Helping your child to swallow tablets
This page offers practical advice about helping your child to swallow tablets. The same techniques can be used for swallowing capsules. Specific information on individual medicines is available on the Medicines Information pages.
- Being able to swallow tablets or capsules is an important life skill. Even quite young children can learn to swallow tablets.
- Children may prefer to swallow tablets rather than having unpleasant-tasting liquid medicines or crushed tablets mixed with food.
- This leaflet gives advice about helping your child to swallow tablets, and some of the different approaches you can try.
There is also a video which shows you some techniques you can use to teach your child how to swallow tablets.
This video is made by the Kidzmed team, available here:
The Kidzmed programme has been developed to help children and young people learn how to swallow tablets, using a simple six-step technique. The six steps are shown as cartoons with instructions, available to view below or download here.
The Kidzmed programme was first set up at the Great North Children’s Hospital, Newcastle, and has since spread widely with many partners.
More information and the full set of Kidzmed resources, including a guide for parents/carers with useful tips for helping children to swallow tablets, is available here: https://www.e-lfh.org.uk/programmes/kidzmed/