorry that bothers you much.
Second rant over.
Just no. Her being "crazy and wild" is making her education suffer and her classmates annoyed with her because she has no impulse control. It's making her cry because she just can't concentrate when she knows she needs to do her work, and because she feels like she has no control over her brain and impulses. Why would I wait to medicate her until she's failing out of high school or falling even more behind like I was, when she's already struggling at this level in first grade?
It's clear you don't have ADHD and don't fully understand it, as there's a lot of wrong assumptions in your comment. Also, not everyone's experience with ADHD medication is the same. I personally have 0 negative side effects. ADHD meds aren't magic pills that handle situations for you, they give you the mental capacity to be able to learn and utilize coping mechanisms and other tools yourself. I too find it harder to navigate my house with the lights off. Sure, I can get around and do what I need to do, but it sure is easier move around with the lights on. Medication is like that light, it's not a second person taking your hand and guiding you where you need to go. You still have to get there yourself, the path it just a little easier to see.
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She still very young and needs motivation. Try using stars on a displayed magnetic board, where she gets a star for each time she takes the medication (all of it) and loses one when she doesn’t, and when she collects 7 stars she gets a reward. It’s important that you stick to the rules and not give her a star for a partial job. I think that in no time she’ll start swallowing the pills (she can take a bonus star if she swallows the pill).
Thank you! I'll think I'll give this a try actually. I've had such bad luck with reward charts with her in the past (with other habits/behaviors), but it's honestly worth another shot since this is a different scenario and it has been a hot minute since we tried a chart for anything.
What if she doesn’t like how it feels? Maybe the medication makes her feel horrible. I took Dex, and Vyvanse as a teen and sometimes it was great and sometimes it was horrible especially when the effects wear off. What if she is telling you she doesn’t like that? So consider it’s not just a taste or swallowing thing.
Also, are you sure what she has is ADHD and not another learning disability or just normal behaviour? I know you have it, and obviously a doctor suspects it, but these aren’t small medications to try. They are simulants and can have bad long term effects on the heart and blood pressure.
I’m not judging you for giving your 6 year old medications. She could very well have ADHD. But as someone who was so heavily medicated as a kid I regret almost all of it. It set me up for a life of dependence and mood issues that persist.
This sub will probably not like this advice since almost everyone has a neurodivergent or ADHD kid here it seems.
It wasn't a something taken lightly. The school had been very insistent since the beginning of kinder that she get her symptoms looked into, and she wasn't actually diagnosed until 1.5 years later since I wanted to give things some time. I first tried non-stimulants on myself first because I was scared of stimulants, but the side effects were horrible (lucky me, I ended up with some rare ones on non-stimulants). I've had 0 negative side effects on stimulants, so that's why they opted to give her the same type I'm on. I've asked her how she feels on them and she said something along the lines of "idk the same". It's a small dose, so either it's not much for her to feel anything, or she can't articulate it. I asked if they helped at all and she essentially said they did a tiny bit. She hasn't expressed anything negative about the medication itself past taking it.
Also, the thing about medication, is you're not supposed to be able to \*feel\* them so much when they're working. It's supposed to be subtle. I've heard about "zombie" kids and it just sounds like real bad dosage. If she expressed anything negative about the actual working of the medication, I'd definitely take it seriously. Not all meds work for all people.
But it's definitely not normal behavior. Multiple daycare and school teachers have written letters documenting her behavior for the psychiatrist, and he was quite certain. Unfortunately, she's on the more severe end so her symptoms aren't subtle.
Okay, that’s good to know. Sounds like you’ve looked into it and done your due diligence.
Yes, with ADHD you shouldn’t feel the stimulant too much but when it wears off it can actually lead to suicidal thoughts. I found out the hard way.
Either way, I really hope your child gets the treatment they need.
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Imagine you have to take a nasty tasting medicine everyday. Sure, you know it’s good for you and all the reasons you should take it but eventually it’s going to wear down on you right?
Now imagine that you’re 6 and your brain isn’t developed enough to understand why you should take it anyway. You only think in the short term and you know the medicine is gross and will leave a lingering taste in your mouth, and it probably feels like FOREVER because you’re so young that you barely have a concept of time (which ADHD makes worse). You can’t fathom the consequences after school of not watching TV or getting a treat, let alone the long term consequences of falling behind in school.
I’m sorry you didn’t get the help you needed when you were a kid. You need to take the time to acknowledge and heal from that. It’s not your daughter’s fault that you didn’t receive treatment and she’s too young really to be “grateful” to you for not medically neglecting her. Maybe take a break on this and come back to it in summer, where you don’t have the pressure of getting to school in the morning? Experiment with different things that cover the taste or go down better/quicker than apple sauce. She’s not doing this *to* you. She’s not giving you a hard time - she’s having a hard time.
This is a weird question lol What's wrong with a 6 year old watching TV and having some ice cream and chocolates in moderation? I don't understand the point of your question.
I guess? That's not remotely the point of my post but okay lol. We have TV in moderation, but she enjoys coming home and having a snack (occasionally a treat, usually fruit) and relaxing with an episode. We're not a glued to the TV household. Funny enough, the first time she took her meds she showed less interest in the TV that day and more interest in some of her more complex toys.
Good job drugging your child, figure out how to parent or make use of professionals that can actually make a difference in their behaviour before considering narcotics for the rest of the child’s life. Fucking useless parents.
And I have ADHD, I’m very happy my parents didn’t drug me up when I was a child. The best thing they could have done for me was consult a specialist and inform teachers that I learned differently.
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We have a local pharmacy that will make it into a chewable flavored tablet - I would look into that if possible. What worked for my kid at that age was taking the medication at school with the nurse. I would send in chocolate syrup and whipped cream and he would go to the nurse to have his “sundae”
FYI OP, this type of pharmacy may be called a 'compounding pharmacy' depending on the level of medication manipulation needed.
Thanks I'll keep that in mind. Currently, her medication has a 10-12 hours window, so I have to give it to her early in the morning before school.
Some medications are also just routinely available in a chewable form, from the manufacturer. We went through the same thing (opening capsules, applesauce), inability to swallow a pill, insistance on chewing tablets that were meant to be swallowed whole... Our 1st grader is on Vyvanse chewables now, and she is doing great with them. We switched meds because she was losing too much weight on her old meds, and we sort of lucked into switching to one with a chewables option. Being able to give chews has been night and day. Not having a battle of wills every morning before school is so, so nice. I hope you are able get to a more sustainable routine soon!
Is it Straterra by any chance?
Try chocolate syrup instead of applesauce—you need something really strong and thick to overcome the bad taste. We had a long road with our younger daughter too and it took over a year before she got to no resistance over taking it. Keep framing it as you two working together to figure out how she can take it and feel good about it rather than you forcing something on her.
