Understanding Pediatric Nutritional Drinks

When your child struggles to gain weight, eat the right foods, or get the nutrition they need, it’s natural to feel stress, anxiety, and even a little guilt. But there are many reasons why your child might not be getting the nutrition they need, even with your best efforts.

Fortunately, pediatric supplement drinks can make things a lot easier — for you and your child.

This guide will explain pediatric nutritional drinks, when you might use them, and how you can get them covered by Medicaid. We’ll also cover some common challenges and how you can address them.

Let’s dive in.

What Are Pediatric Supplement Drinks?

Pediatric nutritional drinks are formulated to support children who need additional calories and nutrients. They contain:

	Proteins: These are essential for muscle growth and repair.
	Vitamins and minerals: These support overall health and development.
	Calories: These provide energy for daily activities and growth.

These drinks usually come in a variety of flavors, like chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry. This makes them especially useful if your child has sensory issues around taste, strong flavor preferences, or food allergies.

Who Needs Pediatric Nutritional Drinks?

The goal of nutritional supplement drinks is to give the body nutrients it isn’t getting from other sources, making these drinks helpful for a wide range of conditions and diagnoses.

Malnourishment or missing growth milestones

Some children don’t get the nutrients they need from meals. There could be various causes of this. Maybe they’re picky eaters who won’t get within five feet of a vegetable. Maybe they have allergies that limit the kinds of foods they can eat. Maybe they’re eating normally but still can’t reach weight milestones for their age group. Extra calories paired with the right nutrients can fill in these gaps and help your child gain weight and live a full, healthy life.

Developmental delays

Some conditions, like developmental delays, might involve involuntary movements that increase your child’s activity levels and use more calories than other children. These calories have to be replaced to maintain a healthy weight. When a full stomach makes that hard, nutritional drinks pick up the slack.

Medication side effects

Some medications for conditions like ADHD can reduce a child’s appetite. If they’re full after two bites, they won’t get the right nutrition their body needs. Nutritional drinks are an easy way to address nutritional needs without taking up too much stomach space.

Other medical conditions

Conditions like cystic fibrosis can make it hard for your child to absorb nutrients, even if they eat a full meal. Adding extra protein and vitamins in liquid form can compensate for this.

And children with conditions like autism or cerebral palsy might also use nutritional drinks. Some have dysphagia, a condition that limits their ability to safely swallow thin liquids. Others have sensory sensitivities to certain tastes and textures.

Doctors typically recommend these drinks during regular checkups. If they notice your child is showing signs of nutritional deficiencies, is underweight, or is taking medication that affects their appetite, they might prescribe nutritional drinks for long-term use. They might also prescribe them temporarily, for example, when your child is recovering from surgery and is too nauseated to eat normally.

What Are the Benefits of Nutritional Drinks for Children?

The right nutrition is important for everyone. But during childhood, it’s even more crucial. Throughout these years, your child’s body and brain are both growing rapidly. The right vitamins, minerals, and protein fuel this growth while helping to prevent chronic diseases later in life.

Here are some other ways nutritional drinks help your child.

• Convenience: Nutritional drinks are thicker than most other beverages so they’re easy to drink, especially for children with dysphagia. And because they’re portable and lightweight, you can toss them in a bag and take them with you, so your child is never far from the nutrients they need.

• Variety: If your child won’t touch broccoli, the last thing you need is a nutritional drink that tastes like it. Luckily, pediatric supplement drinks come in a variety of flavors your child already loves, like chocolate and vanilla.
• Easy digestion: Pediatric nutritional drinks are formulated to be easy to digest, which makes them great for children with sensitive stomachs or digestive issues.

How to Get Nutritional Supplement Drinks Covered by Medicaid — and Shipped to Your Door

You can get nutritional drinks at your local grocery store.

But that doesn’t mean you should have to.

At TMS, our top priority is helping children get the nutritional drinks they need to thrive — while making it affordable for parents. Here’s why we’re the trusted choice for so many families.

Financial relief

The biggest problem we see? Many parents simply don’t know that nutritional supplement drinks can be covered by Medicaid. That leaves them running to the store every time … and paying retail prices out of their own pockets.

If your child is eligible and covered by Medicaid, we can help you through the process of getting nutritional drinks covered. Eligibility can vary by area, but it typically involves being older than 3, being prescribed the drinks by a pediatrician, and being covered by Medicaid.

If you’re unsure if your child qualifies, or you’re not sure how to get the process started, just reach out! Our friendly team members are here to answer all your questions.

Ease and convenience

No one wants to reach for a nutritional drink for their hungry child and realize they’re out. That’s why we do everything we can to make sure that never happens. We’ll automatically ship out your products every month (after giving you a quick call to make sure nothing has changed). You’ll never need to remember to order your child’s drinks again — we’ve got you covered.

Getting really low? Give us a call. We can ship it the next day.

Support and guidance

When you buy nutritional drinks at the grocery store, you get only the drinks. But when you work with TMS, you get continuous support, expert advice, convenient shipping, and plenty of options.

Plus, we’re parents too. We know a child’s favorite flavor today might be their biggest enemy tomorrow. So, we’ll call before we ship to make sure you don’t need to swap it out. Not sure which formulation or flavor will work best for your child? No problem! We’re happy to send out samples, so you don’t have to worry about being stuck with drinks your child can’t stand.

"Different kiddos like different things. I took the chocolate flavor home to my kiddos one day. My son wouldn’t touch it. But my little girl was like, ‘I love this chocolate milk! Can I have another one?’ What works for one kiddo might not work for another one."

— Drew Smith, Pediatric Support Specialist, TMS

Nutritional supplement drinks are a great way to get your child the vitamins, minerals, and extra calories they need to stay healthy and strong. When you work with TMS, we can help your eligible child get nutritional drinks covered by Medicaid and shipped to your door. That takes a big task off your to-do list and off your mind.

Want to check your child’s eligibility? We’d love to chat.