At what age was your child able to swallow pills? My dd is 10 and will not even try to swallow a pill. She will take liquid, but sometimes it is a fight for that. I begged her to get a shot instead of taking antibiotics for 10 days the last time she needed them, but she wouldn't. I just know she would be able to stand a pill better, but i don't know how to convince her to try it.

My dd2 is 14 and still can't swallow pills. So we just mash them up and put it in applesauce or something else like that. It drives my dh nuts but thats just the way it is!

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Karen

My ds is 6 and has been swallowing pills for the last 2 years. He takes medicine daily for epilepsy and perfers to swallow his medicine vs the chewable. We had him on chewable pills for the 1st year and we had to mix it with applesauce or pudding just so he would take it. I remember being 10 or 12 before I was able to swallow pills. My doctor had told me to practice with m&m's.

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DS - 8
DD - 5

My ds is 9 and does good with smaller pills, like his zyrtec. But larger ones, like antibiotics, he can't swallow. He tries and tries and just can't do it.

My nine yr old has been swallowing them for at least a year. That is good because he won't take chewables or liquid

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~Happiness is a large family~

I wonder if some people are just "built" differently, and that makes it more difficult to swallow pills?? Is that possible? I am a terrible pill swallower. Other people I know can swallow several pills at once. I gag on my calcium pill. Granted, it is HUGE and I've learned to break it in half, but even then, I gag often. I just wonder whether it's psychological or physical? I don't know!

How did you teach your little ones to swallow a pill?

I just told him to put it way in the back of his mouth and take a big drink of water.

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~Happiness is a large family~

Well, I'm almost 38 and STILL can't really swallow pills! I can swallow teeny-tiny pills (like a Claratin, and sometimes those get stuck in my throat but I don't gag because they're small), but that's it. People have told me that it's "all in my head", but that's bulls**t. I've choked on things that most people wouldn't have a problem with such as a corn kernel, a small piece of meat, and a Smartie. Although my dad swallows pills, he's been known to gag. I just found out that my aunt (who died last year at 86) could NEVER swallow pills. I have an extremely small throat and a long thin neck, so I agree with Newlywed about people being built differently. I really wish I could swallow pills -- it's embarassing to have to ask doctors for prescriptions in liquid form or having to find out if pills can be crushed or chewed.

As for my 7 year-old dd -- she's still not swallowing pills. My dd knows that I can't swallow pills so I'm hoping that she's not afraid to try because of my problems. I've told dd that most people (including her father) don't have problems like I do.

My kids both swallow pills with no problems. I just would have them take a sip of a liquid, put the pill on their tongue and then have them take more swallows, all at once. No problems. Works like a charm for them.

My kids were never good with liquids. We were requesting chewables very early on and then we just transitioned to swallowing pills.