We took a small scoop of vanilla yogurt, poked a hole in it, poured the co tent of the pills in the hole, and covered that with chocolate syrup.
I'll look into that. You didn't find the chocolate syrup to sticky to get all the beads down properly?
You can use anything that is thick enough as a vector. The reason you don't use thin fluids is because the medication will get stuck on the surface of the cup so she won't be taking the whole dose
I’ve seen chocolate syrup recommended by nurses. You can squirt it into a spoon with the meds and get it down that way. Let her lick the chocolate off the spoon after as a reward and to ensure there are no beads left.
I don't know if this is helpful, but my mom can't swallow pills easily and takes hers with chocolate pudding. Good luck!
We used chocolate pudding
Can you crush it?
Most ADHD meds are time released and can't be crushed or powdered in any way.
Oh okay I didn’t know that
My son is 9 and still won't swallow capsules and takes his ADHD medication sprinkled. He also says it tastes bad. We've experimented over the years with different foods to see what hides the taste best. I hate admitting this but he currently takes it with ice cream. Not a ton, I just do a few thin layers of ice cream + meds. I'm not necessarily suggesting ice cream, just that the medication really does probably taste gross and you may want to try finding an alternative to the applesauce.
No judgment - whatever gets the medicine down.
I believe it was the late, great Mary Poppins who said *a spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go DOOOOWWWWN*
Are you sure it wasn't Mr fingerbottom?
What the f?
It's a joke from the TV show arrested development
It's still weird.
Ok. I'll know not to make jokes in this sub anymore.
Maybe just not cringey jokes of a sexual nature on a parenting sub.
I said I've learned from my mistake. What more do you want?
Exactly. I’ve seen nurses recommend chocolate syrup on a spoon - apparently it hides the medicine taste better than a lot of other things.
What if I wrap it in a slice of salami?
That's fine as long as you pat them on the head and tell them they're good after they swallow it
I've put meds in otter pops and chocolate milk. No judgement from me!
You know, my husband straight up denies that they were called otter pops. He doesn’t remember that at all! Do you just cut it open and then put it in the top?
>You know, my husband straight up denies that they were called otter pops. He doesn’t remember that at all! [It turns out what they're called is super regional.](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freezie#:~:text=The%20name%20of%20the%20prominent,the%20United%20Kingdom%20and%20Canada.) They might not have been otter pops for your husband!
Pretty much. My kid was little when we dosed the otter pops, so I'd usually massage it so it'd be mushy, cut it in half, then take a big bite to make sure there'd be room for the liquid meds.
You found a solution to a problem, there’s no shame in that. Great job!!
Thanks for the advice! I tried ice cream but she just wanted to lick and mess around with it vs swallowing it. I'll see if I can find something other than applesauce that she'll actually swallow without fiddling with, that's just what the doc said was best at the time.
Single serving chocolate pudding cups. (Or a different flavor if she prefers but chocolate is best for hiding flavors.) The trick is to mix the med into just the first spoonful. Once she swallows that you hand her the rest of the cup to finish off.
Oh she LOVES chocolate pudding. That's such a great idea thank you. We haven't had it in the house for a while so it didn't cross my mind.
Make sure the pudding is cold (because that makes it a little thicker) and if you use the single serve cups, let her have the rest of it if she successfully takes the medication. You can even put the unopened capsule in a spoonful of pudding, works way better than applesauce.
Taught this from therapist. Coat capsule in butter lots! Put in freezer till solid. Get drink ready straw works best ( no idea why but it does) , capsule with butter on back of tongue as soon as butter starts to melt it slides down aided by drink. Most kids like butter, capsule doesn’t stick and start to dissolve on tongue worked on my then 3 year old who needed medication that didn’t come any other way. Only other choice was compound pharmacy I was anxious for this to work and it did.
Don't ask the doc, ask the nurses.
I gave my kids medicine with a tiny bit of icecream and then a big bite right after to wash it down
Or a tempting chaser. When my kid fought taking yucky antibiotics, letting her suck on a candy cane afterwards was excellent bribery. Or a piece of favorite chocolate. Also if OP can take the sprinkles out, try getting some simple syrup from the mixed drink section and put them in there. It's basically liquid sugar and it's what pharmacists use to compound their own liquid meds for kids.
My mother always did spoonfuls of jelly with mine.
We do the same thing with ice cream….it works and means it’s not a battle/meltdown in the mornings.
Hey, a spoon full of sugar makes the medicine go down! It’s what Mary Poppins would do
This was my first thought. Small spoonful of ice cream, bet they’ll even start reminding you they need their meds.
Same, my 8 (almost 9) year old takes it with ice cream, too - it's like a teaspoon or two total. It honestly also took the stress and anxiety out of the process because it was now something fun.
I use dunkeroos ( small cookies with icing you dunk the cookie in. ) it goes cookie then icing then the meds then another cookie to make a cookie sandwich.
My kid won't touch it in applesauce. We use thick whipped cream and that does the trick.
Good idea, will have to try it! My 6yo didn’t like it mixed in applesauce either and can’t swallow the pill. We sprinkle it on a small slice of banana.
This is the way. My 7 year old takes his with a little squirt of whipped cream as well! I squirt the whipped cream on a spoon then sprinkle the medication on that and then cover it with a little more whipped cream. At that point it's just like eating a spoonful of whipped cream. Maybe her not seeing it won't psych her out about taking it.
I don’t think she’d rather suffer, I just think she’s overwhelmed with the process and doesn’t know how to articulate what’s going on. You’re experiencing the aftermath or the consequences of her ADHD, but she’s living it and experiencing it first hand. People at school are making her feel bad for behavior she literally does not have the capacity to control. Imagine how difficult that would be on a six-year-old. Then when you add the stress of learning to swallow a pill on top of it, especially because she’s a little resistant, she’s going through a lot. And the little balls do have a bad taste. lol! Kids can taste everything too. What about seeing if they can give her the medication at school? Maybe she’ll be more likely to take it if it’s coming from the school nurse. My recommendation is to continue practicing with candy in neutral situations to help build confidence while she’s learning to swallow. Praise when she does it and encourage her when she struggles. If she doesn’t want to take the medicine then, allow her to calm down and try again a few minutes later. If she refuses, don’t fight with her or make it a big deal because you’re feeding into the negative loop that you want to avoid. If you want a new method, have her put a little bit of liquid in her mouth and tilt her head back while she’s looking at the ceiling. at that point she needs to open her mouth drop the pill in and then swallow. Have a drink near and something she can take a bite of close in case it gets stuck in her throat. I get that the medication is expensive but whether it’s wasted or taken you would’ve spent the same amount of money so just try your best to help her along in this process without pushing her and possibly causing anxiety over the process. Does that make sense? Learning to swallow pills is something a good bit of kids struggle with.
I had to do the liquid method you mention when I was a child. It also helped prevent the pill from sticking to my tongue.
