Teaching Child How to Swallow Pills - All Ideas Needed

For some reason using small candies, like Tic Tacs, was less intimidating to me and I learned that way. Put it all the way in the back and take a big swallow. Pills were scary, but candy wasn't. I hope it helps! If not, go with the crush and sugar technique, but the pills still taste awful.

Hi JN,

I know this is probably frowned on these days, but I had the same problem. My Mom crushed the pills between two spoons, put sugar on top, spooned it in me, then followed up with some water. I have such a sweet tooth--it worked. Good luck. N.

I put the pills in the middle of a spoonful of peanut butter for my son. Follow with a chaser of lemonade or apple juice. :)

My daughter is 10 and had to start taking pills every night this year because of an allergy... she takes claritin and it is small. i was really nervous and so was she but i said just put it on the back of your toungue, pretend it isn't there and drink. Teh first time it worked. If there is no pressure... before the surgery, with an mnm, it may help. I suggest practicing before... My daughter now thinks it is so easy.

M&Ms is how I learned. You could even start with the mini ones that are really tiny. Also lots of water or perhaps an even better tasting beverage. There are liquid pain medicines for adults. They don't taste the greatest but when I had my tonsils out as an adult they gave me liquid tylenol with codeine. Also I would talk to your daughters doctor about wht options are available to her and discuss it with her. For starters they could give her an extra IV dose of medicine right before she leaves the hospital or surgery center. Almost all medicine is availbale in an injectable or IV form. If it is really a problem perhaps they can leave her IV port in and have a home health nurse come to the house and give her medicine. I have a child with an extreme gag refelx and up until recently all medicine made her vomit so the only way to get necessary meds into her was with a shot.

You can try crushing the pills and mixing them in a spoon full of jelly

Or get a pea - have her place it as far back on her throat as possible - then have her drinK until she fills her mouth to the brim and gulp in one huge gulp... This will take several times.. Just havE her keep repeating with the same pea until it goes down

I hope the surgery goes well.

I haven't used this cup yet, but I purchased it to help my daughter. It is called the oralflo cup and it is supposed to make swallowing a pill easy. I tried it myself and it worked fine, but I can swallow pills so it's not a good test. The url is: http://oralflo.com/index.html Best wishes for your daughters surgery

I have not tried this yet, but a friend of mine told me to have the kids practice with tic-tacs their small so they might be easier to swallow & then go to the M&M's. Good luck with this I'm going to have to start my kids with this.
J.

Hi JN, I don't like to swallow pills either and when I have a fever do not take a pill unless I am in such discomfort that I have no choice. I have had a few surgeries and didn't use the painkiller's after. Even though I am adult, a 10 year old knows how they feel and if she wants to deal with the discomfort that should be up to her. If she is that uncomfortable she will ask to do something about it. I wouldn't force her.

If she is in that much pain and has to take antibiotics I would get a pill cutter and talk to her DR. If you cut it up small enough she should have no problem swallowing it. I would also, if can be taken with food, mix it into her breakfast, lunch etc. If you cut it into 1/2 or 1/4 and mix it in she shouldn't know the difference.

Good luck, I hope you find a solution that works :-)
Oh, I never breastfed and my 3 year old has only had 1 ear infection and my 1 year old has never had one, just an FYI. Good luck.

Sorry, but I'm linking on to your question because I have the same request. Add to this that my child can't have wheat, dairy, or sugar. I loved the pudding idea, but it's dairy. We've tried soy brands (EEEEWWW!). Applesauce just didn't work.

Stephanie

Mention this problem to her doctor. They will likely give you either smaller pills or some that can be cut in half so they will be easier to swallow. Also, I'm thinking with surgery, if the pain gets to the point where she really needs the meds, she's going to figure it out on her own. At age ten it isn't going to be easy to change her mind. I have never had a lot of problem swallowing pills, but had some recently, and I can tell you that once that capsule stuck in my throat it was just easier to throw it away than to try again. I didn't know taking pills could be such a frightening experience. I don't know why it happened that day, but it isn't something I want to have happen again.

JN,

Put the pill in a spoonful of applesauce-- it will help mask the taste or aftertaste and is easy to digest after a surgical procedure. Also, if she doesn't like applesauce, chocolate jello pudding works just as well. Good luck!

Molly

I don't know if this helps or not.

My son is 6 and hates vegetables.
The only way he will touch a pea, an edamame bean or corn is to take them like pills.
He's been doing this since the age of 4!
He won't eat vegetables without a glass of water and now he's 6, he'll do a few at a time.

Perhaps you could have her practice with vegetables such as these??? Maybe?

Wish I had the magic formula for you.

Good luck and best wishes to your daughter for a speedy recovery from her surgery.

Hello J N: Having children and grandchildren with the same problem I know your frustration. I have always asked for unflavored medications so my family didn't associate flavor to medication ( this is not always possible). I have learned from working in nursing homes that smashing the pills very fine and then serving with a spoon of applesauce, pudding or ice cream helps a lot. I would make milkshakes or smoothies, and have them taste it putting the medication in the first taste and then give then a glass of it to drink to loose the taste of the medication.
I wish you well because I know that a parent will stand on their head to help with a child in pain. Thinking of you: Nana G.

