How To Get the Kids To "Take Their Vitamins"
You may have heard that cod liver oil can help their teeth & immune system, or that magnesium will help them sleep? Sure, but only if you get it in them! Here’s a few tricks we’ve come up with after a decade with an ultra-picky kid who can’t swallow pills.
Tiny glasses – EVERYTHING is more fun (and manageable) in a tiny shot glass! You can almost always get the kids to drink from a little glass, because it’s one big gulp. In there, mothers have crammed a bit of juice, a drop of natural iodine, probiotics, liquid B vitamins, herbal tinctures, a few drops of trace minerals, and the crowning touch for the really committed LOL – a TB of Cinnamon Fermented Cod Liver Oil. WaLaa! Stir with the little baby spoon right before swallowing, and have a chaser ready. These glasses are super cheap (under $8) at your local discount store; or even more fun, get a special tourist one when you visit the top of the Sears Tower, and distract them with fun vacation memories.
Tea Party- EVERYTHING is more fun with a little tea party! This is effective when you are managing a sick kid – the one who is getting dehydrated and needs to be persuaded to sip fluids, or the one who has diarrhea and needs to slow down and sip fluids. Tiny teacups, refilled endlessly by the cute little teapot, will engage the younger set (boys and girls), who don’t notice they are drinking slurp after slurp of something good for them. For those of you into the gut-healing benefits of bone broth, don’t hesitate to put it in a play teapot. Using a tray keeps the drips contained. Just make sure that your set is FOOD SAFE!
Spoonful of Honey – EVERYTHING is better with a spoonful of honey, Mary Poppins wasn’t kidding! And luckily for the children over one year old, the wonderful benefits of raw honey are endless - immune boosting and packed with enzymes, vitamins, & wonderfulness. It can even be used by itself. BUT, don’t tell the kids you ‘want’ them to take it, reluctantly ‘let’ them have it….. Parenting is mostly SALES!
Straws– EVERYTHING is more fun with a straw! Get some bendy straws for home to mix it up, and a glass or stainless straw can add that extra special touch while also protecting them from the nasty xenoestrogens that leech into food from the ubiquitous plastic straws.
Bath tubs – EVERYTHING is more fun in a bath! A child happily playing in the tub while waiting for dinner will often wolf down the carrot or celery stick they were avoiding, drink a little fruit smoothie concoction (hiding elderberry syrup & probiotics as part of your stay-healthy-naturally routine), or drink down the tiny glass of goodness so they can then play pouring games with it. Teapots work here too. Just stay present with them, with your calm, happy fun voice, until the goodness is in them. And then you can leave the (big-enough) kids alone to their pouring fun while you pull together dinner. Have several big towels packed on the floor at the edge of the tub, and don’t get grumpy. There IS going to water OUTSIDE the tub!
Bribes – Yeah, really. But for something you want too! A chart with a nice big square for each day, or each dose. It’s a RULE that taking the vitamins or remedies must be hassle-free to count for the big prize, which might be full attention on playing a game with them, a special walk in your favorite park, a bedtime foot rub, or yes, a stop at the neighborhood chocolate shop where they can spend way too much time in the serious work of picking ONE chocolate (or maybe two if there was no hassle not even once!)
A few giggles along the way make the super-nutrients go down! Just ask Mary Poppins!