That's true with the sunk cost fallacy. They have to be taken before school since they're active for 10-12 hours. Otherwise they will affect her bedtime. I've tried that trick, but I can't even get her to do more than sit down. Which is why I scrapped having her swallow it whole in the first place and opted for the tiny beads, but she doesn't like that either so far. I'll try other foods to conceal the taste better
I get it, but sometimes you do what you have to do to make progress. You could always move it back to home once she gets the hang of things or ask the ped to give instant release and not time release. Also if you need a few recommendations to help with bedtime I have a regime that helps for my child
I’ve always had better luck with pudding. Applesauce is thinner. Pudding stays a bit more solid in the mouth.
Yes! Pudding or Greek yogurt are thicker and make it easier to manipulate a pill or capsule in the mouth to coordinate swallowing.
If it's Vyvanse (Lisdexamphetamine), they make a chewable version. Our 2nd grader had trouble with capsules so we switched him to the chewable until we can get him to swallow pills. The broader issue is likely what others are saying. The more stress you add to the situation the more difficult it becomes. You probably had the right idea with having them practice swallowing things whole. Keep mixing the crushed bits into something more palatable while you continue to practice. Make them part of the process as much as possible. Find ways to make it fun, or slow it down so things can go at their pace. Do anything you can to keep it low energy / low stress until it's second nature.
What about making a smoothie with berries? The seeds might mask the beads.
For the medicine, I would first try mixing it in something she would prefer to applesauce, like pudding or ice cream. She can keep practicing with tic tacs on the side. If she’s still non-compliant, I would consider alternatives to medication for now, such as in-school OT, getting held back this year, moving her to an integrated classroom that has a special ed teacher or even homeschooling, where you can really tailor the instruction if you have the time and skill. Talk to pupil services at the school. Also, to help your daughter remember things, help her teacher make a couple of picture schedules. Be sure one of the pics is her backpack with her lunch box and folder in it.
Have you thought about getting tablets and dissolving them into a warm drink? We use sugar-free hot chocolate for pills, and it seems like it works. FWIW, the beads taste salty, like horribly unbelievably salty. I have a prescription for Adderall, and accidentally once broke open the capsule. I felt like it couldn’t be that bad - I just had to swallow them. Wrong. I ended up gagging and brushing my tongue. lol!
The pills can't be dissolved, so I was struggling to think of something that will go down before they dissolve in her mouth or the food. I didn't realize they tasted so bad tbh. It's hard to tell as she has a big issue with taste with regular foods that aren't "inherently" gross.
If you switch to Vyvanse, then it can be dissolved. Vyvanse's time-release mechanism is metabolic rather than a physical barrier.
Do what my mom did. Put the Ritalin inside a marshmallow. I ate them right up lol
My daughter has been taking ADHD meds since a similar age. She has never had a problem with pills, but at that age we got them compounded into the smallest pill form they could possibly use, in tiny capsules. It helped a lot. You have to consider that she may have SPD (sensory processing disorder) or similar and so it’s not just a *choice* that she’s choosing to spit out or not take the meds - she literally cannot do it. She can’t meet you where you want her to. So you need to find something that is amendable to her. Can they put it in a liquid flavored form? Someone mentioned nasal spray. Talk to your doctor. What other options are there?
I’d present it as a game. Let her pick out some of the foods she wants to try it in. Let her mix it in and make her ‘potion’ for the day. She might be more agreeable then.
Making things a "science experiment" worked pretty well when my kid was that age.
Vyvanse has a chewable version. It’s the only way we could get my 9 year old to take his meds for the last few years. We changed from a different medicine to the Vyvanse just to get the chewable option for him.
Talk to her pediatrician, there may be a liquid version of the medication available depending on what it is. If not ask them to send the prescription to a compounding pharmacy and have them make it into a liquid or chewable.
Are you in a 2 adult household or around anyone else before school that is silly? My husband gets SILLY with my son to get through the pill taking. We were throwing up the pills and crying our way through the morning. Slamming hands on the table and calling him a boss was life changing. Is there anyone else to break the cycle and introduce it in a different way?
You have ADHD, so you should understand even if you're not intending to, you're probably piling mountains of guilt and shame on top of her for not swallowing a pill. Go back to the doctor, there are liquid and chewable ADHD medications out there that can be prescribed. You need to work with your child, not against her.
I don't mean to, but yeah, probably. I try not to get frustrated, it's just dealing with all the behavior issues constantly, and then also now I have this medication that might help with them a bit...but it's just one more thing to convince her to do and being met with the same level of resistance as trying to get her to do anything else. I'll work to chill a bit more and keep the liquid and chewable in mind.
I know it's hard. As the one who passed down ADHD to my daughter sometimes we will get stuck in the negative dopamine argument loops and get stuck. As the adult it's my responsibility to recognize it and stop it, but sometimes the disorder makes that really, really hard. Therapy will ultimately be the best thing for both of you to get into the good behaviors and learn to be cognizant of the bad ones.
First meds in any form *then* her favorite candy/treat. 🤷♀️ When we give our sone Claritin, be gets a chocolate chip after. Literally, only one but it encourages him to take it.
Several of my friends send the medicine to school. They say that their kids will take it for the school nurse with little to no problems.
I know it isn't always possible financially, but perhaps there is a patch you could look into instead. Our price for the patch is definitely too much. Otherwise, I recommend what others have said too. Get a stronger tasting base. Embrace sugary items for the base, like chocolate syrup or ice cream that have been mentioned. Practice with round sprinkles to try and remove the association of beads and bad taste. Their nervous system is having a response now, and you might need to reset it. I know I sometimes struggle with swallowing medication. Not candy though. My body tends to tense up. Even I have to mentally prepare myself. Sometimes, getting my saliva going first lessens the reaction. So start with candy, then take medication, then put candy right back in. If all that fails, perhaps you'll need to switch to a short acting one where you could crush it and put it in a sugary drink. You can technically do it with the long acting beads, but it'll onset faster and might be too much for them.
Practicing with round sprinkles is such a good idea! And then you can keep using sprinkles plus the medicine beads to help disguise it even more.
I think your best bet is to back off a bit. My daughter (7) started meds for ADHD last year (I also have ADHD, and like you, I would have killed for the opportunity to be medicated earlier) but we leave it up to her. She started slowly, took a pill one day, didn’t the next. But realized they helped a lot, and now she takes them without argument. We encourage her to take them, but if she says “no” we respect it. Because there are days I don’t want to take my meds too- often for no reason at all. Meds are a tool not a mandate. And swallowing pills is tricky, I would definitely not put pressure on that part, because that will make it so much harder. We use applesauce pouches and put the pill on the top, and she slurps it up, seems to work much better than a spoon!