There is a pill swallowing cup that makes it very easy. You can buy it at the pharmacy.

We were faced with this last year when my 10yr old daughter had a scalp infection. The doctor told she'd have to take pills, which threw her into a panic. But when the doctor told her how much of the liquid stuff she'd have take if she didn't take the pill.....well, she said she'd try it. She hates any liquid medicine. The doctor suggested taking a banana and cut off a slice and then cut it into half or quarters and insert the pill into it. We tryed that but my daughter said the banana felt big in her throat so the next time she had to take it.....she just took the pill and found how easy it was. She can now take them with no problem. Now before all this happened a friend had her daughter "practiced" using the mini M&M's and then moved up to the full size. We never tried it because my daughter had to start taking her pills right away. It's worth a try. Good luck!

I could never swallow a pill until I was about 11 or 12, then I had to have tooth surgery and needed a light sedative. I told the nurse I couldn't swallow the pill. Well, she just stuck that pill way on the back of my tongue, gave me a sip of water and it went straight down. I understand then and there I COULD swallow a pill, I just needed the right technique. If it's way back on your tongue to start it almost goes down all by itself and it's easy! Try this, I am sure it will work.

my HUSBAND still can't swallow pills. He had surgery to remove his gall bladder & had to be sent home with 10 bottles of children's motrin!! he wound up with a post op infection & had to be readmitted.... and had to be treated with IV meds.

i used to work with several MDs & they always told the kids if they couldn't swallow they'd have to get shots... that usually worked for them!

try applesauce, works everytime! Just put the pill in a spoonful of applesauce and have her swallow. This is the best remedy I have heard of and I don't know why it works, but it does. Good Luck!

I have also heard of training kids using M&Ms. Kids are less intimidated by candy and you have an easy incentive, too (swallow one, you get to eat one).

Have your daughter take a medium mouth full of milk, smoothie, or other thick liquid and hold it. Tip her head back drop the pill in and swallow. Eventually she will be able to do it with water. I learned to take my pills like this before a surgery when I was 5 and still do it the same way now (I am 36).
You can practice with some sort of pill shaped candy to reduce the anxiety.
Good Luck. I hope all goes well with the surgery.

This can be a really intractable problem. Start practicing before her surgery with tiny pieces of hard candy: have her learn to swallow them with water, without getting the taste of the candy. Once she learns the trick of swallowing the candy with the water, she should be able to gulp down the pills. Good luck.

Hi J N
Have you tried giving her Zicam? Its colorless and tasteless you can put it into any beverage of your choice. I have an 11 year old and oh, boy! Did I have trouble giving her medicine when she got sick when she was much younger. We tried all different flavors with chewables and liquids and nothing would work. She doesn't even like lozenges for a sore throat. And now that she gets her periods I tell her she needs to learn to take something for her cramps but she doesn't. Luckily,she doesn't get them bad. A few years back she had a fever that just wouldn't quit and the only way we got rid of it was taking her to the doctor and they also tried giving her something but she kept spitting it out until the dr gave her a suppository that quickly got rid of the fever. Gosh, sorry I gave you a long story here but I wish I had the magic method cause I need it also. good luck and hope everything goes well with her surgery. Let me know what happened if you ever try the zicam. p.s. my daughter didn't like the zicam hopefully yours does.

You can buy empty capsules at the pharmacy. She can practice swallowing a capsule without having anything in it. We had to teach my son to swallow pills ant this worked very well. we just kept encouraging him to keep at it. I don't have a magic method, but this will give you something to practice with. Good luck!

Rather than use hard candy, I would use M and Ms to practice with. They will melt and less chance of choking.

The way I learned to swallow pills and the way I taught my kids to swallow pills is this...

Take a drink of water, but do not swallow it. Put your head back, open your mouth, drop the pill in and swallow the water. If the pill is too big, cut it smaller. It took my oldest a little while to get used to it, but my youngest caught on quick. I had a hard time with it when I was a kid too.

Good luck

I was taught to put a pill under my tongue, then drink a glass of water. When drinking, your tongue naturally raises and the pill goes back to your throat. You have to relax though, because if you think about it too much you hold your tongue down. It takes a little practice (maybe you can practice with a vitamin each day).

I still can't swallow pills! What I do is get a food with lots of texture/bulk (like a granola bar) take a bite, chew it up, then just as I feel ready to swallow, I pop the pill in behind the food and swallow. That way I don't really feel the pill going down.

What about suppositories? That should make her want to try the pills.

Hey there,
I taught my girls to swallow when they were 3 & 5. It was quite easy. I gave them a capsule herbal supplement that didn't taste bad. I had them chew it up and swallow it. No pressure. Just eat it like food. Every day we did that and as the days progressed they chewed less and swallowed sooner. By day 10 they just swallowed and were so proud of themselves. Now they can swallow anything, even the big Omega Oil capsules.
We have kids come over all the time to learn how to swallow. Once they see the girls do it, they believe they can and it just takes those kids a day or two.
Hope this helps.
Good luck!
C.

She's 10? I'd say if she needs medicine MAKE HER take it. You don't want her to hate medicine and think that she doesn't need it her whole life. there are a lot worse things out there than something that tastes bad.

That said, have her practice swallowing pills using chocolate chips.