How to Teach a Child to Swallow a Pill or Capsule?

My daughter is 5 years old and started taking capsules when she was 4, I was sprinkling it on applesause but she soon hated it so much she was refusing to take the medication so I taught her how to take it whole. My pediatrician I had when I was little taught us how to do it when we were little by placing the pill under the tongue and drinking water and everytime the pill went down. I tried this with my daughter and she has been able to swallow any size pill/capsule since. I do not know how it works but it really does. Good luck.

D.

I am the biggest baby in the world when it comes to taking mpills. I take a sip of water and tilt my head back keeping the water in my mouth. Then I drop the pill into the water and bring my head forward and swallow. I find once the pill is in the water, it is much easier to swallow, but it must be swallowed quickly or the pill will disolve. Hope this helps! Good luck!

My kids didnt learn to take pills til 11 or 12 ish.
We practiced with tic tacs for a long time then moved
up to bigger candy and then tylenol ezee tabs

My son was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis at age 4 and he has to swallow pills every time he eats. We were told to have him practice with tic tacs. once they get wet they slide right down. He started by putting it in his mouth then lying flat on his back until he figured it out. It only took a few days and now he prefers pills over liquid. hope that helps.

We used M&M's to help my granddaughter learn to swallow pills. Even if she didn't get them down the first try, they didn't taste bad so she didn't give us a problem. When she finally learned we let her have a handful to just eat.

Be careful breaking open capsules. Some meds are in capsule form so they release slowly instead of all at once. Check with your doctor or pharmacist about it.

Hi S.,
I have to admit, I am 27 and I am TERRIBLE when it comes to swallowing pills! When I was pregnant I asked for chewable prenatal vitamins!
Anyway, I noticed some other moms suggested opening the capsule and mixing it into juice or applesauce. I remember my mom doing that for me as a kid one time when I was sick. I didn't drink iced tea for 6 months and didn't eat applesauce for several years after that because it reminded me of the taste of the medicine. I just recently went back to that method when I was on antibiotics and the powder tasted SO awful that I couldn't bring myself to swallow the applesauce and I thought I was going to vomit! It could work for your son depending on how bad the pill tastes.
The one thing that (almost) always works for me is to take it with food instead of water. I put something in my mouth and chew it and just before I swallow it, I throw the pill into the back of my mouth and swallow it with the chewed up food. Crackers usually work best. A couple weeks ago, the crackers started to fail me, but I found that biscuits worked very well (and it just happened to be Thanksgiving weekend and there were lots leftover). Don't take it with chocolate because it melts in your mouth and then it's like trying to swallow the pill with water again. I hope this method helps your son - have him drink lots of water once he gets the medicine down.
If that doesn't work, he can try my dad's disgusting method of covering the pill in butter so it will slide right down. I just can't bring myself to swallow all that butter.
Yikes! I can feel my throat closing just thinking about pills! At this point with your son, I'm sure it's just mind over matter (it is for me). Keep encouraging him. When I couldn't swallow pills my parents would yell at me, which would only upset me and make it that much harder to swallow anything! Best of luck to you!

Hi! My Daughter has to take 3 pills a day and she is almost 7. She uses mayo to swallow them and then takes a sip of water. She puts some mayo on a spoon and burries the pill in it and swallows it. I also tried grape jelly. At least this can get the swallowing down then he can do it with just water.
Hope this helps!
D.

He is thinking too much about how to get the pill down. I'm sure hes swallowed meat or gum or candy larger than the pill. Getting him to relax will be hard. Before he puts the pill in his mouth talk to him about relaxing, about how hes not going to choke, be calm. Explain about swallowing meat, etc. Then when he puts it in his mouth tell him to think of something else while drinking the water. Try making a game of it. Tell him he's on a desert and hasnt had a drink in days, or the water is the most delicious thing he's ever had. Do anything to get his mind OFF the pill and onto the drink. It will be hard, but if he can take just one easily the rest will be easy too.
GOOD LUCK

Maybe try putting it in the middle of a teaspoon of applesauce or something - we have also used yogurt too. Good luck! Trust me though, once its over, he'll be so proud of himself!

Tell him it is no different than swalowing food - much smaller in fact. Then dip the pill/capsule in applesausce (so it doen't stick to his tongue), tel him to put it far back on his tongue (imagining food) and just chug the water. I tried everything with my son before I came up with this. He hasn't had a problem since he was about 8.

