Moms - At what age was your kid capable of swallowing pills?

[iamali]

DS1 is nine and still can't do it.

Any tips on how to make this happen?

[cuddlyevil]

We had to get our 4 year-old to swallow some pills a few months ago, it was hell--we had to sneak them into ice cream (that worked). But the only other option was super bitter liquid, so we tried the pills.

[speckledfrog]

Can you put it in some applesauce? That's what my college roommate would do.

[sineadorebellion]

DD is 6 and takes zyrtec daily, but it's a teeny little pill. She still sometimes gags on it.

Posted too soon. I usually let her wash it down with some chocolate milk or if I'm desperate, a swig of soda.

[casarosada]

I'm not a mom but I'll answer for myself. :-) I wasn't able to swallow pills until college. I always used a pill crusher and put the pills into apple sauce. I can swallow them now. i started off with smaller pills and tried and tried until I could do it.

[cutecloud]

I don't have kids but I don't think I could do it until I was probably 10 or 11, honestly.

[CurlyQ284]

My SDs can't and they are 10 and 12.

So is this common? I don't remember my brother or I having an issue but SDs can't do it. I thought it was just them.

Why is this a thing? Don't they swallow food that's the same size or bigger? Is it a mental thing?

[carifly]

DD had to take anti-malarial pills at 4.5. I was planning on crushing them for her, but decided to try having her swallow them first. They sell this throat coating spray to help swallow pills, and she used that and was able to swallow them without issue. I was very surprised.

This is what we used:
flavorx.com/prescribers/our-products/pill-glide/

If the pill can't be swallowed, could you crush it up and mix it with applesauce or something? Or talk to the pharmacist and see if they have suggestions?

[cuddlyevil]

My dad opened up the capsule I was trying to take and mixed it into applesauce. It tasted so awful I made myself swallow the capsule for the next dose.

[brickhouse]

DS can and he is 5. It is a tiny pill (Zyrtec). He puts it in his mouth, takes a big gulp of water or milk, and it's done. He does better than I do.

[iamali]

He takes ADHD meds right now and we have been opening the capsule, but I fear that sometimes he isn't getting all the meds because they're these little teeny tiny round things and some of them don't always end up in his mouth.

[aprilsails]

I can remember my Grandma making my cousin practicing with raisins. Small ones first and then larger. She also hated raisins so it was pretty funny.

[Deleted]

The only way my brother was ever able to swallow pills up until this day is to take a drink, tip his head back leaving the water in his mouth, float the pill and take another drink.

Sent from my totally awesome galaxy s3.

[gummy]

Sept 25, 2013 11:49:35 GMT -5 @reannalynne said:

The only way my brother was ever able to swallow pills up until this day is to take a drink, tip his head back leaving the water in his mouth, float the pill and take another drink.

Sent from my totally awesome galaxy s3.

This is what I do but I don't add the extra drink.  The liquid in my mouth BEFORE pill is what is necessary to me.  I also usually use pop instead of water/milk/juice because the carbonation bubbles make it less obvious to me.

[Deleted]

I had to teach ds at 4, because he had to take Zantac and there is no liquid version.

He just had to take it. If he gagged it up I told I know it sucks and I'm sooooo sorry and put it at the back of his mouth again and gave him a thick drink to help it down. When he muscled it down we both danced around the kitchen and high fived like crazy. After a few days of gagging horribly he got the hang of it and it was NBD.

[jenmegs]

So this is probably a dumb suggestion, my H makes fun of me for it lol. I still have hard time taking pills normally, so I fill my mouth up with water, and then poke the pill through my lips. Would a 9 year old be able to do that?

[gustafngrete]

It is for medication that only comes in pill form? My 8 year DS oscillates between liquid and pills. He can take a candy coated Advil if he has a headache, but when he had the flu, he just wanted the liquid.

[TheSeaward]

try using a straw

[mcsangel2]

I couldn't do it until high school. To answer a PP, yeah, I think it's a mental thing.

[stephlove]

I'm 25 and I have a hard time swallowing pills. Putting it in food never helped either. Sometimes it takes a few tries before I can get a pill down.

Having liquid in your mouth before the pill helps some.

[auntie]

Since he was about 4. I got sick of hauling liquid Zyrtec when we traveled. It was a useful skill when he needed Augmentin because he won't do that as a liquid.

My godchild wouldn't do pills until she was in college. She and mom tried "everything". She needed to take an OTC med that came in a pediatric liquid instead of pills. Mom worked for J&J and could buy the pill form for next to nothing or a day's worth of the pediatric strength for $15 at CVS. She made the kid buy it with her babysitting money for a week. At about $75 the kid started "trying harder".