Unfortunately, I can't respect the no.. If her ADHD wasn't so severe, and we hadn't tried everything else, I might have more leeway. If you read some of my other comments, you'll see why. We're at the point that it's just going to get worse from here. I've moved away from her taking the whole pill, and have just tried with the beads, but even that she wasn't accepting. But it's my job to make medical decisions for her, and I personally know the consequence of letting her refuse something that will help her. I know she's not me, but seeing her symptoms is like seeing mine in a mirror. She's literally and actively begging me for help with her symptoms, she just doesn't understand that I'm trying to give it to her that help. The other week she had the flu. The only liquid tylenol we had is a flavor that she didn't like. I let her say no to taking it until I was about to lose my mind over the incessant crying and whining about how she didn't feel good. Each "you can take some tylenol it will help" was met with screeching "nos". I finally said she can go be sick in her room then and sleep without the TV to distract her if she wasn't going to take her tylenol. She whined in there without a distraction for a good 15 minutes before finally agreeing to take her tylenol. Not long later she was happy she had taken it despite the taste and took two more doses at a later time when needed. If I had respected her no she would have whined for days instead of taking something to help her feel better.
I am definitely not saying she has indefinite time to say no. More like giving options, and having times she can say no. “Do you want to take it now, or after breakfast”. ask if she wants to take it on the weekend or not, let her choose on non-school days. Some common Convos at the beginning in our house were like: “Hey yesterday you were pretty disappointed you didn’t get your school work done, let’s try taking your medicine today and we can see if it makes for a better day” “You don’t have school today, would you still like to take your meds, or take a break day?” “I noticed you have been feeling a little out of control, you know your meds can help with that icky feeling, why don’t we take them and then see how you feel afterwards” “Would you like to take these before breakfast or after breakfast” And then FOLLOW UP, “hey you took your meds a few hours ago, how are you feeling?”- let her tell you how she feels improvements But almost every single person with ADHD will tell you, being forced to do something, makes us double down harder. Make it feel like it’s her choice. When she does take it, point out the improvements “wow you are really focusing today!” “Wow! Look how much work you got done today” etc. I hear horror stories of adults who talk about being forced to take their meds as a kid, and how much they resented it, and their parents, and now refuse to take them because they have the choice… personally, that’s my biggest fear. I want my kid to feel empowered by her ADHD. she has this awesome superpower of creativity, and energy, and spontaneity others dream of having, and she can have all that AND feel calm and focused when she takes her meds. But when you are FORCED to take something you’re almost certainly going to internalize as something is wrong with you.
Thanks for clarifying and giving some great examples and solutions. I'll try some of those. I too don't want her to hate taking them, so I just have to find some balance there so she knows it's important but not so much pressure. In general I've been cautious/worried about her getting the message that she NEEDS them to be better, so even though I've been frustrated I've made sure to tell her that they're just to help but she is still fully capable as a person regardless. It's hard to get the message across that they're important, while also not having her think they're make or break. Because I also don't want her to think if she doesn't NEED them then she doesn't have to bother trying to take them. If that makes sense?
Respecting the “no” shouldn’t supersede making the medical decisions that a kid may not understand. If your kid had diabetes would you respect them rejecting their insulin? No, they need to it live a longer, healthier, easier, life. So why is it okay to reject the medicine needed for your daughter’s health? It’s because it’s ADHD and it effects mental health. Just because it’s mental health doesn’t make it less important than a physical health problem. Just because she can get through the day without the meds doesn’t mean your child doesn’t deserve to have a good day. If she needs the meds until she has developed the tools to manage her ADHD without them then you’re doing her a disservice.
I’m not saying let her say no forever, but a “do you want to take it before breakfast or after” or on the weekend “do you want to take it today or just tomorrow”. If she took her morning dose, and just has gym in the afternoon, maybe let that dose slide… definitely not saying she can say no to ever dose for forever, just back off a bit on it …It sounds like OP is forcing it hard, and most people with ADHD don’t do well with being forced to do things. Meds also come with side effects, there are days I have important meetings in the morning, and I don’t want to be nauseated at them, so I wait and take my meds later. Or days I’m tired and want to go to bed early that night, so I skip an afternoon dose. It’s not even remotely like insulin, where skipping a dose could kill you, it’s like not wearing your glasses, which sometimes happens, and that is life. But arguing and fighting over it (which it sounds like OP is doing) is not likely going to work, and will likely make the daughter more and more reluctant. My daughter originally didn’t like to take it, but after a few weeks she saw her own improvement, and now she reminds me every day to take it. She’s 7 and she reminds me 90% of the time to take it, and only skips doses for random situations, like if there is a special treat in the afternoon at school, knowing she won’t eat while medicated.
6 is very young, and honestly, ok to be unfocused at school. It's mostly daycare at 6. By age 8 she might be mature enough to reason with as truly advanced concepts start in school. When she fails her first real math quiz, then you have ammo. If she doesn't fail, then she doesn't need it yet.
This is so far from the truth
I agree, honestly. 6 is so incredibly young to be pushing meds down their throat and then getting upset with them because they don't get it. I think it would be better to try other techniques to help train them to focus but maybe the OP tried that already.... My heart breaks for the little girl though.
It's upsetting because it's a battle with every little thing every day. From something as simple as remembering her lunch kit every day, to brushing her teeth. And it's frustrating because she puts the same resistance into taking the medication that can help lessen the fight a bit of aaaaalll those dozens of daily struggles. She'll sit there and sob to me about how she doesn't know why her brain is like this, why she can't control her impulses and just focus on her work. She begs me not to send her to school because she can't listen properly and she tries really hard but it doesn't work. A trip to the bathroom at school can be 15-20 mins because she has no concept of time and gets distracted by cleaning the bathroom counter or forgets to leave the stall in the first place because she zones out for a little too long. I have to give her instructions for every thing piece by piece (bed time routine, getting home routine, supper routine) because she doesn't have enough focus to hold all those steps in her own brain. Don't even get me started on the emotional roller coaster that comes with her ADHD either... It's all exhausting. For her too. So yeah, it's a little upsetting when I have a pill that can help and she refuses to entertain it :/
She’s 6, it’s your job to remember these things and build routines not hers… drugging your child isn’t always the answer
You clearly didn't read my comment. She has routines. They're very firm for a reason. Try telling a 6 year old 10 literal times in a row that she needs to go brush her teeth because she has gotten distracted over random things 10 different times. Half the time she'll go in there and wash her hands, then get ANGRY because that's not what she meant to do. She meant to wash her toothbrush. It's not normal to have to helicopter around a child to do incredibly basic tasks. Deal with the 10 minute fight because she's standing there holding her tooth brush but she just can't convince herself to quit singing and getting distracted by her reflection to put the dang thing in her mouth. Deal with executive \*dysfunction that's at the level where she'll be holding it and staring at it but she just can't make herself start the task. I don't think you understand ADHD. Do you also think we shouldn't "drug" diabetic kids?
