Teaching children to take tablets

Leigh | Jun 26, 2007 | Comments

And people think cats are bad, I have perfected that..can pill a cat with my eyes closed. Kids on the other hand, that is un charted territory.

I spent 30mins this morning trying to get my 8yr old son, Hayden to take a nurofen tablet. I handed him the water and tablet, here take this. I had no idea of the drama that was about to unfold. How hard could it be? I have no trouble taking tablets, I can take 2 at a time or without water, which is weird as I have a very strong gag reflex. I had no idea other people had such problems.

No matter what we tried, cutting them in half, hiding them in stuff…that little sucker would not go down. “I got it!…oh, no I didn’t…yay, it went down…wait, no it didn’t” We went thought 4 tablets and he got nothing down, in the end I thought perhaps he has absorbed enough through his tongue and or his bladder was going to explode. I was tempted to use my very skilful cat pilling technique but thought that probably wasn’t a good idea.

He complained that the hole was too small and that huge tablet (the smallest kind you can get) had no way to fit in there. It’s smaller than the half unchewed food you shove down your face..of course it can fit!

So please, share with me..what are the magical tricks you all use? (apart from a suppository *blink*)

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Filed Under: Family • Health

  • Elsie
    hello,

    in a spoonful of yogurt. does the trick. x
  • Annie
    I'm 16 and I have just been prescribed tablets I have to take 3 times a day and I have always had problems swallowing even tiny pills...
    Anyway, I agree with the lemonade- that really is much better than water for me... Also, some kind of fruit like a pear that most people don't completely chew up anyway sometimes helps because it just slides down the throat with the lump of fruit. As long as it's not a plastic coated tablet I don't think it matters too much if you crush it, but being able to take tablets is pretty useful in case you ever have to take a plastic one.. :)
  • andrea
    Hi, My kids are still not old enough to be taking tablets, but i remember as a kid i used to practice with tic-tac's as they were small. I then moved onto taking capsules without much of a problem. They do make chewable panadol for kids too if that helps.

    Also it can be dangerous to crush tablets as the protective coating is broken and therfore the drug absorbs into the system quicker than it is designed to.
  • Rachel
    I'm 16 years old and I've been perscribed tablets today for my illness, and I've tried tablets twice before today and not managed to take them both times. I've attempted to take the tablets I have now six times and I can't do it. I've tried mixing with jellies, breads, milk, putting them in the water and drinking it, tipping my head backwards, forwards, trying with the tablet at the tip of my tongue, the back of my throat, and nothing seems to be working. I'm really amazed that you're trying to get your child of 8 to take a tablet because I'm twice that age and I'm still struggling.
    I thought I would share that with you.
  • Virginia
    My daughter is now 12yrs old and has a difficult time swallowing tablets. Spoke to my gp and he suggested that I buy vitamin c tablets and get my daughter to chew them up, until mushy, then swallow the rest with water. Over time, the size of the vitamin c tablets get bigger, and hopefully , over time, she will be able to swallow the tablet whole. Will let you know what happens.
  • I don't know if this will work for you, but when I was a kid I has a horrible time taking pills. My mother would cut them up. This never helped because the pill now had a jagged edge and tasted worse. A nurse suggested that my mom put the pill in a spoonful of jelly. The slippery texture made it easier to swallow and masked the taste of the pill.
  • Meg
    Have the same problem here with my 14 yo daughter. Still won't take tablets so I use a liquid (panamax).

    Am thinking a few years down the track - but do they make liquid birth control ;)?
  • Leigh,

    Keep me posted on your findings, will you please. This is interesting that these three have this in common.

    My son now has an 8 month old daughter. If this issue comes up for her, I'd like to be prepared to spare her any frustration if possible.

    I hope you're able to figure out a solution for your little fella soon. Bless his heart.

    You can email me at angela at angelabetts dot com.
  • Leigh
    Hi Angela,

    I had not thought of that. Hayden had his adenoids done about 4yrs ago. The last few weeks I have had a feeling they have grown back (his father had the same problem, and his grew back 3 times) Perhaps that could be part of the problem? Come to think of it, his father also has problems taking tablets, so I could we be fighting a losing battle.
  • My now 26 yr old son was never able to get a pill down his throat. I always had to find a way to turn meds into a liquid form for him up into his teen years.

    I'm not saying this was the root of the problem, BUT interestingly enough he had to have his adenoids taken out twice (they grew back in less than 5 yrs) because they were completely blocking his nasal passages. Could that have had anything to do with it? I honestly can't tell you.

    I do know he had trouble blowing his nose and speaking clearly due to his adenoids blocking his passages.
  • A trick I have learned over the years is to buy paracetamol capsules, they are much easier for kids to swallow.

    A doctor told me to put the capsule in their mouth and give them a drink but tell them to tip their head FORWARD (not backwards as suggested previously) doing this will help the capsule slide effortlessly down the little dear's throat.

    Good luck! It has worked every time in this family, hope it does in yours too!
  • Liquid paracetamol's are available up to a 12yr old age group. Both my kids have been able to take tablets I cut them in half & tell them to put it right at the back of their tongue, take a large drink of water & throw their head back as they swallow. Works every time. I have head that milk is thicker & makes swallowing tablets easier
  • Naomi
    A subject near and dear?? to my heart. We're still on liquid medications (not old enough for tablets yet, although at the height of our medicine taking woes, we did in our desperation talk about using a cat pill popper and giving him a tablet LOL).

    I have had to disguise the liquid ABs as 'fairy drink' with food colouring and sprinkles ... but at least he'd take it then, rather than throwing up all over me.

    We also considered the panadol suppositories, that's how desperate we were. Luckily his temperature came back down before we resorted to that.

    I really, really wish they'd do analgesics in patches, like the quit smoking patches. That would make it SO much easier.
  • Leigh
    Hayden is 8, hence the reason we are trying to move from liquid to tablets.
  • Heather
    Liquid Panadol....had the same problem with the TT (still do)....when he was in hospital with his first case of Asthma at 30 months, I had to argue with the staff to let me crush the tablets up and put in his juice bottle...only way to get the medicine into him if it wasn't in liquid form.
    He is still here.
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