Child learning to swallow pills?

[Melalvai]

My daughter is nearly 13 and can't swallow even the junior tylenol, which are tiny little pills. She is very frustrated about this. I remember having a hard time learning to swallow pills too. I finally learned by accidentally swallowing a piece of gum. That hasn't worked for her. Any suggestions?

[bike4ever]

I often had my guys just put the pill on their tongue and have them fill their mouth up with a yummy liquid. They would swallow the liquid without thinking about the pill. I wouldn't have them put the pill way back in their throat as this often reminded them that there was a pill there.

[GLC1968]

Oh man, do I remember that! I could NOT swallow pills...even the smallest ones. I used to special order every Rx in liquid forms up until I was a senior in HS!

I think for me, starting with a tiny pill, on the back of my tongue (though not too far back or you gag), and a HUGE glass of water finally got me there. The pill had to be so small that I didn't feel it sitting there. It was a mental thing as much as it was a physical one. I still have to hold my head back when swallowing pills, it's embarassing! :o

I've also found that certain types of pills are better than others. Solid, coated pills (like caplets) are heavy and sink in liquid. For those, I can get a mouthful of water, hold my head back, toss in the pill, and then swallow a few seconds later after it sinks to the back of my mouth/throat. That helps, because you never feel the pill at all.

If the pill is a capsule that floats (some vitamins & some gel caps), it's better to do the above, but instead of holding my head back, I hold it forward so that the pill floats to the top of the water near the back of my mouth/throat. Then I swallow without raising my head. Again, it makes me look like an idiot, but it works! :p

[teigyr]

GLC1968, you must be my twin!!!

I do the mouth full of water head tilted back thing too. What's bad is when a floating one only half goes down or sometimes it doesn't go down at all :eek:

I was going to say how I did it but GLC1968 described it perfectly. It looks goofy but it works :D

[sundial]

A long time ago our family doctor told mom to put a pill in the teaspoon and cover it with Hershey's syrup. :)

Do you have access to a compounding pharmacy? They specialize in developing tasty alternatives.

[bmccasland]

I still remember learning to take pills. There was some Rx I was to take that didn't come in liquid form... I think my folks tried every method, but I must take my medicine!. The sugar coating came off while is was floating around in my mouth after failing to go down with the big glass of water. Was the most bitter pill ever!. So I would take the pill and shove it as far back as I could with my finger, almost to the point of gagging. Then swallow some water. For the longest time, I could take pills without water just by shoving them to the back of my tongue.

[indysteel]

I had a phobia about swallowing pills until I finally got over it in college. If I remember correctly, drinking water with a straw seemed to help me relax enough to swallow a pill.

[Blueberry]

I still have problems sometimes:rolleyes::rolleyes: For example, I can't take a B-Vitamin pill. I can taste it through the gel cap, and I gag. But birth control pills don't require water now...

I remember when I was little, I wouldn't put the pill in my mouth unless I had a large glass of liquid ready and waiting. I'd then pop the pill in and drink all liquid. Somehow it "hid" the pill.

CA

[Flybye]

The best solution that I have ever hear of came from our family doctor - have your kiddo practice by swallowing Tic-Tacs. You could even reward one eaten for every one swallowed whole.

[Tuckervill]

My middle son couldn't swallow pills until he was over 20.

My youngest son (9 years his junior) saw that and determined to be able to swallow them without water when he was just FIVE. (I know, taking pills without water is wrong. Try telling that to the testosterone.)

It is psychological, mostly. The most important thing to tell her is that she *WILL* be able to, eventually, and even if she never does, what harm is it, really? There are workarounds for almost every medication.

Karen

[SouthernBelle]

Don't tilt your head back!!! Do you tilt your head back when you eat? Of course not. The anatomy of your mouth and throat is made to swallow when your head is in a normal position. So when you try to swallow with your head tilted back, you are making it harder, not easier.

[mimitabby]

my older son was 12 when he finally learned NOT to swallow gum moments after he put it in his mouth.
can't help ya!

[tpb]

Our doctor recommended practicing with tic-tacs. They're small (pill size) and won't be bitter while your child is learning.

-tpb

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

How about her practicing swallowing a small pill with something like applesauce? Then very slowly thin the apple sauce with water til she gets the hang of it.

[Aggie_Ama]

I still have problems and I am 27! :o I was also in high school before I could get anything down. Now I am only able to get big pills (my allergy meds are HUGE) down with a gulp of water. Not enough water, I gag it right back up.

[kerrybelle]

If the pill is a capsule that floats (some vitamins & some gel caps), it's better to do the above, but instead of holding my head back, I hold it forward so that the pill floats to the top of the water near the back of my mouth/throat. Then I swallow without raising my head. Again, it makes me look like an idiot, but it works! :p

This is exactly what we have our patients do with Advil, in the office. We will also give them mini M&M's to practice with first. BTW - I work for an orthodontist so most of our patients are kids.

[Jones]

I had my girls practice with mini M&m's. The M&m's are so small they aren't scared and if they melt no big deal, plus the sooner they learned the more candy they got to eat. They are 12 and 10 now and have both been able to swallow pills for years.
Jones.

[Melalvai]

Great suggestions. I'll try some of these and see how it goes.

[Lifesgreat]

We practiced with tiny M&Ms on the tongue and moved to larger things. We stopped with golf balls. :p

I just read Jones' and Kerrybelles' comments after I posted this. It does work.

[JLMitchell]

I had the biggest problem with this. I learned in college to eat something. Chew it up until I was about to swallow it, then pop the pill(s) in toward the back of my mouth and swallow the whole shebang. I still do that. If I don't have a morsel around, the pill doesn't get swallowed.

[Pedal Wench]

Try using a water bottle. I used to have problems too -- I remember the night before a family vacation my mother gave up on trying to get me to take a pill, but my dad patiently cut the pill up into small enough pieces.

Now, I struggle with Recover-Ease pills. They're HUGE. But, if I swallow them with a big mouthful of Endurox from a water bottle, they go right down. I think drinking from the bottle opens the back of my throat.

[HoosierGiant]

Practice with mini M&Ms -- that's what I've always heard works. But, my kids line up to watch me swallow pills because it's such a production... and generally NOT successful on the first attempt or two. Certainly no expert here! :)

[Ninabike]

I still have problems - especially with large pills like glucosomine chrondriton (sp?) which I need to take for arthritis. I find that it helps to first drink some ice water, or somethine else cold. That seems to dull the gag reflex. I then swallow the pill with a liquid that is thicker than water, i.e., orange juice or something like that, also cold.

[Chile Pepper]

I do it backward--I take a mouthful of water, then toss the pill in. That way, you don't taste or feel the pill, and it just floats down when you swallow.