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How to apply cod liver oil to the skin for effective absorption of nutrients as an alternative to orally off the spoon or via capsules.
Hands down, one of the most frequent questions I get is how to get a child to take cod liver oil. Giving a baby cod liver oil is quite easy as you just drip 1/4 teaspoon into the mouth with an eye dropper.
How about young children? Taking cod liver oil off the spoon chased with a swig of water is my favored method as demonstrated in the linked video. But what to do if a toddler spits it out? Not a whole lot except clean up the mess on the floor!
Once they spit it out after the first try, toddlers will typically refuse to open their mouths again for a second go.
What is to be done at this point?
Stop the Gag Reflex
If your child doesn’t like to take cod liver oil due to gagging, using a simple acupressure technique can stop the gag reflex for about 30 seconds. See the linked article for a description of how to use it with a video demonstration.
This approach works very well even for adults who struggle with this issue.
Absorption via Skin
If you’d like to bypass taking cod liver oil by mouth, the nutrients in cod liver oil are readily absorbed by the skin too.
In fact, until just a few decades ago, over the counter diaper rash creams used to contain cod liver oil!
Drug companies are increasingly taking advantage of the ability of skin to absorb chemicals of all kinds with the smokers patch being one of the most well known.
There are now skin patches for birth control and even a patch for motion sickness when you take a cruise or fly in a plane.
Skin will not only readily absorb drugs but it also absorbs nutrients.
How does the skin compare?
Research suggests that absorption of substances (both good and bad!) placed on the skin is about 64% with near 100% for areas with thinner skin such as the armpits. (1)
Externally Applied Cod Liver Oil
When sunbathing with no sunscreen, the vitamin D forms in the tiny pools of oil on the skin to be easily and quickly absorbed.
When you take Epsom salt baths, the magnesium and sulfur are readily taken into the blood.
In addition to vitamins and minerals, there is evidence that oil itself is absorbed by the skin.
Midwives frequently suggest rubbing castor oil on the belly of an overdue patient or using a castor oil pack in order to stimulate contractions.
Using this information to get cod liver oil into your child with no swallowing needed can be a very practical approach!
Thinner Skin is Best
Since high vitamin cod liver oil can stain clothing and burn the eyes, it is important to put apply it to an area that is not easily accessed by little fingers and hands.
It is also a good idea to apply where the skin is a bit thinner for maximum absorption potential.
With these goals in mind, the best place for application seems to be your child’s bare bottom. Slathering a bit of cod liver oil on this area during a diaper change once a day works really well.
You can slather the 1/4 -1/2 tsp daily dose on at one time if you like. There’s no need to put it on at every diaper change.
If your child is out of diapers, you can slather the cod liver oil on the belly area instead and wrap some gauze around the torso to keep it from contacting clothing. This method also works for older children with disabilities.
Don’t worry about a lingering fishy smell. Any odor is surprisingly gone within just a few minutes of application!
Which Brand to Use?
Should you apply the high vitamin cod liver oil with the synergistic butter oil too? That is a good idea as they work together to increase the potency and effectiveness of each other according to the research of Dr. Weston A. Price.
Please refer to my shopping guide for vetted brands that are pure, unprocessed and contain only natural vitamins.
This is the brand my family has used since 2015. If you decide to try it, be sure to use coupon HealthyHome10 for a 10% discount even on reorders!
How do you get your kids to take FCLO? Just ask the healthy Home Economist! http://fb.me/S8G1xCVg
I have been experimenting with putting plain FLCO on my ankle to see what good effects it might have on my skin. Based on my experience, I disagree with the report that the smell goes away in an hour. I would put it on at bedtime and still smell it in the morning, not nearly as bad but if my nose was within a half foot of the area I could sure smell it and that was with an application of just 2-3 drops. I have no problems taking this by mouth but the smell on my skin was annoying enough that I stopped my skin experiment. So if you have a child who is very smell sensitive, be warned.
I’m wondering how thick you put it on? Sometimes when I give the daily FCLO to the kids it drips on their arm or whatever off the spoon. They just rub it in and the smell is gone in minutes. They even go to school like this and no one has ever said they smell fishy. I think slathering it on too thick might make it smell for awhile.
Well , thank Sarah,
My two and a half year old is giving me hard time not just about her FCLO, but about all her food, THE GIRL HATES FOOD, she is killing me, I don t know what to do with her all she eats now is her raw milk which she loves and the butter oil and her probiotics, I do put the FCLO on her bottom , but she just doesn t eat, even when m lucky enough and she decides to open her mouth to sth she would keep it in her mouth foe hours if I ignore her, otherwise I have to say chew your food, swallow your food a hundred time before she does, then we have to repeat this every meal, I m telling you , we are all hating meal time, I am desperate for some help here. Even when I make Ice cream, cookies, cake she doesn t care about food.. What do you think I should do, She never had any junk ,no vaccines, no drugs , we all are on a gluten free diet, I cook everything at home, we only get raw milk, pastured chiken, no pig, grassfed meat, lots of great fat but I wish she would eat all those good things,I want her to be strong and healthy I love your blog and I trust your advice.
Thanks
Hi Sarah, it is possible for a child to drink too much milk. If it were my child, I would try reducing the milk to make way for some food in her diet or at least substitute a smoothie for a glass where you can mix in some egg yolks and nutritional yeast .. low thiamine can give a poor appetite (one of the B vitamins).
My 7 kids line up with their spoon and and happily take their serving of CLO. I start them out when they are two and they don’t know to dislike it. They actually say YUMMY!!!
What a great idea! We all know that fish oil is good for our kids, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that we can… http://fb.me/16qqFjriM
How to Get Your Child To Take Cod Liver Oil – The Healthy Home Economist http://fb.me/PHmLJ1IP
We’ve just started buying the mint flavored emulsified FCLO, and I mix it with butter oil. I mix my 16 month-old’s with a capsule of BioKult probiotic and plain yogurt and he gobbles it up, sometimes saying “Num num num num.” It’s really cute. My oldest (6 years old) takes it straight with a sip of raw milk right afterwards (I do the same thing). My 4 year-old takes it straight and then drinks water right afterwards. I then give the older two their probiotic. It’s the nightly ritual everyone’s come to expect!
Oh Sarah, I love you so much! This is so awesome. I have been putting the oil (green pastures of course) in her smoothies, but some days she doesn’t get a smoothie if we are too busy and she misses a dose that way. I can’t wait to try this tomorrow! Thanks again!
Oh…I wanted to add that I also let the butter oil come to room temp so that it is liquid and mix it with the FCLO which I then put in the juice concentrate and then suck it up with the plastic syringe.
And on flavor…I use plain FCLO with Raspberry butter oil and add it to Brownwood Acres Raspberry juice concentrate. For me, I take the mint FCLO straight on a spoon. It’s not bad at all but a bit strong for kids.
Love,
Mary
I have a wonderful way to get kids to take cod liver oil. Mix it with a juice concentrate (I used the ones from Brownwood Acres because they are thick) and put it into a little plastic syringe and squirt it into the child’s mouth. Try to get them to smile and just squirt it between their inner cheek and back teeth. You’re not using much juice concentrate, so it doesn’t put a lot of fruit sugar into their system. It’s tasty and kids think this is funny. You can also just mix it in a cup and let them drink it but the squirt is more fun. Right after while their giggling hand them a healthy snack and a glass of raw milk…or in hot months some homemade ice cream or a homemade ice pop.
Hope this help.
Love,
Mary