Giving Supplements to Kids - Suggestions on What to Put Them In

What form are the supplements in? I mean... are they liquid, so you have to put them in something (or taste disgusting)? Or are they pills?

I wonder if you've ever tried just giving it to your child(ren) directly. That's how I have always given things to my kids. No hiding stuff in food.
"Here. You need to take this (medicine, vitamin, whatever). Do you want some juice/milk/water to wash it down with?"

Always worked for me! It might take them a few minutes to muster up the courage to down it, but they always managed somehow, with a little patience from me.

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Oh, and my son used to take Nordic Naturals fish oil as well. Tiny little round gels and he'd swallow them right down, no problem.

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If he is fully aware, then I'd let him try just swallowing them, and offering something yummy after. Let him have the "yummy" thing in hand before he takes the supplement, so that he can eat/drink it as soon after as is possible to help wash away the taste. It doesn't have to be a battle. Some kids actually prefer to get stuff like this over with quickly so they can move on. I know "I" would rather swallow a nasty pill and eat a bite of brownie or drink something good immediately after and get it over with, rather than know I had to sit and consume a full 12 oz glass of something the pill contents are diluted in. Part of it is mental, and part of it is the time/hassle of drinking the full glass of whatever, or eating the full bowl of whatever, etc.
Have you asked him if he'd like to try taking it whole? I would ask and give him suggestions about how to make it be over quickly. Starting with a glass of juice or whatever on hand.

If you do, be sure to read (if you don't already know) the best method for swallowing pills. It is NOT to put it in your mouth, add liquid (swallow of a drink) and till your head BACK. That causes the pill to float away from your throat and is counterproductive. ;)

I would check with his GI doc's office (I'm assuming that's who did the testing and who's care he is under) they probably have the best advice.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Black-Rice-P...
here's a delicious pudding with no eggs or dairy.
i put all of our powdered supplements into smoothies made with spinach or kale, half a frozen banana, handful of frozen fruit, and a dash of OJ, then water. delicious, healthy, and conceals all manner of supplementation.
khairete
S.

We just started taking a multivitamin and actually remembering to take it because my guy was feeling off for a while. So he suggested all three of us take them. I take a woman's multi gummy he takes the man form of the same thing I take and our daughter takes the kids gum ball ones. Very easy to take

There should be no debate on giving supplements anymore. It's a well known scientific fact that we cannot get what we need from our food anymore - doesn't matter if we eat naturally, organically, or anything else. Even the AMA got on board with this in 2002. So yes, you must supplement.

When you say the supplements have to be "adjusted", are you saying that you have some professional advice that you are following? Are you mixing and matching different supplements and trying to find something good to put them in, using different quantities of each? What are you doing to ensure that the supplements are bioactive and survive digestion? There's some great work being done on this, which is why I ask. As I'm sure you know, it does not matter at all what the kids (or the rest of us) swallow - it matters what is absorbed.

I'm curious that, after all this supplementation, your child still has food sensitivities to so many things. If you had the right supplementation, he should be able to eat all of those foods unless he has had an anaphylactic reaction to any of them or something like full-blown Celiac. But you say you are just trying to avoid them, and you say his reaction was mild but not life-threatening. The proper supplementation should have given him all the nutrients he needs to allow him to process eggs, gluten, soy, peanuts, tree nuts and other common trigger foods. If you've been doing this for more than 6 months and he still has food sensitivities, I'd like to suggest that this is not working nearly as well as it should be.

You don't mention tree nut problems, so have you looked into almond milk? There's also rice milk and coconut milk/water. I agree that you should stay away from processed foods as much as possible. It just counteracts all the good you are trying to do. Are you using a powdered supplement? Is it really finely powdered or is it sort of granular and tough to dissolve? We use a fine supplement to make peanut butter balls (but you could use almond or cashew butter to avoid the peanuts for now, until that peanut issue is resolved) using some rice krispies, also a hot chocolate in just water or one of the alternative milks I mentioned, and we even put it between 2 slices of turkey on a sandwich or lettuce wrap. But it's delicious in a shake too, either by itself or with fruit or plain cocoa powder added. Can yours be frozen into popsicles? We also put it in a fantastic hydrator (isotonic sports drink but not with all the sugar and sodium and dyes that you find in Gatorade, Vitamin Water and similar products) - this also boosts the absorption level while stabilizing blood sugar levels. We have a network of people who share recipes too.

And yes, I would split it into two servings per day if you can - it makes sense for absorption and for providing energy throughout the day. Children have a pretty high absorption level but it still makes sense to split it up and get their sustained energy throughout the day. I agree with breakfast and right after lunch or after school, rather than later in the day, if possible.

Jello, fruit smoothie, yogurt, freeze bananas and blend them into "ice cream".

Smoothies!
There are so many ways you can put fruit (and even some veggies) into a smoothie and there are a tons of recipes to choose from!
Our most recent favorite is banana, peach, pineapple with a little water and ice.

My three year old doesn't tolerate liquid medication, so they have to give antibiotics in capsule form and I have to shake out all the NASTY tasting powder into something. It doesn't even dissolve into liquid! So I dumped a bit at a time on a baby spoonful of yogurt - she normally eats lactose free vanilla, so I bought the lactose free peach, which she doesn't like, but I didn't want to ruin her taste for something she eats. It would take about 10 bites to get one little capsule down (lot of powder in those things and it tastes SO bad), and I had to do it three times a day. Little white powder spills everywhere. Nightmare...but it worked.

Another powder product she has to take daily goes in water flavored with MiO or other similar products, and she just always drinks it all because I keep offering that same glass of water until it's gone and she goes through several 18 ounce cups of water a day.

Otherwise, I play these ridiculous games with things like pills or vitamins...like, "Help! Save me! I'm going to fall into this bowl!" or I run around the house with it, shouting, "YOU CAN'T EAT ME!" and because she's young and it's silly, it's still working. We'll see how long that lasts - but I've been doing it for about 4 months now and she's not tired of it yet.

I guess that point sort of illustrates that I think by his age, you could probably just give the child the supplement and tell him he needs to take it.

(And just for fun, to share WHY we do this - my youngest child has Celiac disease, lactose intolerance, and a sensitivity to most preservatives and dyes, so her diet is limited a bit. On top of that, add "picky 3 year old." On top of that, add that she has a yet undiagnosed immune condition that's looking like lupus - tests are pending - yup, we give supplements. Myself, I two autoimmune diseases and I also take a variety of supplements and it helps balance out some of the abnormalities. My husband takes a multi because he "thinks he can tell a difference" and my oldest daughter takes one because, "Everyone else gets to do it! Why can't I?")