How can I get my 10 yr old girl to learn to swallow tablets?

Question

She is the height and weight of a 12 yr old and liquid panadol is no longer suitable.She panics about choking on tablets and spits them back out and hates the taste of soluble panadol even in juice or lemonade.Please help!

Answer 1

ha im sad to admit this, but i still have to take pills with something to eat. something thats easy to swallow and dosent get stuck to the roof of your mouth. my favorite thing is to chew up a grape and RIGHT as im about to swallow shove the pill in my mouth. it all goes down as one big thing and i dont taste it or feel it. maybe try doing this?

Answer 2

This is the trick we learned from our doc.

Start with an M&M in a spoonful of applesauce.

If she can taste chocolate when she swallows the applesause, it means she has bitten the M&M.

Then move on to putting the pill in the applesauce, and let her take the med that way until she would like to move on to taking it with water.

Worked well for us and I hope it works for you, too.

Be well.

Answer 3

Have her practice with tiny M&Ms first. Once she gets the hang of swallowing three or four of those at the same time, try something a bit bigger, like half of a M&M. Then whole m&ms. Then try swallowing peanut m&ms.  I suggest using candy at first because it tastes good so if it ends up disolving on her tongue she's still willing to try. And after she gets a handful swallowed down then you can give her the rest of the bag. If she's "talented" she'll probably be able to swallow the real pill within a week or two - although you might still end up having to bribe her if it tastes bad to begin with. yuck!

Best of luck!

Answer 4

we had this problem too.  we practiced with bread rolled into small balls.

Answer 5

from 7 years old they can take 1/2 a panadol. I taught my kids to put it to the back of the tongue and mouth full of water and swallow. My daughter could do it straight away and my son took a bit of practise but can do it now. There is always disolvable panadol.

Answer 6

Have her fill her mouth with water, shove the pill between her lips, tilt her head back, and swallow.

She'll get it. It is much better than a nasy tasting medicine!

SD

Answer 7

try putting them into peanut butter, or crushing them up and putting them in apple sauce.

you may be able to find liquid medicines suitable for someone her height/weight

Answer 8

I'd talk to your pharmacist or doctor. Maybe there is a good alernative or something they could suggest. I would think if you took a  large enough dose of a liquid that is meant for lower weight kids that would work. A pharmacist could help you calculate the dosage for your daughter's weight. Maybe she would have to take an extra spoonful or two, but if she likes it that wouldn't matter.

Answer 9

Okay....my sister was having this problem with her 11 year old. She would not swallow pills! So, I suggested that she practice with peas or corn, or something of that sort. They don't have the nasty taste, and they are fairly soft. It worked for her, I would give it a try.

~Kate, Mommy of Six

Answer 10

This happened with my daughter too.  I really think it is entirely in their heads that they cannot swallow the pill no matter what.  I finally told my daughter that if she didn't swallow the pill we would have to go get a shot every time she needed the medicine.  Believe me, that pill went down pretty quickly after that!

Answer 11

My 10 year old had ammonia last year and had to have little tablets too! To make her swallow it, i cut it up, put it on a spoon with jelly, or jello, had her swallow it perfect! you could also get the thick liquid kind, put it in a baby's medicine dropper, squirted it in her mouth, and she washed it down with water, and had her favorite food to get rid of the leftover taste.

Answer 12

I have tried and tried with my daughter, but resort to crushing up very finely between two spoons, and mixing on the spoon with honey.

Answer 13

Try giving it to her with some soda.  Something about the bubbles fizzing while drinking and swallowing the pill helps it to go down.

Answer 14

My mom took some white bread and pinched it around the pill. I knew I could swallow bread and It didn't taste bad. It worked well for me.

Answer 15

I am 24 years old and I still can't swallow pills! I've just recently learned how to swallow the soft gel ones. She would have to learn on her own and at her own pace!

GOOD LUCK

Answer 16

Some people just cant swallow pills.  I'm an adult and can only swallow very small ones and it takes some effort.  My 13 year old cant swallow them at all.  I give her Jr. strength tylenol that are chewable.

Answer 17

stuff it in some food that is her fave and she wont even notice