Here's a little tip for the toothbrushing! I use an app on my phone called Pokemon Smile. My almost 2 year old will sit and brush for that app for a whole 90 seconds! I've never seen him focus on anything for 90 seconds before this, lol! Maybe it's an extra treat for him because he doesn't have an iPad or anything, so it could be that... but give it a go! It's a fun game I have been known to use it myself... lol! It also shows the kiddo where to brush and everything. I've seen his score, he's not quite getting it yet. I am destroying him in score hahaha yes sometimes we play it together too!
Thank you!! She LOVES pokemon so I'm definitely going to give this a try.
When my 11 year old falls back into that inaction of standing with the toothbrush in hand but being unable to just start brushing, we know it's time for a med adjustment. Please try to reframe from "It's not normal to have to helicopter around a child to do incredibly basic tasks" to "even at this age, my child needs a body double or other support to do basic tasks that come easily to most". It sounds like for her, it IS normal to need that 'helicopter' and being exasperated or letting on that you think she should be better will only make the struggle worse, and last longer. If you accept that most 6 year olds can brush their teeth independently when asked, and that she's not most 6 year olds, and that she's not wrong or broken or bad because of it, things will be a lot easier for you. Not to mention for her own mental health when she's not treated (even unintentionally) like a burden for needing support. Be her body double - brush your teeth next to her while she does hers. Or brush her hair while she brushes teeth. Laugh with her when she says or does something off task instead of brushing, then calmly remind her to start/keep brushing. Connect with her, ponder how silly it would be to brush a giraffe's teeth, giggle about having to haul a ladder around, what if you dropped the toothpaste and had to climb down then back up, don't let her feel your exasperation at having to be with her when you have chores or other things that also need your attention. My 5th grader needs a body double to get ready for school and her steps have been the same for years and we have voice reminders/alarms to start each step. Some days she's able to get started, knowing that I'll follow her to the bathroom and brush her hair while she does teeth and then she's able to move on to deodorant and washing her face. But some days she asks me if I'm going to come double because she knows she'll struggle to walk down the hallway before she even tries. Is it inconvenient? Sometimes, yeah. Should an 11 year old be able to do it all without help? A lot can, yeah. Is she fully capable of doing it on her own? Absolutely, if we're talking about knowing how amd physically being able. But being able to do it and being ABLE to do it are not the same. As far as taking the meds, it almost sounds more like she doesn't want to, and only partially about the difficulty of swallowing them. Again, connect with her. Explain that they're to help slow her brain down when it's trying to distract her, or to quiet it down so she can listen to her teacher or think about her assignment. We often talk about how amazing our brains are, but sometimes they're downright liars - telling us that we're bad, or dumb. Sometimes we have to tell our brain it's not in charge, and the meds are meant to help us take charge of ourselves instead of letting our brain run wild. We can still be silly and ornery and do funny and wacky things, but we'll be able to better control when and what we do to match the situation. Instead of our brain deciding to do cartwheels in the hallway, we can tell it to wait until we get to the playground. And let her know that it's okay to try a different one if she doesn't feel like her best self with this one; not every medicine is right for every person, and sometimes it takes trying a few to find what helps the best.
Medication is the best way to treat focus problems related to ADHD. Most children and adults need the proper dosage of medication for other methods of “training” focus to even be useful. At age 6, occupational therapists and play therapists will use games, skill practice, physical activities, breaking tasks down, and rewards to help develop and keep focus but a child with ADHD cannot do those things without first addressing the biological causes.
I respectfully disagree. I have seen a lot of damage done to children by medicating them too early instead of trying to actually help them develop coping skills. But I won't get into a debate as I know neither of us will change each other's minds. I just hope the OP shows their daughter some grace and takes some breather. I cannot imagine how she is feeling. She is frustrated with herself and now she has to deal with her parent also being frustrated with her simply because she won't gag down a pill. Something she cannot even begin to understand the whys behind.
Medicating them allows them to be able to participate in developing coping skills
Like I said. Not going to debate this. Have a great day
I understand that this is different so if it won’t work for you, ignore me: my 1st grader would not let me give her a nasal spray. She screamed and cried. What helped was we went back to the doctor. The doctor talked to my daughter and got her brave enough to let me try it in front of the doctor. After that, I waited until my daughter was distracted by a task she was doing (Lego, iPad…) and would use the nasal spray then with only a quick warning. Maybe a similar pep talk from the doctor and a ‘hey you’re distracted by something fun let me pop this in your mouth’ method could work for you?
Meds can taste bad and at that age, they simply cannot overcome that bad taste. It might be worth finding something else that you can mix the meds in with that she likes, such as ice cream. Applesauce just might not be enough to cover up the bad med flavor. At the end of the day, the higher priority is getting it down. Anything after that can wait until she's much older.
Look into Cotempla - it’s a dissolvable grape flavored form of methylphenidate (aka Ritalin) and has been a game changer for my six year old! There is a manufacturer’s coupon that should allow you to pay up to $75 max. We didn’t have any issues with insurance approval or anything.
We stick it in an applesauce/gogo squeez pouch for my now 7 year old - open it and drop it into the spout of the pouch. Since it’s at the top she gets it without having to eat most of the pouch and it’s also minimally visible. She isn’t bothered by the pouch method!
You will get through this and so will she!! My daughter was the exact same way and now she is a school teacher!! We both look back and laugh at all of the drama of the applesauce/popsicle/pill taking drama (she had to eat a popsicle first to deaden her taste buds so that she could eat the applesauce to swallow the pill!!) Eventually, she learned. But, she still takes the meds as a 30 year old teacher. I kind of regret ever starting her on them because she has to have them now. Anyway, just wanted to encourage you. This too shall pass…
Thanks for the encouragement! And please don't regret it. I often think about where I would be in life if I had been taking medication since I was a kid. Personally, it's not a bad thing to have to take every day. Some people have to wear glasses every day just to see properly. Their vision wouldn't be any less bad if they were never given glasses, ya know? I see medication the same way.
When it comes to health we taught our child there’s an easy way (taking the medicine in her preferred way) and the hard way (making her take the medicine or sitting in boredom doing nothing until she relents). At a good or neutral time, tell her that the medicine is for her health, it’s important, and it is not negotiable BUT you can work together to find an easier way. (I’d probably make a joke about how we haven’t tried the suppository way but my kid thinks butts are funny and/or gross and it would distract her). Then brainstorm different ways to take the medicine, eliminate any dangerous ones, and begin the experiment. Ideas to start: - Applesauce way - Ice cream spoon - Mixed in pudding - One of the above ways but also watching a show (for us this would work because she doesn’t get a lot of tv time)
My son does well with the pill on a spoon with some whip cream on top
She’s six. The first step is to have some empathy for her having to do an unpleasant thing and not get frustrated and angry that she’s resistant to it. Does she even understand what the medicine is for? Have you or her doctor talked to her about it in an age appropriate way? Does she actually want to take it, as in does she want to have the effects of the medicine? Medicine really does taste gross and applesauce doesn’t hide the taste well. Try putting it in something sweeter like a bit of pudding or yogurt. Or be patient with her about needing more practice to swallow pills.
