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Dosage syringes provided with medicines with weight dosage markings would be best. Most people know the weight of their baby/have scales at home to weigh, so no overdosing then whichever system is used, metric or imperial.
I was just reading articles about it and there are fewer medication errors with metric system. Your idea is best because covers most possible errors people could make with either system.
I was just reading articles about it and there are fewer medication errors with metric system. Your idea is best because covers most possible errors people could make with either system.
Its what they do here, with the name brand baby medicines anyway. Most pharmacies I've been in also have a box of dosage syringes and you can just help yourself. Doesn't prevent the 3am error when you're tired and look at the wrong line though! Good thing the dosage guidelines are still below the maximum safe dosage so its only a problem if each dose in the day is too much, not if just one is too much.
1.6 million per year isn't just mistakes of a few. Or do you mean 1.6 million over 30 years? That's still many at 53.3k per year. But I agree that it doesn't make sense. Instead of discouraging them, they should be giving dosage instructions so people don't make errors.
That OTC statistic makes me wonder how many children die of overdoses to prescription medications each year. That has to be high too since OTC had dosage instructions on the medication like prescription meds do.
The problem is not that people give too much medicine in a dose (although that certainly does happen), it is more that people do not check the labels for all medication included in a specific medication, and wind up overdosing inadvertently. Acetaminophen is the most common problem. It is found in many cold and cough medications, and is given as a pain and/or fever reducer. So what happens is parent gives acetaminophen for fever, then gives something for the congestion, then gives something for the cough, all without realizing that all three contain acetaminophen , so child just got a triple dose of acetaminophen . It does not take much more than the recommended dose to cause liver failure. People do not think acetaminophen is dangerous, so even if they see that the medication they chose for cough or congestion has it in it, they do not see the harm in administering it again for the fever. We really need to educate people better on the risks of OTC medications, and the need to read all medication labels.
Last edited by skahar; 10-18-2014 at 10:57 AM..
Reason: unnecessary capitals
The problem is not that people give too much medicine in a dose (although that certainly does happen), it is more that people do not check the labels for all medication included in a specific medication, and wind up overdosing inadvertently. Acetaminophen is the most common problem. It is found in many cold and cough medications, and is given as a pain and/or fever reducer. So what happens is parent gives acetaminophen for fever, then gives something for the congestion, then gives something for the cough, all without realizing that all three contain acetaminophen , so child just got a triple dose of acetaminophen . It does not take much more than the recommended dose to cause liver failure. People do not think acetaminophen is dangerous, so even if they see that the medication they chose for cough or congestion has it in it, they do not see the harm in administering it again for the fever. We really need to educate people better on the risks of OTC medications, and the need to read all medication labels.
That's excellent information for parents who plan to use OTCs!
1.6 million per year isn't just mistakes of a few. Or do you mean 1.6 million over 30 years? That's still many at 53.3k per year. But I agree that it doesn't make sense. Instead of discouraging them, they should be giving dosage instructions so people don't make errors.
That OTC statistic makes me wonder how many children die of overdoses to prescription medications each year. That has to be high too since OTC had dosage instructions on the medication like prescription meds do.
No. I meant 1.6 people. Not million. Not thousand. Not hundred. As in slightly over one and a half persons.
She documents everything. I will tell her about getting it checked.
I have a question for anyone that has care of a baby. What in the world has happened in the medical community in regards to care of babies when they are sick.
Our little one has been sick with a cold for three weeks! She has been to the doctor six times. She is congested and it's audible. She has done the vaporizer and keeping her in the bathroom with the shower running, bulb syringe and all.
She spiked a high fever this morning. We took her to the ER. Same thing her docs are saying but with more explanation. Now it's recommended to allow "permissive fevers". Yup, let them have them. Give them no medicine to reduce it. Also, no medicine for any cold symptom relief. Let them just ride it out.
I've always been told when sick you need rest/sleep. How can a baby that cannot blow it's nose or spit out mucus rest. Why in the world would one allow a fever to continue without giving relief?
It was explained that there was a study done in Europe where a large group of children were not given fever reducers when they got a fever and none developed leukemia in life. This is why the current train of thought is to just let them be miserable?
I was able to wriggle out the name of an OTC drug that will relieve the congestion symptoms. We did give her it when we got home. Along with a fever reducer and it helped. The nurse before we were discharged recommended it.
I would have suggested my daughter give her what I gave mine for their own colds but they don't sell it anymore because people abused it.
Anyone else experience this modern approach to colds? No symptom relief and just ride out the fever?
The baby is in daycare. Daycare is a sea of germs. For the first two years, she will be constantly sick with colds, and occasional vomiting illnesses, and other nasty viral infections. There is almost always no effective medical treatment for viral infections. After age three, if she has been in daycare all that time, she will hardly ever get sick, having already been exposed to so many viruses.
There are NO effective decongestants for children under four, or cough medicines that work. They all have side effects. I once saw a healthy young man have a heart attack from tessalon pearls. This is why cough and cold meds should never be used on kids. They have NO benefits (as proven by double blind controlled studies), and they have potentially dangerous side effects.
As for the issue of fever. If the fever occurs at the beginning of a cold or viral illness, don't worry. It is from the virus. If the baby is miserable, you CAN use tylenol or motrin. The fever won't hurt her, but it also is not a problem to treat fever for symptomatic relief. If the baby already has had cold symptoms for a couple of days or more, and THEN gets a fever, you SHOULD see the pediatrician. It could be a bacterial infection, like a middle ear infection, or it could be pneumonia. Both of these move in where the virus has prepared the road.
As for coughing. If a child has a persistent cough, see a pediatrician who is aggressive about treating asthma. Many children have tight coughing and even wheezing with colds and are helped by intermittent use of inhaled bronchodilators in combination with intermittent inhaled steroids - just when they have a cough with a cold. A recently trained pediatrician is more likely to recognize this and treat appropriately.
Point is, your daughter was right to seek care with new fever while still having symptoms of last cold. The resolution of fever and change to clear runny nose is consistent with her having gotten the next cold. It is normal for a cold to last two to four weeks in babies, and it's normal to have yellow/light green snot as colds progress.
All this is tough to handle with a baby, especially the first one. If your babies were home with you, you have no idea how horribly sick they are the first two years in daycare. My only recommendation is to find a good pediatrician who is fairly recently trained and see them whenever you are worried that it is more than a cold.
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