Tips on how to get an 8-year-old to take a pill?

[Silvercat]

I didn't learn to take pills until my twenties, so I can remember how difficult it can be.

First, don't tilt your head back. The pill just floats to the top. Keep it level or a little forward. Second, drink more than you think you need, and drink a little before the pill. If it feels like the pill is stuck in her throat, let her eat something.

I have a hard time swallowing sometimes - my throat just won't work - but taking it with milk makes it easier.

Good luck.

[friendofjimmyk]

My friends daughter takes meds for ADHD. She learned how to take pills, but it takes her a long time to get one down. Literally, she puts it on her tongue and takes a swig of water and it seems like she takes a long time getting it swallowed and it's a tiny pill!

I think she lets it dissolve a little, which can't taste too good. I suppose whatever helps her get it down, though.

[Sakka]

When I've needed to swallow a pill, what works for me is to drink a mouthful of water/juice/tea/whatever, hold the pill lightly between my front teeth, then drink the rest of the water/juice/etc.

[evileatinggrasshopper]

I was never able to swallow pills until I was in high school. I used to have them crushed up and mixed into things. Now though, I can swallow multiple pills at once, but, and I know this is weird, only when I place them under my tongue. If I place them on top of my tongue like a normal person, I choke when they hit the back of my throat. When they're under my tongue, the swallowing motion flicks it up and back without it hitting the back of my throat and I'm fine. I can't explain why it works, it just does

[Moogles]

My 3-year-old understands the concept of pills, and willingly takes her vitamins (I make sure to get the ones that don't look/taste like candy) when I take my seizure meds in the afternoon. She actually comes up to me and says "Time for mommy's pills. An Rainas pill too".

I think what helped is she grew up watching me have to pills medication sometimes 6 times a day (seizure pills, heart medication and now an SSRI), so she saw it was no big deal.

[Fire_on_High]

I have trouble taking even tiny pills with plain water, but no trouble at all unless it's stinking HUGE with anything else, really. Milk is easiest, but juice, powerade, koolaid, you name it...all fine.

[ShadowBall]

Hmm, must be my aunt did it all wrong when her daughter was a toddler. She would medicate my cousin like a cat: get her in a headlock, open her mouth and shove the pill (or mouth syringe) as far back as possible until she swallowed. Yeah, the girl screamed bloody murder when this happened, but she forgot all about it within about 20 minutes.

For a short time in my teens, I had issues swallowing pills too and I would put them into yogurt, pudding, something that was kinda solid but required no chewing. A thick drink like Slim-Fast or a milkshake or smoothie might work too. But this only works for small and medium-sized pills - I still can't swallow those huge 1000 mg vitamin C tabs in one gulp because I choke on them.

But in the event you need to force-medicate her, perhaps the upside to being attention deficit is she won't remember it as well as a child without autism?

[Metody]

You might try making it a mother-daughter thing, where you both take your pills in the morning, using the same method; if you don't have anything prescribed, you could just take a multivitamin. A lot of little kids love to imitate Mom, after all, and seeing you taking medicine too might help make the whole thing feel more normal and natural to her.

[Sapphire Silk]

Forcing meds is a great way to make someone choke. Don't do it.