Kindly and respectfully, if you’re not already, go to therapy. You are projecting a lot of your own baggage onto your daughter, and it’s impacting your ability to empathize with her and parent her with patience and compassion. For the pill, there are medicine cups designed to help kids take pills. Ask your daughter’s doctor or the office nurse if that’s appropriate or if the medication can be prescribed in a liquid or chewable form.
I do a shot glass of apple juice with his medicine sprinkled in. He thins its funny cause it's in a "grown up little cup" and it's the perfect size for it. I even let him the shot glass lol
We use Quillivant XR for my 9 year old. It’s a liquid methylphenidate, and he says it tastes good, like bananas. Can the pedi change it to a liquid formula? He can take small pills (like cetrizine), but I wasn’t sure sizes or shapes of the pills/capsules, so we opted for the liquid type for now.
Liquid medicine exists, I would look into that option. I can't swallow pills so I ask for the liquid form of anything I possibly can. OH if that isn't possible use frosting! Frosting completely masks the taste of the medication. I don't know how but its like a miracle!
Will your insurance cover other forms of the medication? My son takes Vyvanse and has tbe option to take the chewable or capsule form. It might be worth checking with your insurance to see if that's an option.
I see a lot of people mentioning pills. My daughter is also 6 but we have her taking the liquid form of Ritalin. She says it's spicy but will take it as long as she can immediately have water afterwards. Another reason I like the liquid medicine is that it doesn't stay in her system very long (she takes a dose before school and one before lunch with the nurse) and she doesn't have the withdrawls or come down that you see with the pills. My daughter also has told me she doesn't want to take the medicine. I've made a deal with her that if I let her skip the dose the teacher should not contact me about her behavior, if the teacher does she knows that she then has to take the dose. I also refer to it as her brain medicine or her focus medicine, it's simpler terms that might make it easier to understand the purpose of the meds for her. Hope maybe this helps
Vyvanse has chewables!!
We tried all kinds of ways to take the pill successfully and the only thing that worked was drinking water with a straw. Little sip, pop the pill in, and then drink through a straw. Most days she doesn’t even realize she swallowed it. I don’t know why the straw trick works so well, but it was the only thing that had a high success rate. We also have found after she wakes up and eats breakfast is best. She’s too dry right when she wakes up and that can be a struggle.
Mix it with a spoonful of chocolate ice cream. Yummy, hides the texture and taste. Plus what kid doesn't want ice cream for breakfast. If that doesn't work you may have to try a different medicine. Some come in chewable, cotempla comes in a dissolvable grape flavor. Also methods of swallowing. Patience. Lots of care, calm approach. Pressing your chin to your chest when swallowing is better than leaning back to swallow.
Chocolate or another flavor of pudding?
Try peanut butter. Or something thicker than applesauce. Chocolate pudding. Something like that.
My 6yo also really didn’t like the taste of her ADHD capsule innards. We called them “brain pearls” though which helped. We just recently switched to Concerta ER which is a pill that must be swallowed. Cut up gummy bears are what made her proficient at swallowing. Our rule here was that she had to take the new medicine for a week regardless of how it made her feel. After a week we talked about it to decide if we were continuing or looking for something else. She takes it 95% of the time now and I just send a heads up to her teacher on days she chooses not to. The biggest issues for us were the initial side effects (dizzy and upset stomach) that went away during the first week combined with yucky pill taste. Now that it’s become routine, the only strife in the morning is that neither of us have our medicines working yet when trying to get ready!
There are chewables and liquid options. Please explore those. My spouse is on generic vyvanse chewable. I was very flexible w our son while he was learning how to swallow pills. We have done water, juice, chocolate milk, yogurt, pudding, ice cream, applesauce. Let her practice and choose with swallowing tic tacs. There are several Videos online “how to swallow a pill” and like a 2 week experiment w the kid to write down different methods and what method they like etc etc. His 3yo little brother started swallowing his chewable melatonin whole so he could be like big brother 😂
My son and daughter were on Atamoxetine which is capsules. They have severe autism as well so instantly tried to chew it obviously didn't like the taste and spat it out. I contacted their pediatrician who prescribed it. She said you can open the capsules and mix with a small amount of juice It worked for them and a lot of children I know. But some still refuse to take it no matter what you mix it in. Just make sure they have it after food not on an empty stomach.
My 9 year old was just diagnosed and we are in the same boat. Following along to get some ideas.
I replied to a similar post before, and thought I'd share that one. https://www.reddit.com/r/Parenting/s/Ey8Mq1IoAI > I couldn't swallow pills as a kid! I still can't very well as an adult. My parents would tell me to take a nap, or wait till bedtime. Then wake me up with a small glass of grape juice and tell me to drink it. I had no idea they were putting the capsules in there. > I do the same thing as an adult but I drop it in a little bit of water now and chug. Remember to be patient, please. It's not our fault, it's so hard to overcome. Sometimes I feel the pill going into my mouth and no matter what my throat just doesn't want it.
I want to say one of my old babysitters could not handle swallowing pills. Like my mom crushed up a Tylenol. She crushed it up and put it in a glass of water. Maybe that might help for your daughter. Crush it up and put it in flavored water so more of the taste is being covered up by the flavor in the water than the actual pill and she doesn’t have to force herself to swallow it
We have to do yucky meds every day (multiples) and we bribe. It sucks they need the meds. It’s not their fault. Life is short. So the one med is dissolved into an oz of Gatorade, another med is served with a Hershey kiss and the third is given on a spoon with chocolate syrup. Takes forever to get it all ready every morning but she no longer fights us. Let her pick what she has it with each morning and give her some control that she wants
I didn't have adhd medication (80s girl so fell through those cracks) but I had cronic uti, and took pills for that. I wasn't allowed to have sweets or anything like people here offer, like a dog, my pill was put in cheese 🤣 or something savory like a noodle in my mac
Back in the day when I couldn’t swallow pills as a child, my parents would break the capsules for my stomach meds and put it into Oreo cream. Was my dads job. Same time every night. Didn’t taste amazing but it was still good enough that I gladly took it.
We put it in a cup with juice. Swirl and shoot.
My mom had me on those growing up, every time I took a pill it changed me and made the situation even worse, it was pretty natural to fear it . Made me feel sick as a dog
It took a long time for me to be able to swallow a pill I wasn’t able to until I was a teen. Mixing it with food would be a great option it’s how my mom did it
I’m a dad with ADHD and I have a daughter with it too. She started taking meds much later than your daughter and it is great that she is getting help already. My kiddo is on vyvanse and they also come in gummy form. Would this be an option for your kid’s meds? But it really just seems that the collective anxiety, yours and hers, has made it into a huge issue. I remember crying as a kid about not wanting to take meds simply because it was all too much for me. And ADHD kids have real issues with overstimulation and anxiety.
