Dosing liquid medications

When giving your child oral medications that come in liquid form, always use the eyedropper that came with the medication a calibrated oral syringe.  In a pinch a measuring spoon can be used.  Never, ever, ever just guess at the dose of medication.  The risks of over or underdosing your child on medication is too long to list here.

You wouldn't use a regular spoon from the kitchen table to measure the salt for your Nestle's Tollhouse cookies because this might make the cookies taste bad, so don't use a regular spoon to dose medications because this could have deadly results.  I know that this recommendation sounds very basic but you would be surprised how often I run across this.

I hope that this helps to keep your children safe.

Kevin M. Windisch MD, FAAP
Sparks Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine
http://www.sparkspeds.com/
www.facebook.com/sparkspeds.nv
775-359-7111