Although I am one to talk, I'm gonna be 37 and still have trouble with anything bigger than advil!!! lol I should try it!!

My mother used to have us practice on "bread pills". She would mush up bread into a small pill form, then have us try different methods of swallowing it (dropping it back in your throat followed by water, first water, then pill etc.) I have found if I place the pill in a spoonfull of pudding it goes down with little problem.

After a difficult ordeal in the hospital and my son not knowing how to swallow pills, I went to the pharmacy and got placebos to practice with. They are tasteless so there is not the pressure of the taste of the medicine. After a couple of tries he figured it out.

Good luck.

Instead of water try orange juice with pulp, might help it go down smoother.

A friend of mine told me to do this when my son had to start taking daily meds. Place the pill in the mouth, add drink (sometimes milk or juice does better than water). Have the child tip chin down slightly, letting the pill float to the top of the water and near the back of the mouth. Then swallow. The only learning curve I've found in this is learning how far down to tip the chin. To far and it's hard to swallow. I think I used to put my finger under his chin so he wouldn't go to far. GOOD LUCK!!!

I've personally always had problem swallowing pills. Here is a trick I learned when I first got pregnant and had to take the prenatal pill. I would chew on a piece of banana, drop the pill in my mouth and everything would go down smoothly. Hope it helps

Hi S.,
Have you tried putting it in applesauce, pudding, jello... any type of consistency like that should be helpful. The other 'tip' is to do a chin tilt down - tucking your neck down to the chest.. (I'm a speech therapist and this is one way we help people in the hospital's that have problem swallowing!)If all else fails call the pharm and ask them if you can dissolve the caps- if that comprimises the integrity of the pill- and if it doesn't then dissolve it in soup or some other liquid that has taste (not water cause you'll taste the pill!)
Good luck!!!
Let us know what works.
Take care,
L

I would give him some food to chew, when he's ready to swallow, have him put it in the middle of the food and swallow it down...the food he swallows is larger than the pill...hope this helps.

I am, and always have been, awful at taking pills. So what I learned as a kid (and still do!) is to take a large sip of water, then shove the pill to the back of my throat (with a mouth still full of water) and swallow hard. Immediately drink another couple of gulps of water.

And remind him to make sure the capsule is facing the right direction! Otherwise, it'll be harder to swallow!

What a pain, I know...

Hi S.,

I remember how I learned, I had trouble until my grandfather (a physician) taught me:

The trick is to put the pill or capsule on the tip of your tongue, pointing toward the throat (i.e. NOT cross-wise or any other weird way). Take a gulp of water (same amount as if he wanted to drink); this will make the capsule move to the back of the throat; then swallow completely normally. The capsule will go down much more easily.

K.

Can they be crushed and added to juice or apple sauce or are the gel capsules. If they are they can be pulled apart and then put in juice or apple sauces to mask the taste. This is the method I use for my child and she seven . Good luck and Happy Holidays.

I put the pill under my tongue. When the water washes in the pill goes down with it. The feel of a pill on the back of my tongue makes me gag. He probably swallows food, though, that is larger than the size of the pill so the 'block' is probably in his head more than anything physical. You might have him try chewing something like a cookie and adding the pill just before swallowing. He could also try practicing with a small, pill-sized candy so he can figure it out without the fear of pill opening. Also, if he's got strep his throat is probably sore and he doesn't want to aggravate it. Good news? If he's been on antibiotic for 24 hours he should be feeling much better soon. Good luck.

Many pills shouldn't be opened. They may be designed to be time-release and opening them could affect the way the dose gets into the body.

I'm so glad the applesauce idea worked for your son! Yay! When my son Cooper had to go to pill form from liquid form of his heart meds, I was so worried about him being able to swallow the pill each day. My husband and I asked the doc. to keep him on the liquid meds, but he said nine years old is old enough to take a pill. We had our doubts, but when it came time for Coop to take his first one, his Dad and I were full of suggestions about how to just relax, open your throat as wide as you can, don't worry about it, etc. We (his parents) were a wreck! Cooper popped the pill in, took a sip of water and swallowed it right down! No problem! He was proud of himself, and we were so relieved. LOL! We worried for nothing! As a kid, I had a hard time with swallowing my first pill and I still have to make myself relax and get that baby down the old gullet. I'm so glad the applesauce worked for your son.
D. N. xo

Try putting it in a spoon full of jelly or jam....it will hide the flavor and give the pill some lubrication to slide down the throat. That's what my gram always did for me when I was little and I still sometimes take pills that way!

