(HealthDay News) -- You want to help your child feel better by giving medicine, not make the problem worse by dosing incorrectly.
The American Academy of Family Physicians offers these suggestions:
- Ask your pharmacist or doctor for an information sheet about any newly used medication.
- Ask the doctor or pharmacist to indicate on the bottle label what the medication is for.
- Give your child only the recommended dose of a medication. Use any measuring device given to you by the pharmacist.
- You do not typically need to wake your child to give medicine in the middle of the night. Medicine normally is given at specified intervals during the day only.
- Continue giving your child medication for the entire prescribed duration, even if your child feels better.
- Let your doctor and pharmacist know immediately if your child suffers a side effect to any medication.
