medication safety in children

Digestive Health Lesson #2 – It all Starts with Inflammation

/ Katie P. Tolley, RN, MSN, CPNP-PC / 3 Comments

Dr. Tanya Edwards, director of the Center for Integrative Medicine (Cleveland), wrote that inflammation is now recognized as the underlying basis of a significant number of diseases.

Inflammation

Inflammation 101

Inflammation defined by the free online medical dictionary: 1. A localized protective response elicited by injury or destruction of tissues, which serves to destroy, dilute, or wall off both the injurious agent and the injured tissue.  2.The inflammatory response can be provoked by physical, chemical, and biologic agents, including mechanical trauma, exposure to excessive amounts of sunlight, x-rays and radioactive materials, corrosive chemicals, extremes of heat and cold, or by infectious agents such as bacteria, viruses, and other pathogenic microorganisms. Although these infectious agents can produce inflammation, infection and inflammation are not synonymous.

Dr. Edwards points out that anti-inflammatory foods have been used to combat Cancer and many other diseases, i.e.: Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s Disease, many Autoimmune diseases, asthma. Here is the abstract from her article:  Continue reading →

Bullying Info from Child Psych Mom

/ Katie P. Tolley, RN, MSN, CPNP-PC / 2 Comments

BULLYING IS NEVER OK!

What most kids don’t realize is that most bullies really have low self esteem and need to pick on others to make themselves feel better.

Bullying is such a huge problem in our society! I am grateful that my children go to a school that is very in tune with the students and their interpersonal relationships. Not all children have an environment that keeps them as safe as we hope. Now that I have delved into the world of blogging, I have found a few really great parenting blogs, one of which is Child Psych Mom. I recently read a post by Child Psych Mom that dealt with Bullying that I wanted to pass along to my readers. She has some great references to check out too.

Parents, teachers, and all adults should be hyper-vigilant about how children interact with one another. Bullying can affect a child’s self esteem for the rest of their life. Growing up in this society is hard enough without having some bully make it worse.

Read Child Psych Mom’s post Bullying: How Do I Save Myself? to educate yourself. The more parents and other adults know about bullying, the better we can protect our children.

And, remember, your children watch what you do, and learn from what you do! Spread happiness and smiles! 😉

BE CURIOUS, NOT JUDGMENTAL – Walt Whitman

Small Dose #6 – Medication Conversions

/ Katie P. Tolley, RN, MSN, CPNP-PC / Leave a comment

I felt it was necessary to provide a resource of medication conversions based on my last post about Medication Safety. Children depend on their parents to keep them safe and healthy. Don’t let them down!

1/4 tsp = 1.25cc

1/2 tsp = 2.5 cc

3/4 tsp = 3.75 cc

1 tsp = 5 cc

1 tbsp = 15 cc

1 oz = 30cc

cc = ml (same thing, different label)

I urge you to take the administration of medication very seriously, your child’s life depends on it! Do not give medications frequently unless advised by your child’s health care provider.

There is just so much to learn and be responsible for on this Parenting journey! It really does take a village! 😉

Medication safety, Do not give Infants meds!

/ Katie P. Tolley, RN, MSN, CPNP-PC / 3 Comments

Being a parent is a HUGE responsibility. I’m not so sure everyone takes this responsibility as seriously as they should. I had a call last night from a Mom of a 3 month old that had given too much Benadryl to the child. I was rather concerned for this child and instructed the mother to call Poison Control. I have since learned that the child is doing just fine, but slept really well last night. :-/

For a poison control emergency in the United States, Call 1.800.222.1222

Infants should not be given any medications under 6 months of age without the advice from their pediatric provider.  There are very few medications that I recommend for infants. One exception would be Tylenol, and then proper dosing needs to be decided based on the weight of the child. Motrin is not advised for children under 6 months of age. Links to the Tylenol and Motrin home page are in the sidebar under Links To Additional Info. 

Medication can be dangerous when not used as advised, this includes over the counter medication. I think it is sad that so many parents are unable to accurately dose their children’s medication. Many medication recalls are related to dosing errors, not problems with the medication. I think it is an unfortunate result of what I call “dumbing down” our schools; resulting in the inability of adults to read and/or convert measurements. 

Please, on behalf of your children, take your parenting responsibilities very seriously, the well-being of your child is in your hands.

What a journey we are on friends, the most important journey of our life is called Parenthood!