How can I get DD to swallow tablets?

[Canshopwillshop]

My 14 year old DD has been prescribed antibiotics which come in a rather large capsule! The problem is that she hasn’t had to take tablets before and is finding it really hard to swallow them. I feel a bit of a failure for not getting her used to taking tablets before now but thankfully she has rarely needed to take medicines so it hadn’t really occurred to me.

Any tips please?

I've had to take a zillion tablets from a very young age and my big observation is that the swallowing is actually the last thing that happens. What really propels the pill down is your tongue making a sort of upward flicking motion while your mouth is full of water.

Does that make sense? I'm weirdly glad to have the opportunity to share this obscure observation.

Can highly recommend this stuff www.facebook.com/PillGlideUK/

Also here is a pic

Thanks for your suggestions. Tried putting pill in a scoop of ice cream this morning but that didn’t work. I’ll buy some tic tacs today to practice with. Also will try fizzy drink.
Thanks Smurfy for your link - will keep that one in mind if other attempts fail.

Chew mouthful of food, hold it in mouth, pop tablet in and swallow the lot. Much easier than using a drink. My dc use this method for their rather large vitamin tablets.

Try getting her to take capsule with a mouth of water, rotate head 90 degrees towards her shoulders and then swallow.

We did it with jelly babies so we could do a tiny piece then a bigger and bigger piece.

Update - she’s just managed to swallow one with a fizzy drink! She’s very proud of herself 😊 Hopefully she’ll be able to do it again ..

@Canshopwillshop great news she managed it! I was just going to say don't do it with drink or any liquid.

My DS has SPD and can not tolerate medicine in a liquid form. I've had him swallowing capsules since he was 4. Unfortunately he has a recurring illness that needs antibiotics each time.

Jaffa cakes are his thing but any kind of lovely cake, biscuit or sweet treat. Take one mouthful and chew until you're ready to swallow. It needs to be a full mouthful. Just throw the capsule towards the back and swallow, look down if necessary.

Capsules are solid and are much easier to 'eat' with food. My DS 'wins' the rest of the Jaffa cake for doing it!!

Thanks namechange. I’ll see how she goes, hopefully we’ve found what works for her but if she struggles again I will try it with ‘solid’ food (rather than ice cream which failed this morning).

Similar to what MrsSchadenfreude suggested, I found this pop bottle trick worked well for me (I'm 29 and really struggle with tablets! Have done since I was young)

@Canshopwillshop How did you get on? Hope your DD is doing well.

@namechange4000 - fizzy drink didn’t work this morning. Tried it with some bread and butter which she chewed then poked tablet into but that didn’t work either 😩 Finding it hard to stay patient but I know I need to!

I’m going to try with tic tacs, smarties etc. I checked with the pharmacist and until she manages to crack it, it’s ok for me to open the capsule and put the powder in something (spoon of jam or similar). At least she will be getting the medicine and not wasting it by throwing soggy capsules in the bin!

ALso going to try the pop bottle trick suggested by Mrs Shaudenfreude and Magictorch.

I can only manage with yogurt (and even then only small pills). But since you can open the capsules just go with that. It's difficult because it seems huge in your mouth.

I just put them near the back of my mouth and go for it dry. All the tips with drinks, foodstuffs etc never helped and it was the only way.

Now I see patients on large numbers of tablets and they tend to do the dry thing as well - just stuff them all in together and go for it. Personally I think it gives you more control. Just don't hang about until they start dissolving and you can taste the contents, you will think you are being poisoned.

Jeez the full dramatics of a 14 year old girl earlier 🙄 I opened the capsule and mixed contents with a spoonful of chocolate spread - it still took a good 15 mins to get her to swallow!!
Lots of retching, ‘I’m going to be siiick’, ‘You are trying to poison me’ etc 😂 Give me strength! She’s on these bastards for 3 months (for her skin) 😩 good job it’s only 1 a day!

Have stocked up with smarties, tic tacs, sports water bottle etc for tomorrow’s attempt - wish me luck!

Oh and by the way, she doesn’t normally have an issue with eating chocolate spread by the spoonful!!

I'd leave her alone to get on with it then and find her own solution. Her skin, her antibiotics, her motivation.

She will find a way.

Anna - yes you are right. I’ll stop stressing.

Get her to watch herself in a mirror as she swallows - I think it keeps your head in the right position.

Antibiotics capsules/tablets taste vile when the coating starts to dissolve in the mouth

Ah she'll get used to it OP, I was like this when I was a young teen, I look back and think it was utterly ridiculous. I knock back dozens of tablets a day now (prescribed). I was going to suggest asking the GP for the oral solution but I assume since it's for her skin and long term it's something they won't offer.
The trick entirely is relaxing and swallowing normally rather than clenching or tensing so the less fuss made the better, maybe leave her alone in the room to do it herself? She will get it eventually.
I've had success in the past with dipping the tablet quickly once in the drink before shoving it in my mouth then immediately swallowing with a drink- it prevents that moment you can get where it's tacky and sticks to the back of your mouth which makes you panic. Fizzy drinks or thicker things like smoothies work better than water too, I find.

My dd is now 17 and still can't take tablets.
She got antibiotics at a similar age as your dd for her acne and she wanted to take them so desperately to clear her skin. We tried every single possible way suggested but nothing worked.
In the end we went back to GP and we got a liquid form instead.

@snozzlemaid - thanks, this is exactly my DD’s position. We will keep trying this weekend and if no joy I’ll see if a liquid version is an option. Can you remember the name of the antibiotics your DD had and did they help her skin?

Sorry it's not going so well OP. My DS does go full drama queen at times and then takes 8 attempts to swallow it. It tend to look away or stare at my phone so he doesn't have an 'audience' for the drama.

Mixing contents of capsule in to something else can make the entire thing taste awful. I ruined a perfectly lovely Cadbury buttons chocolate dessert by doing this. Taste it yourself first, every failed attempt makes the next one harder for her.