Daycare Centers - Your Daycare Kids And Medications

Children are very vulnerable to all sorts of infections, viral and bacterial alike. Because you are a child care provider, it is inevitable that you would be faced with sniffling children, kids running a fever, or kids who require special medications such as those that suffer from asthma and other allergies. Your safest bet is to call the doctor and the parents immediately after noticing that a child is sick. You can also read up on the basic signs and symptoms of the most common children’s illnesses such as a cold, coughs, fever, and tummy aches.

In case you need to introduce medication to an ailing child, make sure that you have read up on his medical history. You should have a file for each child on what medicines you can give them, any allergies, previous medical conditions, a number for their family doctor, and the parents mobile, home, and office phones. Before giving anything, ask first; if you cannot contact any of the people listed in a child’s file, call a pediatrician to help you out and direct you.

1. When you call a different doctor, tell him about the child’s medical history and then tell him about what symptoms you have observed.

2. Always ask the physician precisely what the medicine he is prescribing does, whether it has any contraindications, and how you will be administering the medicine.

3. Try contacting the parents of the child or their family physician every so often.

4. Check the labels of the medicine you will be buying and counter check it against what the physician has told you about it. If you feel this is too much, you are in the wrong business, with children; an obsessive nature is a must. Do not hesitate to call the doctor back for any questions you might have. They are very used to this so do not worry about appearing to be too careful; there is no such thing as being too careful anyway.

5. Keep track of the dosage you are about to administer. Children do not have the same body mass as an adult and there is a real danger of accidental overdose. If you have a day care child that is required to be on medication, have the parents make a note on the exact dosage and time the medicine is to be taken.

6. Never leave the kid while he takes his medicine. In case it is a pill, he may still choke or he may skip taking the medicine if it tastes “funny.” Sometimes, because of delicious flavors that are so popular in children’s medication, the child would want to take a second dosage; you do not give in to that request of course.

7. You should have the child’s exact age and weight and height filed somewhere and you should take these out when administering medication. Weight is the best indicator of how much dosage the child should have.

These are just some safety tips on giving medications. Remember to always call the parents of a child if he seems to be feeling sick.

For more info: How to start a daycare center