A big question for many parents is how to follow the doctor s orders. When doctors prescribe a teaspoon of medication, they are referring to five milliliters of liquid. The best way to get the exact amount is to buy a syringe. Plastic syringes are inexpensive and take away the guesswork. They also may help parents administer medicines more easily, since some young children cannot swallow a whole teaspoon of liquid at one time.
Many prescriptions call for multiple doses daily.
A cough medicine, for example, may need to be given three times a day. Some parents interpret it as every eight hours while other parents interpret it to mean morning, noon and before bed. Some children s medications come with age or weight charts to help determine dosage. Most importantly, parents should ask for clearer instructions if they have any concerns or questions about their children s prescriptions, he says.