swallowing pills Adam had just turned 4.  He was to the point where he was refusing to drink or eat foods that he knew had his meds/supplements in them.  So I just set the pills down on the table in front of him and reasoned with him.... The pills don't taste like ANYTHING if you swallow them, and the food with the pills mixed into it is yucky and nasty.  The motivation was pretty strong for him to learn how to swallow the pills.  I demonstrated for him once (in a very exaggerated way), he tried it and gagged.  I demonstrated again, he tried again and the pill went down.  Up until very recently I have been taking any capsules that are bigger than what I thought he could handle and splitting them into two smaller capsules that were easier for him to swallow. I've also heard of parents tearing teeny tiny pieces off of a starburst and letting their child swallow that with water, and then gradually making the pieces bigger (they are rolled into a ball) until the child is comfortable with it and can swallow a regular sized pill or tablet. [QUOTE=BonBon]If your child is able to swallow pills, how did you teach it and what age were they when they learned?[/QUOTE] i couldnt swallow pill till almost an adult I was 12 or 13 before I could swallow a pill.  Even now, I have trouble and tend to get stuck.  I hate swallowing pills.  My son was 6 when he started medicine. He really didn't go for the sprinkle it in the food thing. I couldn't get him to eat the food. The doctor suggested I teach him to swallow pills using candy. I started with mini M & M's and then tried regular M & M's and Reese's Pieces. Give him some incentive that if he swallows a piece of candy he gets to eat 5 pieces. It took a week for this to work. Both Mikey and Tori swallow pills easily.  But then they're the kind of kiddos that would simply swallow food and/or chewable vitamins/minerals without chewing if they didn't like the taste/texture, so it wasn't such a big deal. We didn't "teach" it.  We just gave them the pills and told them to swallow.  Both started around age 3. Cole has no problems swallowing pills.  He started med's when he was 5.  I first told him to take some water in his mouth and not swallow the water while I put the pill in and then have him swallow it.  That didn't work out so well.  The next day, I had him put the pill in his mouth and take a drink and swallow.  It took a few days but he got the hang of it. I am very thankful because he will not tolerate any liquid medications. thanks, all. Will just have to try and see what happens. My older child is 15 and just now learned to swallow pills. He can only swallow the small capsules so far. I guess I thought since it took him until he was 15, it would take her that long. But it would be worth a try to get her to swallow these without tasting them. If your child is able to swallow pills, how did you teach it and what age were they when they learned?
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