Need Help Getting My Son to Swallow Pills

My son was told by the pediatrician to place the capsule in his mouth and then drink from a straw. This allows the capsule to float to the back of the throat and the liquid "washes" it down. We had to try this a couple of times and my son says it works best with soda. He takes a swallow of soda for his vitamin (pill not capsule) and says the fizz helps him to forget about what is also going down. Before this, he would choke on everything and swear it would never go down. Just what worked for us.

Have you tried sticking it in a spoonful of pudding or honey or something he can kind of suck down but would be gelled enough hold the pill? I don't know if it would work, but I hate taking pills and that wouldn't be as scary to me.

My dad used to pressure me about swallowing pills. Is it really a big deal? Isn't the point that he takes the medicine? So as long as he is taking it, back off, just because you and your other son can do it doesn't mean everyone can. If he stops taking the medicine THEN make that a big deal. Other than that, it just isn't a hill to die on.

I have had the same problem with my son and his XR meds. The one thing that really worked for us is to put the pill in ice cream. I take a spoon and kind of scrap a thin layer of ice cream onto it so that it covers the whole thing. I put the pill in the middle and then fold over the ice cream on itself to cover the pill. I hope this makes sense. We started by having him practice swallowing the small "ball" of ice cream with a pill a few times. Then we added the pill and he did it again. He was very proud. He has moved on to swallowing a tiny pill with water. He puts some water in his mouth and holds it there, he leans his head back and then drops the pill to the back of the throat and then swallows the water. This is only having been swallowing the ice cream pill for a couple of years. Hope this helps. I know it's frustrating but keep trying.