Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, April 16, 1990 TAG: 9004140240
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: E-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: The New York Times
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Consult a physician first.
Whenever possible, ask the child's physician before giving medication, whether it is to reduce a fever, relieve a pain, quiet a cough, settle a queasy stomach or relieve an itchy rash. The symptom may mean more than you realize, and the treatment you administer could easily be worse than the problem.
When bringing your child to the physician, be sure to tell the doctor what medications, both over-the-counter and prescription drugs, you have given the child. Home treatments may confuse the diagnosis by creating or masking symptoms.
Do not save leftover medications.
Unless the child's physician has instructed you otherwise, discard all antibiotics and other medications that remain after a course of treatment has been completed.
If you are advised by the physician to save them, be sure they are clearly labeled as to contents, date and prescribing physician.
Follow dosage guidelines.
When told to give a medication every eight hours, for example, do so even if it means arousing yourself or the child from sleep. This helps to assure that a therapeutic blood level of the drug is maintained round the clock.
If told to give the drug for 10 days or two weeks, do not stop after three days because the child seems completely recovered. It is often necessary to use the prescription completely to eliminate an infectious organism or to prevent it from going underground only to resurface later in a more dangerous form.
Give the correct dose.
For liquid medications, use a standardized measuring spoon (or medication measuring tube for infants), not household teaspoons, which can vary greatly in size.
Over-the-counter medications that may be safe for children often do not list dosages appropriate for infants and toddlers. They suggest instead that you call the physician. Do so, rather than guess at the right amount of cough syrup to give your 18-month-old.
Know what is prescribed and why.
Ask the doctor the name of the medication, what effect it is supposed to have, how long it should take to show a benefit and what side effects you should be concerned about. Find out, too, how to administer the drug; some should not be taken on an empty stomach or with milk, for example. And write down what the doctor tells you so you won't forget.
Monitor the child for side effects.
Each child is unique, and a drug that may help one could harm another. Call the physician if the child develops new and unexpected symptoms while taking any medication, whether it is a skin rash, nausea or vomiting, headache, loss of balance, undue lethargy, emotional depression or hyperactivity.
In addition, never tell a child that medication is candy or tastes like candy.
Nor should you have to reward a child for taking medication with more than a hug or verbal praise.
A child who can understand should be told simply that the treatment is necessary to relieve or prevent an illness; for infants, medication should just be given with the same authority with which other unpleasant but necessary things are done to babies.
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