How to get your children to swallow pills

Watch this video tutorial series to see how to get your children to swallow pills.

HIV therapies available today are more powerful than anything that has been available in the past. Drug combinations, especially those that include a protease inhibitor, can prolong life and maintain a child's health. Many of these protease inhibitors are not available in pediatric formulations or are unpalatable, so it's important for children to acquire pill swallowing skills so that they can benefit from these new treatment combinations.

A psychological principle, shaping, a technique that relies on behavior modification, is being used to teach children to swallow pills. The method starts with a small placebo and quickly advances to the largest pill. The pill training is done without the parent present. The training should be done by a neutral person who can act as a coach and keep the child motivated. The skill should be presented as something new that the child can learn, such as brushing his teeth, tying his shoelaces, and combing his hair -- all things learned on the way to growing up.

When a kid is not a good candidate for this technique, a behaviorally oriented psychologist may be able to design an alternative technique tailored to the child's individual needs. In this case, it's better not to make the attempt than to give the child a bad experience.

This pill swallowing technique uses a series of placebos, each larger than the next. Cake decorations come in many colors, but use only the white, so that they look like medications. Never call the placebos "candy;" swallowing "candy" is easy and the child will not learn to swallow if they believe they are practicing on candy. Most people typically chew candy and many pills cannot be chewed.

A kid who is having difficulty swallowing a pill after being successful should be allowed two more tries. If the child is still not successful, the trainer should go back to a pill size where the child has been successful.