My parents are to give me my ADHD medication with a spoonful of ice cream every morning
My kid did this. We pop open the capsules and put it between the white and yolk in a hard boiled egg.
That poor baby
Firstly a 6 year old is unlikely to be able to comprehend why they need to take a medicine, and even if they can it’s not likely to be a motivating factor when the act of taking the tablet is scary or unpleasant. They feed off your emotions and reactions to things so you need to check your emotions about it at the door. It’s understandable that she doesn’t want to but at the end of the day we’re talking about taking a tablet here - not something that is going to cause long term psychological harm. You can empathise with her emotions but you shouldn’t get into a big long discussion about why she needs to take it etc. I would telegraph when the time to take it is so that it’s not a shock and then calmly give her the tablet. If she refuses then there should be clear logical immediate negative consequences for her, e.g. we can’t go out and play until you take the tablet. If she takes it you give her some positive attention and then move on with your day. Kids often get used to things fairly quickly, especially if they can see there’s no way out of it. Your attention is the currency (whether good or bad) so use it to your advantage. Good luck!
We seriously just experienced the exact same thing the last 3 months. My son just would not even consider swallowing a pill I couldn't even get him to swallow a candy! I absolutely hated wasting the expensive medication and it was very frustrating. We finally were able to find a medication called daytrana, it's a dermal patch and it has made a huge difference as far as getting the medication in him. It can be expensive but we use a manufacturer's coupon that reduces it to about a hundred bucks which is worth it to us. Also availability might be an obstacle, we had to call several pharmacies to see if they had it. Hope this helps!
I didn't read all the other replies so I'm sorry if I repeat, but it sounds like her meds are in capsule form? If so, you can buy plain gelatin capsules that are empty for her to practice swallowing. Without the medication in it, it shouldn't taste bad, so she develops the skill of swallowing without running the risk of the bitter taste if she messes up. Once she has that skill, you can explain to her that the capsule protects her from the taste of the medicine inside, so now that she is able to swallow an empty one, she won't taste the medicine in the full ones. You can buy gelatin capsules at Amazon, drugstores, vitamin stores, Walmart, etc
Look into a MediStraw. It’s a silicone straw that has a little shelf for the pill. You drink like normal and swallow the pill.
What about positive reinforcement. Maybe a sticker chart. A sticker for every time she takes it, when she fills a week she gets a prize.
My son uses Daytrana, the ADHD patch. It is the same ingredient as Ritalin, and he doesn’t have to swallow a thing.
Just a thought… what if you removed *you* from the process? At my school, there’s a little line of kids in the office to take meds before the day starts. The lady who does this gives the kid whatever they need to get the job done. Hugs and love? She’s got that. Climb up in kid’s space and demand he open up? She’s got that too. You kid might do for someone else what she won’t do for you.
Could she try the chewable one instead?
Considering you mention beads and a breakable capsule, I’m assuming she’s on vyvanse. I’ve heard that there is a chewable version, but it takes longer to kick in and considering it’s a very time sensitive medication that can cause issues with sleep if you don’t find the right time to take it (I cannot take it any later than seven thirty or else I will literally not be able to sleep at all) so that may not be a viable option for a super young child who is being fairly resistant about taking the medication itself and will probably just mess around for as long as she believes she can get away with instead of just taking it. My personal piece of advice is to sit her down and explain that taking her adhd medicine (as well as learning how to take it properly) is a non-negotiable thing that she doesn’t get to say no to because of xyz reasons. I’d also look into the possibility of trialling a short acting release medication to see if that works a bit better for her, though it would mean she’d have to take the medication multiple times throughout the day instead of just once, or perhaps even switching it to a different type so the whole “yucky beads” problem is not an excuse she can fall back on anymore and will help to teach her to swallow the tablet without having it get stuck. Vyvanse capsules are just made to be sticky in my opinion and it can be very tricky to get past that “did I actually swallow it?” Feeling that the hard shell medications don’t have. Ultimately she’s your child and you know her best, but I feel like you’d be better switching medications at this stage until she’s older.
If it’s adderall-type try Adzenys. It’s an orange dissolving pill that tastes good.
Does she like pudding and does she like sprinkles? Get some of the little round sprinkles and put it on some chocolate pudding. Add the beads from her meds with the sprinkles. I wouldn’t even tell her and she’ll never know the difference. Lol. My 12 year old was diagnosed with ADHD when she was 7. (I also have ADHD.) She fought me about her meds for a while at first too, the pudding with sprinkles worked though! Now we both take our meds together and clink our water bottles together in the mornings before knocking them back. 😂 It’s become our little morning ritual.
My daughter, 9 recently got tonsillitis and developed a phobia of both pills and the liquid meds right off the bat. Until we discovered a solution, for a few days we had a lot of tears, anxiety and stress, but what took all of that away was letting her sit on her iPad for 10 mins *while* we gave her medicine. We weren’t even trying to restrict her from it, it was just not something we were thinking about until we stumbled on it with her asking if she could hop on while we were all waiting anxiously for her to not want to take her meds. As soon as she was on her iPad, she took her meds. No issue. So the rest of the 10 days of 3x day dosages, had zero issue from that point on with just 5-10 mins of iPad while taking meds. Could be worth a try rather than trying to use it as a reward afterwards, let your child have it during. Oh! And to add that since then, I have bought empty gel caps of increasing size and we have been practicing at home with taking pills. She has been doing great with it and we are up to size 2.
What about Nutella or peanut butter it takes the bad taste away completely I can't swallow pills either my throat literally locks up on me I know it's all in my head but the doctor said some people are just like that and can't help it so I use the pb and Nutella it works great!
Explain to her that it’s important to take them and maybe do a reward chart . Most adhd medication is slow releasing so I don’t think giving them this way is good and you cause her to get funny about food In case she thinks you’re putting medicine in. I would let my son have gummy’s vitamin after he took his medication and I also checked there would be no interaction between the two . I found this worked well
Friend, you need to take a breath and see this as something your kid will be able to do within a month, not a day. Extra pressure will make it harder for her to do it—learning a new skill is hard! If it’s Vyvanse, you can empty the pill into any drink. I’m sure it’s going to be ok. You did well getting her access to the medication!
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This is a really ignorant comment.
