How do I teach my daughter to swallow pills?

[Gloopygoggins]

We've tried every method I can think of, and a few we found on the Internet and no joy. So far we've tried with water, yoghurt, with a straw, with bread, with fizzy drink, tilting head forward. Sometimes it sticks to her tongue, and if it gets further back it sets off her gag reflex. She really wants to be able to do it but is getting so disheartened. Any top tips?

Have you tried with a sweetie of a similar size like a tictac or something else quite small. I told my kids just to put it in mouth as if about to eat it and then take a couple of mouthfuls of water and think of it as a sweetie. So front of tongue, not back, which is a bit counter intuitive

We started with hundreds and thousands (just one) then those tiny silver balls cake decorations, then tic tac and onto mini Smarties. Took a few sessions to get the right technique.

Chew a piece of bread until it's really soggy, put tablet in mouth ,have glass of water ready and when swallowing tip chin up to open up the throat.

Have you tried putting water in first and then the pill?

Dd is nearly 16 and has only recently got it. We’ve had years of crushing calcium tablets, still on kids panadol liquid.

However, it’s sorted itself out now. And just to add, she has no SN or anything like that.

I really struggled and can only swallow them with a mouthful of water. So I take a mouthful of water, shove tablet in, and then drink from a glass of water so it never actually touches my mouth if that makes sense?

We did tictac on tongue sip of water tip head back & swallow. Took 10 yr old a few goes but after it clicked there was no problem.

6 yr old did it first time ever when she had a massive skin reaction & we needed to get antihistamine into her (she was quite smug ) so it does seem to be something that is far easier for some- DH swallows tablets with no water

Mouthful of water first.

It’s also been shown in studies that leaning forward, chin slightly down, makes it easier to swallow pills. Not head back!

I'm watching this with interest, because I'm 42 and can barely swallow a pill without retching so much that I sometimes throw up - I didn't even know that you could teach yourself to do it?

1. Have a big gulp of water to lubricate throat.
2. Place pill on tongue.
3. Take a big gulp of water.
4. Hold your nose at the same time.

Just taught DD, no idea if our 'method' will work for you, it's not anything particularly innovative! She finds it easier standing up, she fills her mouth with water from a straw and then sort of sucks the pill into her mouth as she takes the straw out. Then I get her to 'float' the pill (like swishing mouthwash round your mouth) then do a sort of sharp backwards nod with her head so it knocks the pill to the back of her mouth and then a big swallow. She doesn't even feel the pill doing it this way so no gagging and so far every one has gone down first time. Good luck OP

My son is autistic. He had to take some medication and we spent ages working on the right technique using tic tacs.
Drink some water first so the mouth is wet, post on the tic tac, wash it down with more water.
It took a long time to get it right; but with tic tacs you aren’t wasting medication and it doesn’t taste horrid on the tongue like some meds can.

I taught myself as a teen using sweets. The chewey gummy bear kind. Start by swallowing a tiny little bit. I did it because I realised I sometimes swallowed one by accident, so knew I could physically do it. It helps because you know if it gets stuck in your throat it'll just melt away with a hot drink. They slide down easier than tablets too. Wait until she can swallow a large tablet sized piece of sweet before trying again with a small tablet. Capsules are easier than tablets too.

Depending on the type of medication, try capsules if possible as normal pills will start dissolving and leave a bitter taste if they aren’t swallowed quick enough. If capsules aren’t possible, can you use a pill cutter to create smaller pieces to swallow? I’ve found milk helps as it’s a thicker liquid, and to swish the tablet around until it’s completely floating in the drink rather than touching any part of the mouth or tongue, and then swallow.

I can't take pills with water, I swallow the water and somehow leave the pills behind in my mouth. Instead I chew a bite of a biscuit until it's ready to swallow, push the pill into the middle of it while it's still on my tongue and swallow the lot that way. Works for me every time.

Start with tiny candies. It takes the pressure off the situation.

Or have your 4 year old child faced with taking another round of liquid medicine so foul that they will force that pill down dry if they have to rather than ever take that liquid stuff again. We were able to switch all her medications to pills after that. Took some convincing at the pharmacy, but it she was so much happier.

Another one suggesting practicing with a similar sized lolly. My younger sister was an absolute nightmare with swallowing tablets and every method our mum tried didn’t work. I taught my sister with lollies that were small and round. She loved lollies so it worked for her.

The only other one I've heard is to put the pill on the tongue and then drink some water. So you don't think about trying to swallow a pill, you just drink the water and the pill will go with it. Sounds obvious but it helped my son a lot.
It's a great idea to work up to it with tiny sweets.

How old is she? I couldn’t until I was 11.

I was at school and given some tablets and was too embarrassed to say I was given syrup at home. So I tried to swallow them with lots of water and, miraculously, it worked!

My 11 year old self was delighted and never had to confess to having ‘baby medicine’.

I have to take pills in between bites of a regular meal.

Or, I have to take with a smoothie - a heavy liquid.

Use a pill crusher and mix with a spoon of Nutella or melted chocolate. If Nutella or similar is more solid you can stick a tablet in it.

Nearly all medications are available as a liquid. If it's such an ordeal at the moment with tablets then I'd ask the gp to change them over.

My child has only just got this and she’s 14. She takes a big gulp of water and then the pill and another sip of water, just keep trying occasionally but no pressure. I always snap the pill in half.

Following for tips

When I was a kid my mum told me to try and pretend it wasn't there and I was just having a big drink of water. That worked well for me.