Giving medicine to children safely

Paediatric doses are calculated from body weight. Age bands on packaging are a rough guide that assumes an average-sized child, and children of the same age vary enormously. If you know the weight, use it, and ask the pharmacist to work out the dose.

Paediatric formulations also come in different strengths of the same medicine. Reading the concentration on the bottle rather than assuming it matches the last one is a habit worth building.

• Never give aspirin to a child with a viral illness — it is linked to Reye's syndrome. Check combination cold and flu products, where it is not always obvious.
• Do not give cough and cold remedies to young children. They do not work and have caused harm; national and international guidance advises against them under six.
• Never give an adult formulation, and never split an adult tablet to guess a child's dose.
• Do not give one child's prescription to another child.
• Check whether an anti-inflammatory is appropriate — it is generally avoided in a dehydrated child, in chickenpox, and in some kidney conditions.
• Write down what was given and when, especially when two adults are sharing care overnight. Double-dosing usually happens this way.

1. 1Use a syringe aimed at the inside of the cheek, not the back of the throat, and give it slowly in small amounts.
2. 2Sit the child upright. Never medicate a lying-down or sleeping child.
3. 3Do not mix a dose into a full bottle or cup — if they do not finish it, you cannot know how much they had.
4. 4Be honest that it may taste unpleasant rather than calling it sweets, which is exactly the association that leads to accidental poisoning.
5. 5For an older child, offer limited choices — which drink afterwards, sitting where — rather than whether to take it.
6. 6Ask the pharmacist about a different flavour or formulation if a medicine is consistently refused.

• Store everything locked or high up and out of sight — children climb, and 'out of reach' is a moving target.
• Keep medicines in their original containers with the labels intact.
• Iron tablets are a leading cause of poisoning deaths in small children and look like sweets.
• Handbags and bedside tables are where visitors' medicines end up, and are a common source.
• Return unused and expired medicines to a pharmacy.

• ambulance10177Emergency Medical Services
• local_police10111South African Police Service
• sos112Universal Emergency (mobile)
• psychology0800 029 999SADAG Mental Health Crisis Line
• science0861 554 911Poisons Information Helpline