My middle daughter has halved adult pills if required (as suggested by our GP), or full-sugar Calpol, and otherwise has had to learn to swallow pills. Thankfully, despite having been a sickly baby, she now doesn't get ill that often. My youngest is more difficult as she's too young at 6 to swallow large pills, so again we rely on full-sugar Calpol or I crush tablets (or half-tablets) and mix them with honey to get her to take them - very long-winded and not an exact science, so she doesn't often get much medication - temperatures tend to be brought down with the tepid sponging and light clothing approach, rather than drugs. Not very scientific, and possibly not as effective, but it does seem to work :) And our GP is great at working out doses and what's suitable for them. The local pharmacist is also fantastic at finding suitable "alternatives" to the proprietary brands.