Follow these guidelines for using medicines safely.
Most medicines can cause poisoning. Keep them out of
reach of children. Do not remove child-proof caps.
Give your child the correct amount (dose). Read
directions on the label carefully. Measure the dose
exactly. Remember that a 1-teaspoon measuring spoon
should hold 5 ml (or 5 cc). Tableware teaspoons hold
varying amounts and should not be used.
Give the medicine at the correct time intervals. If you
forget a dose, give it as soon as you remember it, and
give the next one at the correct interval following the
late dose. If you need to give a medicine 4 times a day,
you usually should not have to wake your child to take a
dose, unless he or she sleeps for more than 8 hours.
If you think your child is having a reaction to a
medicine, call your health care provider before you stop
giving it to your child. Drug allergies tend to be
overdiagnosed. Many drug symptoms such as nausea or
jitteriness disappear when the dose is reduced.
Continue antibiotics until the bottle is empty. Your
provider will prescribe the correct amount of antibiotic
to kill all the bacteria. Stopping the antibiotic early
may cause the illness to return.
Give medicines to treat symptoms only when your child has
a lot of symptoms (for example, hacking cough) or is
uncomfortable (for example, fever over 102°F or 103°F
(38.9°C or 39.5°C). These medicines do not need to be
given continuously. If you decide to use them
continuously, however, stop giving them after the symptoms
have cleared for more than 12 hours.
Don't give a prescription medicine to anyone except the
person for whom it was prescribed. Don't give it to
brothers or sisters, for instance. Some adult medicines
are never prescribed for children because of their special
side effects on the growing body, such as staining the
teeth.
Don't use outdated medicines. They lose their strength
over time and some may be harmful. Most liquid
antibiotics are worthless after 4 weeks, so throw them
away. Most other medicines are good for 1 to 4 years.
Although pills usually last longer than liquid medicines,
check the label for an expiration date.
