Wednesday, April 13, 2011

How to sneak supplements or medications into kids?

Every child will need to take medications or supplements at some time and its not a secret that kids are picky about what they consume.  It's not always feasible to find yummy liquids or chewable forms of all of those products and let's be honest.. kids can be very good at not taking stuff.  And so I get lots and lots of phone calls asking for ideas about how about how to reliably administer supplements and medications to their sensitive kids. 

First for medications:  I usually try to chat with a compounding pharmacist before prescribing meds to kids.  There are often liquid suspensions that are slightly modified with taste in mind. We can make sure that the preparation is specific to a child's needs (ie. GFCF or colorant free) and all compounding pharmacies have the ability to make the medications into more kid-friendly forms like lollipops.  

Supplements require a little more creativity.  Below is a list of suggestions compiled by many saavy parents.  A little trial and error is required to find the balance for each child and supplement.  For example: Chocolate hides bitter tastes nicely,  sour hides well in fruit or yogurt, minerals are often a little salty and can hide in savory foods or sweet ones, and B vitamins hide well in tangy foods like tomato or peanut butter.

Try to:
  • mix into juices (lemonade, orange, grape and pear juices are good starts)
  • mix into V-8 splash
  • mix into yogurt, applesauce or pudding
  • mix in fruit sorbets
  • mix in chocolate syrup
  • mix in nut butters (cashew, peanut or almond)
  • add to a fruit smoothy or protein shake
  • mix in honey, maple syrup or jam
  • make popsicles with supplements or freeze in ice cube trays with toothpicks for smaller bites
  • hide doses in rice-crispy treats
  • mix in ketchup and put on french fries
  • hide in baby-food
  • add heat-stable products in cooked scrambled eggs or cooked spaghetti sauce, or pancake batter
  • Sprinkle on toast or waffles before adding butter or coconut oil and jam
I'd welcome any other suggestions and good luck!