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New Parents or Seasoned Parents Alike- Here is What ALL Parents Should have in their Medicine Cabinet
These are a few items I think every parent should have on hand in their medicine cabinets!
Bio:
Rachel graduated with honors from New York University earning a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree and the Founders' Day Scholar Award. She also received her Masters of Science in Nursing degree from New York University. Rachel has spent the majority of her career as a pediatric nurse and currently works in pediatric oncology. She is a mama to two beautiful identical twin girls, Izzy and Maddy. Rachel has a blog that helps parents navigate childhood whether you have one kid or twenty, twinsietips.com!
These are a few items I think every parent should have on hand. For medications, remember: children's medications are weight-based. So ALWAYS ask your doctor for dosing --- and dosing will change as your baby grows. FYI you can buy children’s (as opposed to infants') Tylenol and Motrin to save yourself some money. But just make sure you have the right dosing --- this is SO important. Your doctor should be able to give you weight based charts for all of the medications listed below. And, buy generic if you can --- there is no reason not to.
Acetaminophen (Tylenol) linked here Whether baby just had shots, or has a little cold Tylenol should be a staple to have on hand. If your baby has a fever call your doctor before giving Tylenol (as to not mask a fever), but you want to make sure you have this in the house.
FYI: Infants' dosing of acetaminophen used to be a smaller volume of medication but there were so many errors. Most manufacturers have changed their dosing to match children’s dosing to avoid errors but always read the label—you want to buy 160mg in 5ml. I haven’t actually seen the old concentration in stores, but to be safe, always check.
See article from FDA:
https://www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/ConsumerUpdates/ucm284563.htm
Benadryl linked here the packaging says not for kids under 2 years old --- that’s not really true. Don’t give to your kiddo to help them sleep or for seasonal allergies. However, keep it on hand. If your baby has a reaction to something your doctor will likely have you give a dose of Benadryl. Ask your doctor for a weight based dosing chart, and of course call them before just giving your baby a dose. This is so important to keep in the house when you start introducing food.
Ibuprofen (Motrin or Advil) linked here Do NOT give to babies under 6 months old. But this is the best for teething and pain relief. So after 6 months it is safe to give. Also, did you know you can give Motrin and Tyelnol together? If your baby is really fussy it is ok to alternate. Tylenol can be given every 4 hours and Motrin every 6. They are not the same medication so baby can have both.
Thermometer. I like this thermometer. It takes a temp in 30 seconds. Personally, I prefer axillary (under the arm) for babies because it is the least invasive. If your baby has a fever, call your doctor --- they may ask you to do a rectal temp too. For little babies (or kiddos that are immunocompromised) a fever is 100.5. For older kids, 101.5 is considered a fever. At your next visit, ask your pediatrician what their fever threshold is so you know when to call.
Nasal suction. You want to have something to suck the snot out of the baby's nose. When your baby is very little you want to have a bulb syringe on hand in case they are choking --- on Amazon here. This can also be used for snot too (I know, gross right?). Technically they are one-time use only. When your baby gets a cold you want to make sure you are suctioning their snot out frequently (seems yuck, I know), but this is to help them breathe better. You can use a traditional bulb syringe for this --- or my husband’s favorite item --- which is much easier to use. It sounds gross, but there is a filter to protect you from sucking those boogies into your mouth.
For little babies (under 4 months), I advise keeping simethicone drops and gripe water on hand. There is not a whole lot of medical evidence out there about these items. However, I had two extremely colicky babies, and I swear it helped at least a little. You will do just about anything in a desperate situation. These are worth keeping on hand in case your baby(s) wake up screaming in the middle of the night.
Sage Speech & Learning Associates offer professional speech therapy, language therapy and feeding therapy in Atlanta, Brookhaven, Sandy Springs, Dunwoody, Buckhead and surrounding areas.
