How to Get Kids to Swallow Pills

Your child may have difficulty swallowing her medication for a variety of reasons. Being too sick, having a previous bad experience with medications or not having the reflex to swallow a pill can make her battle with you. Yet, she needs to take her medication in order not to compromise her health. She should swallow her pill whole unless her pediatrician prescribes a medication that you can crush into her food.

Things You'll Need

• Small cup
• Water
• Small candy
• Child's favorite drink
• Straw
• Coloring book
• Flavored gelatin

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Instructions

• 1

  Fill a small cup with water. The NYU Child Study Center recommends letting your child gulp a mouthful of water and swallow it. Practice this a few times to get him used to swallowing.

• 2

  Practice swallowing with a small piece of candy such as a Tic Tac. Place the candy on your child's tongue and let her drink her favorite drink through a straw. The University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Health suggests gradually increasing the size of candy to the size of the pill she will need to ingest.

• 3

  Apply the candy method for a few days to give your child a chance to develop a swallowing reflex. Distract your child before administering medication by watching his favorite cartoon.

• 4

  Offer your child a choice of water or her favorite drink to take with her medication. Praise her when she takes her medication. Reward her by taking her to the park or coloring in a new coloring book.

• 5

  Put your child's medication in flavored gelatin. Make a package of your child's favorite flavor and cut the gelatin into cubes. Place a pill into the center of a cube and allow you child to swallow the cube. The pill will easily slide down your child's throat.