Medication

You should have the basic over-the-counter medication against pains, fever, cough and a stuffy nose in your home. Childproof all medication you have in your home.

Use medication correctly. Be careful to follow the instructions about how a certain drug should be used, whether it is bought on prescription or over the counter. If you do not follow the instructions and use a drug correctly, it can harm instead of help.

Childproof all drugs, for example locked in a cabinet inaccessible to the children.

This is how to use medication correctly

Here are a few good advice about how best to administer medication to your child:

• It is important that both child and parents are comfortable with the situation and know what is going to happen and why.
• It is a good idea for the parents to take turns administering the medication – so that one of the parents will not appear as ‘the mean one’.
• It is very, very important that an ill child takes the prescribed medication. Be firm but never harsh, mean or threatening. Never punish a child because it is trying to avoid being medicated. Try turning the situation around to a positive experience; you could for example give the child a reward. Sometimes parents have to decide for the child despite the fact that they might be considered ‘mean’ by the child.

Further reading on Antibiotics