Safe Medication Use in Children

As we now know, there are certain precautions we should take when administering our medications to make sure we are taking them safely.  But there are EXTRA precautions we should take when administering medications to children.

• Avoid diagnosing your child yourself.  Discuss your child’s symptoms with a doctor or pharmacist to determine if prescription medications are needed (i.e. an antibiotic) or if over-the-counter meds will suffice.

• Generally, children under the age of six years old should not be given over- the-counter medications.  This is especially true for children under the age of two.  If an infant or toddler shows any signs of illness, it is recommended that you bring them to the doctor as soon as possible.

• Make sure to use children’s formulations of over-the-counter medications.  Usually they are available in liquid or dissolvable tablet formulations, which makes them easier for children to swallow.

• Read medication labels carefully, and be sure to follow the directions closely.  The dosing of many children’s medications is determined by the age or weight of the child, and children are more susceptible to overdose.  When reading the instructions be sure to pay attention to not only the dose, but also the dosing frequency.

• Use medicine cups, syringes, droppers or spoons when measuring liquids.  Kitchen utensils are not exact, and therefore, may cause you to accidently give too much or too little medication to your child(ren).

• Avoid giving aspirin to children under the age of 19.  Use of aspirin in children increases their risk of Reye’s syndrome, particularly when recovering from a viral infection (i.e. the common cold, the flu, or chicken pox).  Reye’s syndrome is a potentially fatal disease, and symptoms may include diarrhea, vomiting, rapid breathing, severe fatigue, seizures, and loss of consciousness.

• Keep medications out of reach of children and pets.  Easy access without supervision may lead to accidental overdose.   In 67% of emergency room visits for medicine poisoning, the medicine was left within reach of a child.

• Don’t coax your children into taking their medication by saying it’s candy.   As we’ve discussed before, this increases their chances of taking the medication without supervision, which may lead to possible overdose.

• If your child resists taking the medication because of the taste, you have several potential options.  You can consider mixing it with a small amount of applesauce or yogurt.  Many pharmacies also offer flavoring options for liquid medications.  Our cheeks don’t have taste buds, so if using a dropper or syringe, you can squirt the medication on the inside of the child’s cheeks a little bit at a time.  Please be sure to check with your pharmacist first, but in some cases, tablets can be crushed, or capsules can be opened and the contents poured into a soft food like applesauce.

• If your child spits up or vomits the medication, call your doctor or pharmacist to determine if the dose should be given again.

• Keep the National Poison Control Center number saved in your cellphone.  They can be reached anytime at 1-800-222-1222.

Do any moms have any additional tips/tricks they would like to share?  I’m also interested to know how old your children were when they were first able to swallow tablets/capsules, and how you knew they were ready.