At what age can a kid swallow medicine? - Page 2

[meemee]

Originally Posted by camracrazy 

 ETA: My 6 yo will "dry swallow" pills too but I wonder how good that is since you need to drink plenty of water with some medications.

oh no dd drinks an 8 ounce glass of water after the pills. but she has to dry swallow them just to prove that she can. and then drink her water. 

[Cinder]

Janelle was 6 and needed zofran for a 12 day long stomach bug and swallowed it with no issue, since that day she refuses to take anything in liquid/chewable form.  They make jr. strength motrin that has dosing on it for kids that is swallowable, but also a 47lb kid can take 1 normal adult strength ibuprofin tablet...Janelle is only 44lbs now, but her ped ok'd it for her.

Edited by Cinder - 4/4/11 at 9:35am

[kayabrink]

I'm 29 and to this day have NEVER swallowed a pill. Just reading this thread is difficult. Clearly, I'm going to have to get dh to work on this issue with the kids. But, I feel that earlier is better if you want to avoid having your child end up like, well, me. 

[bobandjess99]

DD has been able to since young, because she HATES liquid medicine.  By age 4 i was crushing adult pills and putting them in applesauce, and by 4.5 - 5 she was swallowing them whole.  It changed our LIFE.  Medicine used to be such a fight, now it's not.  I can't wait til ds learns.  

[SuburbanHippie]

I was well into my 20's when I was able to swallow pills.  I still freak out about big ones.  For a very long time I had to chew up food, push the pill into the ball of mushed up food, and swallow it all together.  I taught my 11 year old how to do it that way since he has a sensitive gag reflex too. 

[Aufilia]

I remember learning to swallow pills in the 4th or 5th grade. My mom would put a whole pill in a spoonful of applesauce and I'd swallow the pill and the applesauce together.  That way I couldn't feel it because it freaked me out to feel it going down whole.

I still don't like swallowing pills and have to do it with a big mouthful of water.  I don't know how people can swallow them dry!  Ugh.  I never would've thought to try to teach the skill at 4 or 5 or even younger, though.  This has been an interesting thread.  DD is 5 and I bet she could do it, but she likes the taste of kid's liquid tylenol and loves her gummy-bear vitamins so she probably wouldn't be motivated to try.