GIVING children medicine isn’t usually an easy task, so most parents will try and get it over with as quickly as possible.
But medics have issued a warning to mums and dads who use a syringe to measure out their dose.
CPR Kids said it was easy for parents to confuse the readings on a syringe with an inner and outer barrelcprkids
The medics told parents to read the widest part of the syringe to get the correct dosagecprkids
They said parents who had a specific syringe could be giving too large – or too little – a dose of medicine to their kids.
Posting on Instagram, the team of paediatric nurses behind child first aid education account CPR Kids wrote: “When it comes to medicine, it is so important to get the correct dose right – not just preventing overdoses, but to prevent under-dosing too!”
They told parents who have a syringe that has both an inner smaller barrel and an an outer wider barrel to look at the outer barrel when measuring out the syrup.
“Be sure to read from where the outer barrel sits to accurately know what dose is being given,” the paediatric nurses said.
The accompanying picture showed one such syringe filled with liquid. While at the wide barrel the liquid sat at 5 ml, parents looking at the smaller barrel might think there was only 3.5 ml in the syringe, CPR Kids said.
The team behind the page showed the correct place to measure out medicine dosage on this style of syringe, emphasising: “read the WIDEST part of the barrel”.
They added that it was common for parents to be confused by this design and make the mistake of looking at the inner barrel.
CPR Kids had a couple additional pieces of advice for mums and dads caring for their poorly kids.
“Always read the label and follow the dosage instructions. When giving a prescribed medicine, always follow the instructions given to you.
Meanwhile, medicines safety expert Steve Brownett-Gale advised parents to never refer to tablets as “sweets” when trying to encourage their kids to take medicine, as it lead to dangerous situations if kids get their hands on the pills unsupervised.
And a toxicology professor recently broke down how dangerous chemicals have ended up in cough syrups.