Take the key and lock 'em up

I'm talking about medicine bottles. I just saw a blurb in a recent issue of Fairfield Parent about the new MedSafe, "a first-of-its-kind electronic lockbox...to help parents safely and conveniently store prescription medications and keep their children safe." It holds up to 15 (standard) bottles of prescription medicine. (Bottles for liquid medicine would probably change that number.) Good to know that if your child figures out the combination, there are over 19, 000 changeable ones (yikes, another password to remember with mommy brain)! Affix it to the inside of any medicine cabinet (a medicine cabinet within a medicine cabinet?) or store it in a dresser drawer, kitchen cabinet, or closet. Personally, I'm content with storing my family's medicines on a high shelf where even I need to tiptoe to reach.

While MedSafe looks like a good idea, it does not replace education. Begin explaining early in a child's life that medicine is not candy or food. Try to avoid taking medicine in front of children. Mimicry is amazing to watch, but it could be deadly if children have access to your medicine. Oh, and if you do decide to get the safe, please don't store your child's epinephrine pen or other emergency items in there! Precious seconds might be lost from trying to remember the key.

A spoonful of sugar not needed, just a straw

Having and caring for your own children really has put things into perspective for me. Although I have shared many tricks with parents on how to give medicine to your children, I've had to be really creative with my own. Fortunately, the only medicines my daughter took as an infant were famotidine suspension for her reflux, which resolved before she turned 1, and one course of amoxicillin for sinusitis. The famotidine was quite the challenge because even at 8 weeks, she was already clamping down her lips when she saw me coming with the dropper. I ended up using an oral syringe instead and "shot" the medicine into the side of her mouth a little at a time. Now she only takes fluoride tablets, which are chewable and flavored, but after 3 months, she started resisting. Thankfully, the tablets we got with our refill were grape-flavored, and she is willing to take it again.

With my son, we've had a few pink messes when I tried to give him the amoxicillin for his ear infection. The first couple of times, he tolerated the oral syringe. Then he realized he could spit it out. I knew it was time for an old trick: the straw. Sometimes I use a straw like a pipette to get him to drink fluids. So, I measure the dose he needs with a medicinal spoon, then I use the straw to give him small aliquots until the entire dose is given. Yes, he knows what's going on, but he'll drink the medicine. I add water to the spoon to get what is left on the side. Yes, I do have to hold his hands down and we still get a little messy, but the dose is successfully given. We do this twice a day - only 6 more days to go!

What are some of the tricks up your sleeve?