About GPhA

Doctors use drugs to treat many childhood illnesses. Parents need to know how to give these medications correctly. Children are not just "small adults." They need medicines specially designed for them or other precautions to make sure they receive the correct dosage. The potential for overdose or other medication problems are three times as high in children as in adults. The younger the child, the more frequent the problems.

Parents need to be very careful if they are giving more than one medicine to a child—especially cough and cold medicines—even if they were bought without a prescription. Medicines often have more than one active ingredient, so it’s easy to give a “double dose” accidentally. Check the active ingredients list to be sure.

Be sure to use only the measuring spoons or other devices that come with the medicine or are made specially for measuring liquid drugs. A spoon from the kitchen drawer may be the wrong size, and it is not meant for accurate for measuring medicine.

Each child in the family should have a personal medication record, described earlier to keep track of medications and save time in an emergency.

Not only children’s own medications can cause problems. Adult medicines need to be kept safely out of children’s reach. Always ask for child-resistant safety caps if there are children in the home or likely to visit.

Finally, parents must be aware of the need to prevent older children and teenagers from abusing over-the-counter and prescription medications. Millions of teenagers report abusing painkillers, stimulants, and other drugs they find at home or buy over-the-counter. Prescription drugs are powerful. We all need to be sure that power is used for the good, not the harm, of our families.

Helpful Tools

Parents Resource Center
From the Partnership for a Drug-Free America
http://www.drugfree.org/Parent/

Prescription Drug Abuse Chart (también en español)
From the National Institute on Drug Abuse
http://www.nida.nih.gov/DrugPages/PrescripDrugsChart.html

What Medicines Are and What they Do (también en español)
Information for kids from the Nemours Foundation
http://kidshealth.org/kid/feel_better/things/kidmedic.html

Find Out More

What is the best way to give my child medicine?
From the American Academy of Pediatrics
http://www.aap.org/publiced/BR_Medicine.htm

Cómo Darles la Medicina a los Niños
Del Food and Drug Administration
http://www.fda.gov/opacom/lowlit/smedchld.html

¿Está enfermo uno de sus hijos?
No adivine. Lea las indicaciones
Del Food and Drug Administration
http://www.fda.gov/cder/consumerinfo/sickkids-spanish.htm

20 Tips to Help Prevent Medical Errors in Children
From the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
http://www.ahrq.gov/consumer/20tipkid.htm

Los Niños No Son Simplemente Adultos Pequeños
Del Food and Drug Administration
http://www.fda.gov/cder/consumerinfo/kidsSpanish.htm

10 Guiding Principles for Teaching Children and Adolescents About Medicines
From the U.S. Pharmacopeia
http://www.usp.org/audiences/consumers/children/principles.html

Prescription Medicine Abuse: A Serious Problem
From the Partnership for a Drug-Free America
http://www.drugfree.org/portal/drugissue/features/Prescription_Medicine_...

Preventing Teen Abuse of Prescriptions and Over-the-Counter Medications
From the Partnership for a Drug-Free America
http://www.drugfree.org/portal/drugissue/features/Preventing_Teen_Abuse_...

Related content in Spanish
http://www.drugfree.org/General/Articles/Article.aspx?id=391f18d0-1da8-4...