How do i get my Son,to swallow his medication ?

Question

Been prescribed Pills - for an infection.

Having massive trouble / hates swallowing Pills.

Tried putting it in Honey or Jam,made no difference.

The alternative is medicine - but he also hates that.

Answer 1

The Process

Before the first attempt, encourage the child to swallow a mouthful of water. This may help demonstrate any problems the child has with swallowing and the general level of motivation. Demonstrate the steps to pill swallowing as follows:

* Sit or stand up straight
* Take a deep breath
* Breathe out with pursed lips, making an “s” sound.
* Put the pill in the middle of your tongue.
* Keep your head straight.

Keep the range of pill bottles that will be used out of the child’s sight. Present the child with the first (smallest) pill, placing two pills on a piece of paper. Let the child choose which pill they want to swallow. Show the child how to swallow the pill by going through the steps as outlined above. Then encourage the child to swallow the pill themselves, reminding them of the steps. You can hold the child’s chin gently in order to keep their head straight. A mirror may be useful to help show the child where to place the pill. Maintain a neutral face and tone of voice throughout but praise the child for his/her effort, in particular after the pill has been swallowed successfully. Social reinforcement is the primary reward for successful pill swallowing. Rewards such as sweets, toys should not be used unless absolutely necessary.

Answer 2

My cat Larry had hyperthyroidism. It became quite severe and he lost a signifiant amount of weight and stopped eating much because of the disease. He was one of the first cats to get the surgery you are talking about which was pioneered by his vet in the Chicagoland area. It saved his life. He was already very old (about 20) when he had the surgery and lived another 6 years afterward in relatively good health. A few weeks after I brought him home from the pet hospital, he was near his old self again. That surgery was expensive but worth every penny. Before the surgery, we tried drug treatment for him. He absolutely would not take straight pills. The solution we came up with was processed cheese. We would take some and mold it around the pill. He loved the stuff and cats don't chew food much. This worked most of the time, although he would occassionally lose the pill (I'd find it on the floor later). One thing I considered doing but never tried (medication wasn't working so I took him for surgery) was grinding the pill into a powder. This is easy to do with a $10 coffee grinder (only use the grinder for his medication and nothing else, hehe). It will pulverize the pill into a fine powder. Then, mix the powder with some food he likes (cheese is good because stuff sticks to it).

Answer 3

DO NOT>>>> I repeat DO NOT Listen to the complete and total tool that told you to crush or mash them up!

That could cause severe internal bleeding, vomiting, ulceration, acid reflux... depending on what medication it is as some pills have a special coating on them or are encapsulated and in little small bits inside the capsule which causes them to break down at certain times in certain places in the body. Since we do not know what the pill is, you should NEVER crush or mash or break up any pill EVER! Especially not for a child!

*Some people should be seen and not heard! That is why it upsets me when people answer medical questions without knowing what they are talking about!

Ask the Doctor for the liquid version of whatever the pill is... Most antibiotics come in both liquid reconstitutions and pills...


And for the girl below me... Thanks for agreeing with me but you too need to please not contribute! YOU DO NOT MIX powdered antibiotics with ANYTHING BUT WATER!

Geeze people! This is a child we are talking about here... Think before speaking or take a pharmaceutical chemistry class!

Answer 4

I agree with pape about not crushing the pills. Some meds, when crushed, cause more harm than good.

Ask the doc for the liquid version of the drug, and mix it in with a glass of soda (or somthing else he likes) that will mask the taste of the drug. Depening on the drug, Orange juice, chocolete milk and regular (not diet) soda works the best. Putting the drug in smoothies and milkshakes work the best-but he has to drink the whole thing.

Many, many pharmacies can also add what's called "flavor shots" to drugs. Most popular flavors are grape, strawberry and bubblegum-they can add this to otherwise yucky tasting liquid drugs. After getting a presicption from the doc for the liquid version, ask the pharmacy about this when you go to have it filled, and tell them what flavors your son likes. They'll tell you what flavors they have that will best mask the "yucky" taste of the drug. Keep in mind each drug is different, and some flavors don't work well with certain types of drugs, so it's important to work with them in finding a flavor that will work.

Answer 5

The only way I learned..... my Dad spanked me - no joke. I couldn't swallow pills until he spanked me for not taking my medication, so I forced myself passed the gag reflex to swallow the pill so he wouldn't spank me anymore.

What we would do before that was break my pills in half or break them into powder and mix them in my drink.

Basically he has to pretend like he is drinking it.

put a few gulps of water in his mouth, pop the pill in, let it swim in the mouth for a second and then swallow big and hard.

The reason I couldn't do it before was because I always felt the gag reflex when it hit the back of my throat. If he gets passed that, he will swallow those pills.

Answer 6

Make him a smoothy, get some mixed fruit throw it into a blender with maybe some cranberry juice or water if your thrifty, break up the pills and throw them in too. Press liquefy on your blender and your problem is solved as soon as he drinks it. Just don't let him see you put in the pills. Theres always more than one way to skin a cat.

Answer 7

Don't let him get his way. Talk to him and tell him that he has to take his medicine to get better. If he plays any video games, or goes out with buddies, watches tv, computer, music, or anything of THAT sort, just ban it from him. Don't ban him from food though, like deserts and what not..never do that. Most mothers do that, it's just wrong.

Answer 8

Crush it into powder as much as you can. Put it in a small glass of water or lemonade. The rest is self explanatory.

Answer 9

hmm... if he has trouble taking it even if its crushed up in honey or jam how about crush it up and mix it with jam or honey peanut butter sandwidge for lunch.. since kids will eat anything if they dont know about it.. my mum used to get us to eat liver going up cause we thought it was shake n bake chicken when it was actually liver

Answer 10

when my brother and i were younger and we couldn't swallow pills, my mom had us practice with m&m's. they tasted good and if we couldn't swallow them they would just melt. eventually we were able to swallow fine and it wasn't a big deal. maybe you could try something like this with your son. good luck!