Pill Taking Tips for 12 Year Old

When my oldest son was 7 and needed to learn to swallow pills, my pediatrician told me to have him put the pill on his tongue, take a mouthful of water, and lean his head FORWARD to swallow. Here is the reasoning: pills usually float, so the pill floats to the top of the mouth and the back, and when they swallow, the pill goes down first. It worked like a charm with him.

On Dr. Oz's show yesterday (12/9/10), he showed something that is sprayed on the tongue first for people that have a problem swallowing pills. He said this works. Try going on his website.

can you cut the pill in 1/2? and she can take 6 1/2's? can she take small pills? 2 of my kids prefer pills...so, thankfully I haven't had to deal w/ this.

Hi R. :-)

As a nurse I share that it is not necessarily a physical maturity issue regarding the skill of swallowing a pill! I know many adults who also can't seem to do it.

There are lots of "liquid vitamins" on the market and you may just have to compromise with your own idea and the doctors idea of what is the best brand so that your daughter can begin to take in some kind of vitamin.

Vitamins are wonderful, yes, but if your daughter is eating a well balanced diet, she should be receiving all that she needs. A boost is helpful, so perhaps do some research into other brands with smaller sized pills, or liquid or under the tongue methods :-)

hugs,
A. R.N., Energy Medicine Practitioner

I have heard about several options. Have her swallow whole regular M&M's to practice(not peanut kind) and then move on to the pills. Put the pill in apple sauce, it coats the pill and helps it to slide down the throat. A regular pill, I put a little water in my mouth and hold my head back and then put the pill in an swallow quickly. With a capsule, they float so put the water in and then the pill and lean forward and it floats to the back of the throat and then swallow. Hope something helps. Good Luck to your daughter. It does take time to learn how to swallow a pill especially a large one.

Can she get any other pills down? My cousin had this problem as well, and was well into her late teens before she conquered it. She started with learning to swallow really small pills first. Once she could do that, and kind of understood how to kind of relax her throat and let the liquid really wash the pill down so that it didn't stick in your throat, well, then she could do it with larger pills. Now she can swallow handfulls at a time. It really is a learned skill for some people. I'm sure you've probably tried this route, but if not, I'd start with having her swallow really small pills. Maybe find some innocuous small vitamins that she could swallow? Or see if the pharmacist can give you some small sugar pills for her to practice?

Hi R.,
I'm 29 and I still have trouble swallowing pills. It's really just mind over matter but I can't get past it. I'm ok with swallowing something very small, but anything big makes me gag and it ends up in the garbage. My dad always suggested coating the pill with butter so it would slide down my throat but I never actually tried it. What (usually) works for me is to take the pill with food. I'll chew up a cracker and when I'm just about ready to swallow it, I throw the pill into the back of my mouth and I swallow it with the chewed up cracker. That seems to be the only way I can trick my mind and my throat into getting medicine down. Crackers work best for me because they stay semi-solid. Cookies or chocolate melt in your mouth and if there's too much liquid and not enough solid then I'm aware of the pill being in there and I can't get it down. All of this probably sounds stupid to people who can swallow pills, but it might make sense to your daughter. Also, I don't work well with an audience. If everyone is gathered around your daughter, watching her trying to swallow the pills, that might make it worse. Good luck.

My 16 yr old still can't do it. By any chance, can your daughter touch her tongue to her nose? My son can and I always wonder if that has something to do with his difficulty swallowing pills or capsules (of course it could be completely unrelated).

My grandma, who could do the same thing (tongue to nose) could not swallow pills either.

I would source a really good liquid multi and be done with it.

Good luck - if you figure out a way to help her do it I'd love to have some tips. It's exasperating - you would think that if you could swallow food you could swallow a capsule!

I used to have the same problem. One trick (if not mentioned before) is to put the pill as far back in your mouth as possible and drink the biggest gulp of water possible with my head tilted back. It's harder for the gag reflex to kick in that way. By putting the pill at the back you don't usually taste it.

Hope this helps.

Hi R.,
I have definitely gone down this road, too! How great that you are so on top of your daughter's healthy habits!
I began my childrens' pill swallowing with cutting off tiny pieces of one pill(assuming the pharmacist says they can safely be cut). Over time, I increased the sizes as they could manage. I had them take a sip of a drink just before, to help it slide . Afterwards, I let them "chase" it down with a juice of their choice. I tried to time it so that they were focused on the activity coming immediately after and I tried to catch them when they were really hungry.
Although you mentioned that it was strong even when hidden in foods, perhaps pancake batter or waffle batter will hide it better. They use maple syrup anyway, so you might sneak it by that way.
Finally, I was surprised to learn that there are often odorless, tasteless versions that contain the same ingredients. Checking for alternative versions of the pills(maybe even liquid) might present a simple solution.
Best of luck to you and your daughter! S.
Literal Brainworks

My Aunt would put the pill on a spoon and fill the spoon with honey and have me swallow everything on the spoon. She did that for the dogs when they had to swallow pills to and it worked. So she tried it on me and it worked wonderfully. I think becuase it's consistency you can't really tell your swallowing a pill with the honey.

