For perhaps the first time ever (gross exaggeration possible), I sent the kids to their grandma’s house yesterday and didn’t have to worry about sending an ice-chest with must-be-refrigerated medicine.
We’re generally (and thankfully) healthy around here, but it seems like the last half of any anti-biotic falls during a trip.
When that trip is sans mama, it’s a little stressful to try to prepare whomever they’re with for the daily dosing of medicine. And if it’s stressful for me, it’s ten-times more stressful for them.
Here’s what I do when I send the kids to Grandma’s house when they are taking medicine:
Re-write the directions in simple, plain English directly on the bottle. Not on paper which can be lost.
It’s stressful enough for anyone to try to decipher prescription-ese, but it’s even harder for someone who hasn’t needed to measure liquid medicine in quite a few years.
Mark the measuring cup or squirter clearly with a permanent marker at the correct measurement.
I often have to squint and hold the cup to the light to see the measurement markings. I’m sure it’s even harder for someone who wears bi-focals.
(I guess I could ask Hubby what it’s like with bi-focals. Hee hee.)
What are your tricks for helping things go smoothly for the people taking care of your kids?
I am blessed to have a nurse for a mother, so she often understands better than I do what the bottles say. My kids are now old enough that most of their daily medicine comes in pill or chewable form. I have a week long pill holder that each individual day pops out. So for short weekend camping trips with the grandparents I just pop out the days they will be gone 🙂
Yes, my boys are now able to take pills, and it makes things ever-so-much easier!!!
I used those little tupperware midget containers and filled each dose in them and wrote date/time on masking tape and stuck it on the container for when they needed to be taken. Was kind of a pain to have 4 or 5 individual containers to take, but made it much easier for whoever had to give it to them.
Now those containers get used for salad dressing or condiments for school lunches. So glad my kids can swallow pills.
Not a medicine, but our daughter had a list of “do not eat” foods for a while – I sent two alphabetized lists to the grandparents’ house with her: one of words that would be on packages of “super-safe” foods, and one of “DO NOT FEED HER FOODS WITH THESE WORDS ON THE PACKAGE” words.
The “yes” words were on green paper (green means “go”) and the “no” words were on red paper (red means “stop”). I used a really big, easy-to-read font too.
I think it worked – she didn’t get sick, and I didn’t get any phone calls about “can she eat this? how about this? what about that?”
That’s a great idea, Kimberly! Love the red and green paper.
This doesn’t have to do with medicines, but I found that packing my kids outfits in a ziplock bag works great. It’s easy for whoever is watching them to grab the bag and have everything they need for that child in it down to underwear and socks. I also do a separate one for pjs. It takes a few more minutes but it’s worth it. It is also wonderful when on a trip. I mark the day of the week and the child’s name on the bag. It makes mornings easier and no more messy suitcase to dig through looking for that lost sock I knew I packed!
When my younger son was 17 mos. old, he had surgery to remove a malignant tumor. He then spent several months on chemotherapy. With no immune system, he ended up with chronic ear infection. Trying to give him meds was a nightmare. One night there was a trip to the ER 50 miles away (because the clinic was closed – this was at the university hospital where his doctors were). The dr. watched me try to give him medicine with one of those medicine spoons, and watched it drip down his face as he was spitting it out. He asked if I’d like to try a syringe. He gave me 2, in different sizes. Until this boy was about 8, I had to lay him on the floor, pin his shoulders down with my knees, and squirt it down his throat (aiming for the back). It was nasty, but you do what you have to. One day he decided to try it, with the med. spoon – took the tiniest of tastes and announced it tasted good! Finally! Anyway, a syringe works pretty good, even with someone as difficult as my boy was, and they are pretty well marked, too. BTW, that boy is now 30 years old and healthy as can be.
I had to give my daughter recently and she had a fit trying to take it. I was wondering, is there a way you can mix it up with apple juice or another juice and freeze it to make a popsicle so they think they’ll be eating something fun-or will that ruin the meds? My daughter’s 6 now and old enough to give me a really hard time when it comes to swallowing meds.
It totally depends on the individual medication. Ask the pharmacist when you drop them off that you will want to know, they should be able to tell you right off and if they can’t, it gives them time to look it up for you.
My biggest problem isn’t the dosing. It’s REMEMBERING whether I gave them the dose that morning, or was that last night…maybe yesterday afternoon??? I’ve started drawing a small chart on the side of the bottle that I can put a check on when I give their medicine! Makes life SO much easier for those multiple times a day meds!
My mom used to be able to take one look at me and would *know*. I’d get a major ear infection every spring, burning fever, sore throat, miserable for a whole week. Mom’s trick was to make me take Every Last Single Drop of whatever gross awfulness that was prescribed and no nonsense from no kid no matter how much better she was feeling. Thank goodness it was just the once a year, current parental theory is that being so sick all at once and getting the meds immediately helped avoid the ear tubes and other problems. Good Luck and oh my good word, pills ARE better! ;^)
@Jrmiss86: You should send at least an entire week’s worth even for a weekend trip. Things happen, and once in a while it can happen that the return date is set back for one reason or another. I have a container like yours, and even when filled it doesn’t weigh much for 7 days worth of meds. ALSO send a list of all meds the kids are taking. Even a pharmacist can’t always identify a med just by looking. (Well, they CAN look them up, but if there are more than one it’s a waste of time at the least!) Even though I’m a female, I believe in the Boy Scout motto…Be Prepared. I also believe in Murphy’s Law!