My advice would be to give the pill to him with some applesauce or pudding. He will always have a pill form of medicine in the future, however there will always be applesauce to swallow it with. He might not even realize the pill is in the applesauce if you mix it in. (Don't open the capsule and mix, just mix the capsule as is). This will eliminate the whole problem with explaining how to swallow it and when to take a sip of water. He already knows how to swallow whats on a spoon.

I have that same problem with my daughter who is 13! I would crush the pills or empty the capsules in applesauce or pudding. Sometimes it still has the medicine-y taste and I'd sprinkle a sugar on it. Just like Mary Poppins said, Just a spoon full of sugar helps the medicine go down. I don't understand that if u asked for a liquid, why the dr. didn't just give it to u. Just the other week, I heard one of my daughter's friends tell/show her how to take a pill. So it really doesn't matter what we say, if it comes from the peers, it's usually accepted better (at least at this age). Ask your son's friends to show him how they do it. Good luck!
J.

S.,

A suggestion only:

Try putting a small piece of bread around it. It might just help. Giving it a bit of traction, so to speak. Good luck, and I hope you let me know if something DOES work! :) I'll have to run through this eventually, like a lot of other folks.

M.

uh-oh, he might turn out to be one of those people who cannot swallow pills! I have a few friends like that who just gag everytime they have to take an advil or something. Can't the dr. prescribe a liquid form if you explain that you're having a hard time with the pills? Some people just don't deal well with them.
Lynsey

Hi S.,

I know this is a bit late, but since I didn't see a similar suggestion out there I figured I'd send it anyway.

I had a difficult time as a pre-teen with learning to swallow pills as well. My mom had me practice with cooked elbow macaroni. Rather than chewing the macaroni first, then swallowing, I practiced swallowing a piece whole. It took a few tries to get over that weird fear I had, but I didn't have any problems once I switched to pills.

Best of luck!

if he's ever swallowed a piece or gum or a small piece of ice and it wasn't traumatice, remind him of it.
he can also try swallowing m & m's first. they are probably larger. if all fails, call the dr and get the liquid form of what he is taking. also, you should have your son checked when he is healthy, by giving him a strep test. some people are carriers and they will always show up positive when they are tested and then antibiotics should not be given. just a thought.

I have a daughtet that at 6 has mastered the pill swallowing thing because of being ill so much. With a capsule, they float, so you have the child lean forward and let it float to the top(back of the mouth) and then as they swing there head back they swallow the liquid. With having strep tho it is very important that the child is relaxed because the throat is usually swelled. The other thing I did for my little girl is I went to the health food store and got empty capsules and filled the with sugar (only about half full) cause sugar is heavy and trained her that way . I hope this makes it easier. I also hope he feels better.

With my daughter I used to put the pill in applesauce or pudding and let her swallow it together. With my son that did not work so we used to have him take a sip of water but not swallow it and tilt his head at back, put the pill in and swallow it that way. Hope this helps you.
D.

I put the pill in the back of their throat and gave them a TABLESPOON of applesauce to swallow in one big gulp. When they got that all down to a science, I started with a mouthful of water to 'chug'. My kids have been able to swallow vitamins and meds (sometimes 4 different pills at the same time) since they were three. He will choke until he learns to open his throat wide to allow the pill down so that's why we used the applesauce.

Good luck!

Hi S.,

Try putting it on a small amount of jam and see if it will go down easier and faster.

Good luck, M.

Hi S.,

My son, 9, just learned to take pills. I wanted him to take Omega 3's and they are in pill form that cannot be crushed. He loves applesauce, so I encouraged him to put it in the middle of a big spoonful of applesauce and just swallow it right down. It worked first time. Now he can put 3 pills on his spoon at once and get them down without problems. Maybe instead of water, which can be difficult, try something like applesauce, pudding, jello that slides right down. Good luck!

D.

Can you crush it up and put it in some juice or milk. This way he could drink it down. However, do not give it in Orange juice. Acidic juices, like citrus or cranberry, can cut the potency of the medication in as much as half. Also, have him put the pill in his mouth with a mouth full of liquid. And have him tilt his head back and look at the ceiling (for a few seconds), then swallow everything at once. Make sure to follow up with more liquid so the pill doesn't get stuck.