Our 8 year old started swallowing pills at 4 and I've been able to get a bunch of kids to swallow vitamins. I always start with children's fish oils. Nordic Naturals DHA Junior or Children's DHA. It's low dose, but a great fish oil. They are really small and heavy, so unlike a capusle filled with powder, they don't float.

I tell the kids that they swallow bites of food bigger than this. Then, I have them try with a fluid thicker than water, preferably a juice to swallow the pill. If that doesn't work, then I have them put the pill on the front/middle of their tongue and start chugging water.

One of these methods usually work.

When I was younger the doctor gave me some antibiotics and I could not swallow them. My mom called our neighbors who were a doctor and a nurse and was told to put the pills in a spoonful of jelly. I remember Mom used Welch's grape (don't know if it has to be that or not) and it slid right down.

took me forever to figure out how to swallow pills. At her age, I just could not do it with water. Instead I ate applesauce (or any food really), got all ready to swallow it (placing it in back mouth just like you do before a swallow), then pop the pill to the back of throat with the palm of my hand and swallow the food I was already getting ready to swallow.

My mom is a pharmacist - she recently showed me that there's now a "pill swallowing helper" that you can purchase. It's a liquid "medicine" that you use via a dropper. It somehow coats the throat or something so that pills go down easier. I haven't used it yet, but my sister has a nd she said there was quite a difference. Ask your pharmacist about it...and if they don't know, message me and I'll find out the name. :)

R.

My 16 year old still can't swallow pills and I have a friend my age (upper 40's) who still can't!
We have tried everything with our daughter and I agree with Sharon, I truly think it is a mind over matter thing. It's a good thing that our daughter is very rarely sick, because it is a problem.
Good Luck

My mom was taught by my grandfather using peanuts to practice with-she taught my daughters the same way. I have a problem swallowing pills myself too-especially those big ones. I usually will tilt my head back place the pill on the very back in the middle on tongue and then gulp a bunch of liquid to swallow. Sometimes it feels like the pill is stuck in my throat -eat a peice of bread.
However, a doctor once suggested just the opposite. Instead of tilting your head back you tilt your head forward then place the pill in the very back and swallow with liquid. It does seem to work better that way but there are still times I struggle with it. It's a practice factor. She will just need to practice but just know on those horse pills even as an adult I struggle. Mucinex makes a huge pill that gives me problems everytime-including Nyquil or dayquil because that is a liquid filled tablet and then tend to float about in the mouth and I swallow the liquid before the pill makes it all the way down so I gag and choke on it and spit it back up. Some people are just more sensitive to it rather than others. My dad can take a handful of pills and wash them all down at the same time-he has RA though and has had to take lots of meds throughout his lifetime so he is just used to it. Practice makes perfect right? LOL! Good luck....the butter idea sounds good-think I might try that and see if that helps me next time.
Also because of the issues she is having everytime she goes to swallow these pills she probably gets tense which doesn't help....let her keep practicing with other things. It's almost like a pschological thing....someone who has issues with something will tense up and become anxious making it even that more difficult to actually accomplish it because they are so tense.

Try swallowing using a straw. Somehow it helps get the pill back farther in the mouth so swallowing it is easier. Also, if M&Ms are too big, maybe a small breath mint to practice with?

Here is what I do and I have taught my 9 year old to do the same. Put a little bit of water in your mouth, look up and hold it in your mouth, while looking up drop the pill in, once the pill is in look forward and swallow. The pill never touches your tongue, so you do not get the nasty taste. Also, you usually do not feel the pill going down. My daughter is a master at taking her pill everyday!

Ok, so here is what I do ... not a pill taker either ... I get a potent flavored juice like OJ and I take a small drink and swallow ... then I take a swig (no swallow) place the pill in my mouth and swallow the juice. Then follow with a glass of water, and shortly after potty break! This works for me because I get the taste of the juice in my mouth first (love OJ) and my tastebuds focus on the yummy OJ and helps mask the taste of the yucky meds. The pill goes down faster and easier b/c I WANT to drink the OJ!! Good Luck, I know it is not easy.

Hello, You might be able to use a pill cutter. You can ask your pharmisist for one. There might be a charge, but they have always given me mine for free.
Good luck.
K. K.

I could not swallow pills until sometime in high school. I could swallow other things without too much trouble, just not pills. I had to have everything in liquid. (I practiced swallowing pebbles when I was a kid just trying and trying to be able to take pills, but couldn't.) I still struggle as an adult to swallow them, no matter how small--even birth control pills are difficult sometimes. She might be able to force herself to do it, but I also cannot swallow the large vitamins AT ALL. Dissolving or mashing a pill also just creates a food dislike (I couldn't eat applesauce for years after that one) but lightly coating the pill in butter might help. It helps with pets and can make it just slippery enough that it will go down. As suggested, also "floating" it to the back of the throat can help. It takes a lot of work to figure out the right way to swallow. I would also check with the doctor to see if there are any other vitamin options for her or if it could be obtained in a different dose or form.

I have a hard time with big pills. This sounds gross, but I chew up some food (doesn't matter what kind), then right before I swallow, I stick the pill in the mashed up food (still in my mouth), followed with a drink of water. Also works with apple sauce (put the applesauce in my mouth first, then stick the pill in at the last second).

Good luck!

Try cutting the pills in half. I told my 11 yr old to put the pill in, catch it with the drink, and swallow all of it together.