Age your kids changed from liqiuids to pills?

[MichelleVW]

My DD16 won't/can't take pills. She chokes and gags on them....I know it's all in her head, but my mom said she couldn't swallow pills until she was in college either.

She will take allergy pills because they are microscopic, but anything else...nope...

 

[HelenePA]

I don't blame him about the adult vitamins! Those things are huge and nasty as all get out. If you try to split them or grind them, they taste even worse.

Wait til you get prenatal vitamins

 

[shortbun]

Most parents know about the gradual acceptance of pill taking. Get some of those tiny little M&M's and start with those. Then go up to the baking size and then to the regular size. That should convince her she's able. This is what they do at most peds offices and children's hospitals. All the docs and nurses understand how hard it is to transition. I don't remember when my son started swallowing pills but I do know I worked on it NOT when he was sick. They're not exactly easy to reason with when they don't feel well, are you?

They DO make a chewable that's a bigger dose and for the older child who doesn't swallow pills but needs more medicine than liquid provides.

When my very adult mother was dying earlier this year, she HATED swallowing pills and she had loads to swallow. Everyone had to leave the room and she needed calm and quiet. All my life I had no idea she had trouble with pill swallowing but she did. We tried crushing them in applesauce, pudding, ice cream...all refused eventually and she swallowed pills on the morning of her death.

 

[imabrat]

Wait til you get prenatal vitamins

I've actually been taking them for a while after chemo to help with my hair. I talked with my oncologist about it and he said it was fine. They aren't the prescribed ones though, just the OTCs. They're not bad at all compared to the regular multi-vitamins. Well, at least the Centrum multis.

 

[shortbun]

maybe if you let her text her friends they could tell her how easy it is. oh, thats right, you wont let them text. sorry, couldnt resist. go back to original thread.

Good one!!! Poor PD, he'll never live it down.

Hey, sorry your daughter is sick btw. Hope she feels a lot better soon!

 

[MariDisney]

My DD was about 4 when she switched to pills. She never liked swallowing liquid. Last year (at 8) she needed to have her tonsils out. I didn't even think of it, but the Dr. had ordered all liquid medications. The nursers were nice enough to call and get a new order after DD broke down about having to swallow a liquid.

 

[Papa Deuce]

Good one!!! Poor PD, he'll never live it down.

Hey, sorry your daughter is sick btw. Hope she feels a lot better soon!

But the fact is, I don't care about the fact that people don't agree with me. I have lived my whole life that way. Think about it... if it bothered me to have people disagree, my post count would be cut by 75%.

And I just got back from the drugstore at 1AM to get kids motrin, just in case she didn't get the pill down. At least when she wakes up whe will have it.

 

[Cinderella94]

I'm 15 and I still use applesauce when I need to take a pill. Or yogurt, jello, pudding, you get the idea. I had to try for the first time when I was around 12.

 

[Cinderella94]

My DD16 won't/can't take pills. She chokes and gags on them....

That's me! Then I try for so long that they start dissolving in my mouth and tasting all bitter.....yuck!!!

 

[NHdisneylover]

First off, I hope your DD feels better soon.

Next, I agree that teaching her to swallow a pill (handle something new and daunting to her) when she is ffeeling ill is nota good time (unless SHE tells you she does not want to take the chewables and would like to learn now). Wait until she is over this and work on it with both girls when they are feeling good so you will be ready next time someone is sick.

Use the mini M&Ms and work your way up on size trick a PP suggested. Both my kids learned this way.

My youngest learned first. He was 7 or 8. He had to take a steriod for his asthma and the liquid tasted so bad he threw it back up more often than not. HE said he was going to learn how to swallow a pill before the next does was due and then we could call the Dr. and get him the pills instead (big pills by the way). We worked with M&Ms for about an hour getting bigger. He was very determined and he got it DD was 10 or 11 and worked on it for about a week for a little bit at a time. It was stressful for her and she gagged so much it was not good to push her into working on it too much in one sitting. She also had one heck of a time learning to spit (for brushing teeth) so she just has some issues there--but she got it eventually. It IS really nice not to have to keep so many different versions of hte same basic medicine on hand now.

 

[AnnaS]

Hope she is feeling better.

I was also going to suggest m&ms or tic tacs - of course this has not worked on my dd almost 17. She also chokes and gags on everything. She still takes liquid and Benadryl strips (or liquid) when she has to.

It took a while for my sons too, they might have been 12/13.

Good luck.

 

[MichelleVW]

Wait til you get prenatal vitamins

I couldn't take the prenatal vitamins...they were way too big and they would make me gag then I would barf. But I had still had two healthy babies!

My DD was about 4 when she switched to pills. She never liked swallowing liquid. Last year (at 8) she needed to have her tonsils out. I didn't even think of it, but the Dr. had ordered all liquid medications. The nursers were nice enough to call and get a new order after DD broke down about having to swallow a liquid.

Wow....I was 17 when I had my tonsils out and no way could I have swallowed a pill with my throat hurting the way it did afterward! They gave me pills and I remember my mom having to call the pharmacy again to go back and get liquid so I could/would take the pain meds.

 

[mlclements]

The applesauce worked for my daughter. She took her pills with applesauce for awhile and then she was able to start swallowing the pills without the applesauce. I am so glad we tried it. Nothing else was working.

 

[Ilivetogo]

Both kids ... DD15 and DS8 take pills great!

They both "practiced" with mini m&m's first.

They both got the hang of it quickly and we've had no problem since.

I actually have to remind the pediatrician to prescribe my DS8 PILLS instead of liquid (he HATES the liquids) because they usually assume the younger kids won't swallow a pill.

It's nice. No more mess. Easy.

 

[JoanGirardi]

I guess I was really lucky with my 3 kids, because they all disliked the liquid so much they gladly took pills when they were old enough! I want to say I started them with pills when they were 7 or 8, possibly a little younger than that. The only exception is vitamins. They didn't want to swallow the bigger vitamins, so I still bought chewables for those.

 

[HM]

My DD was able to change at about age 10. My DS is nearly 16 and still can't take a pill. He takes after me. I was in college before I could swallow a pill. We have huge gag reflexes.

 

[Luv2Scrap]

I'm about to be forced to go through this with DS12. He has tried a few times, and hasn't yet been successful swallowing a pill. I remember the last time we tried, he'd take a drink, over and over again, and each time the pill would still be in his mouth.

He's lactose intolerant, and rather than have him take a lactaid pill every time he eats dairy, we found a nice children's chewable one that he can take in the morning, and he's covered all day.

The problem is, everyone has stopped carrying the chewable version of them, or they stopped making them... not sure, all I know is I can't find them anymore. I bought all I could when they went on clearance a few months back, but he's going to run out in a couple more months. then he will have no choice but to learn to swallow!

I'm glad I read this thread, because I think the mini m&m's is going to do the trick for us!

 

[HelenePA]

I couldn't take the prenatal vitamins...they were way too big and they would make me gag then I would barf. But I had still had two healthy babies!

I tried taking them for about a week with each one.. mine still turned out fine