The ideal dosage form for children should not contain any harmful excipients or degradation products, provide high dose accuracy, have good long-term stability, be palatable as well as easy to administer either by the care-taker or the child depending on age, and allow flexible dosing for children of different age/mass/surface area. Quite often there is a lack of a suitable child-appropriate formulation. A widespread use of inappropriate formulations may lead to an increased risk of adverse reactions, non-compliance or sub-therapeutic treatment due to incorrect dosage.
Moreover, children are not a homogenous group, and they undergo physiological, psychological and mental development from birth until adolescents. Since it will differ a lot what to regard as appropriate dosage form depending on the age of the child, it also makes sense to talk about age-appropriate dosage-forms.
During the past few years, there has been a shift in recommendation of suitable oral dosage forms for children, from liquid formulations to solid dosage forms, such as multiparticulates (e.g. mini-tablets, spherical granules, pellets) and orodispersible systems (e.g. melting tablets, films, wafers). Solid dosage forms provide several advantages over liquids, such as having a high dose accuracy and good long-term stability, and do not relay on the local quality of water, which may be an issue.