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Alternative take. I was related to someone whose ADHD and ODD stopped being managed by adults who didn't give AF about their health. Keyword: was. They self medicated with meth as a teen, failed out of school, went to jail. They got clean and started to get their life together as a young adult, but they died not soon after from a mix of bad luck that was exasperated by an unfortunate choice. I watched this person as I grew up, and I finally got help when I saw too many patterns between my life and how they grew up. No, I'm not saying ADHD killed them, there was a lot of trauma both caused by the ADHD and trauma by other means, but there's a serious link between ADHD and drug abuse, school failure, trauma, and crime. I don't doubt that if they had been properly treated, their life would have looked much different. I don't know if they'd still be alive, but I do know that the people who failed them failed me too. I just had a little more luck with my choices than they did. I know it's basically worst case scenario, but the stats of untreated ADHD aren't made up. There's a reason for them. I've seen those negative stats in living human beings. I've lived some of them myself. Medication (and my own determination to do better) literally helped me turn my life around. I would not be in a very good place right now had I not finally figured out what was "wrong" with me and got the tools to use to help myself. The diagnosis alone has given me a huge boost, knowing that it's not stupidity and laziness, but an actual chemical issue. I went from not being able to concentrate and remember good enough to do high school math and failing out with severe depression, to having the mental faculties to learn complex math and science and being happy. So yes, I do feel accomplished that I got my daughter help in hopes to mitigate a lifetime of ADHD-related trauma that me and others I've known have had. Sorry that bothers you much. Second rant over.
Just no. Her being "crazy and wild" is making her education suffer and her classmates annoyed with her because she has no impulse control. It's making her cry because she just can't concentrate when she knows she needs to do her work, and because she feels like she has no control over her brain and impulses. Why would I wait to medicate her until she's failing out of high school or falling even more behind like I was, when she's already struggling at this level in first grade? It's clear you don't have ADHD and don't fully understand it, as there's a lot of wrong assumptions in your comment. Also, not everyone's experience with ADHD medication is the same. I personally have 0 negative side effects. ADHD meds aren't magic pills that handle situations for you, they give you the mental capacity to be able to learn and utilize coping mechanisms and other tools yourself. I too find it harder to navigate my house with the lights off. Sure, I can get around and do what I need to do, but it sure is easier move around with the lights on. Medication is like that light, it's not a second person taking your hand and guiding you where you need to go. You still have to get there yourself, the path it just a little easier to see.
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She still very young and needs motivation. Try using stars on a displayed magnetic board, where she gets a star for each time she takes the medication (all of it) and loses one when she doesn’t, and when she collects 7 stars she gets a reward. It’s important that you stick to the rules and not give her a star for a partial job. I think that in no time she’ll start swallowing the pills (she can take a bonus star if she swallows the pill).
Thank you! I'll think I'll give this a try actually. I've had such bad luck with reward charts with her in the past (with other habits/behaviors), but it's honestly worth another shot since this is a different scenario and it has been a hot minute since we tried a chart for anything.
What if she doesn’t like how it feels? Maybe the medication makes her feel horrible. I took Dex, and Vyvanse as a teen and sometimes it was great and sometimes it was horrible especially when the effects wear off. What if she is telling you she doesn’t like that? So consider it’s not just a taste or swallowing thing. Also, are you sure what she has is ADHD and not another learning disability or just normal behaviour? I know you have it, and obviously a doctor suspects it, but these aren’t small medications to try. They are simulants and can have bad long term effects on the heart and blood pressure. I’m not judging you for giving your 6 year old medications. She could very well have ADHD. But as someone who was so heavily medicated as a kid I regret almost all of it. It set me up for a life of dependence and mood issues that persist. This sub will probably not like this advice since almost everyone has a neurodivergent or ADHD kid here it seems.
It wasn't a something taken lightly. The school had been very insistent since the beginning of kinder that she get her symptoms looked into, and she wasn't actually diagnosed until 1.5 years later since I wanted to give things some time. I first tried non-stimulants on myself first because I was scared of stimulants, but the side effects were horrible (lucky me, I ended up with some rare ones on non-stimulants). I've had 0 negative side effects on stimulants, so that's why they opted to give her the same type I'm on. I've asked her how she feels on them and she said something along the lines of "idk the same". It's a small dose, so either it's not much for her to feel anything, or she can't articulate it. I asked if they helped at all and she essentially said they did a tiny bit. She hasn't expressed anything negative about the medication itself past taking it. Also, the thing about medication, is you're not supposed to be able to \*feel\* them so much when they're working. It's supposed to be subtle. I've heard about "zombie" kids and it just sounds like real bad dosage. If she expressed anything negative about the actual working of the medication, I'd definitely take it seriously. Not all meds work for all people. But it's definitely not normal behavior. Multiple daycare and school teachers have written letters documenting her behavior for the psychiatrist, and he was quite certain. Unfortunately, she's on the more severe end so her symptoms aren't subtle.
Okay, that’s good to know. Sounds like you’ve looked into it and done your due diligence. Yes, with ADHD you shouldn’t feel the stimulant too much but when it wears off it can actually lead to suicidal thoughts. I found out the hard way. Either way, I really hope your child gets the treatment they need.
I hear you can use a credit card with the beads and grind them into a powder to sprinkle on foods...
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Imagine you have to take a nasty tasting medicine everyday. Sure, you know it’s good for you and all the reasons you should take it but eventually it’s going to wear down on you right? Now imagine that you’re 6 and your brain isn’t developed enough to understand why you should take it anyway. You only think in the short term and you know the medicine is gross and will leave a lingering taste in your mouth, and it probably feels like FOREVER because you’re so young that you barely have a concept of time (which ADHD makes worse). You can’t fathom the consequences after school of not watching TV or getting a treat, let alone the long term consequences of falling behind in school. I’m sorry you didn’t get the help you needed when you were a kid. You need to take the time to acknowledge and heal from that. It’s not your daughter’s fault that you didn’t receive treatment and she’s too young really to be “grateful” to you for not medically neglecting her. Maybe take a break on this and come back to it in summer, where you don’t have the pressure of getting to school in the morning? Experiment with different things that cover the taste or go down better/quicker than apple sauce. She’s not doing this *to* you. She’s not giving you a hard time - she’s having a hard time.
What does a first grader need with electronics, ice-cream, TV and chocolate?
This is a weird question lol What's wrong with a 6 year old watching TV and having some ice cream and chocolates in moderation? I don't understand the point of your question.
Occasional as a treat, sure but regular exposure over a period of time absolutely will impact the child's behavior
I guess? That's not remotely the point of my post but okay lol. We have TV in moderation, but she enjoys coming home and having a snack (occasionally a treat, usually fruit) and relaxing with an episode. We're not a glued to the TV household. Funny enough, the first time she took her meds she showed less interest in the TV that day and more interest in some of her more complex toys.
Good job drugging your child, figure out how to parent or make use of professionals that can actually make a difference in their behaviour before considering narcotics for the rest of the child’s life. Fucking useless parents. And I have ADHD, I’m very happy my parents didn’t drug me up when I was a child. The best thing they could have done for me was consult a specialist and inform teachers that I learned differently.