Medication at Childcare

[Pandora]

... And why call AFTER giving the med not before to seek clarification? Arg!

Our centre has only done that once. Well, the tried to call but neither DH or I answered our mobiles the first time, so they had 2 staff members decide that he really did need to have it (which he did) and gave him the age based doseage. They kept ringing us too, so that we would know what was happening.
But their policy is to call first.

They wont go by weight for doseage because they cant weigh him there andd ont want to get it wrong, plus I'd rather not trust their maths.

NOt sure why they wont do the alternating panadol/neuofen thing, though my GP said its not recommended to do anymore and told me not to.

[MantaRay]

BTW, I think the needing a pharmacy label is a newish thing. We didn't used to have to do that but do now.

[Mother Goose]

Ray - they got me first go on the mobile so they could have gotten me first which is a PITA. We don't normally alternate panadol and neurofen - we give it at the same time as per Vic RCH guidelines. I agree about not trusting their maths but they should be able to trust MINE!

Kim, that is how we've done it in the past!

I went and picked DD up early and they gave her the neurofen before I got there. The Director went through the policy with me which was good because she realised they CAN give both panadol and neurofen which she didn't realise. But it also showed that they can't give it more than 2 days in a row without Dr orders which she didn't realise. And when we spoke with the girls in the room, two of them didn't even realise half the stuff in the policy! But then the Director told me to buy the bigger bottle of Panadol because then they'll give DD the larger amount - she didn't understand me when I told her they get more from the big bottle because it is a different concentrate (25mg per ml instead of 100 mg per ml in the smaller bottle). Eventually she agreed that if I brought the larger bottle in, they would give DD the amount I stipulate so I guess that is a plus.

This has been so frustrating! I'm only trying to make sure DD has the right amount of medication for her size! I wonder what they do for smaller children who are smaller than the average size for their age?

[mollycat]

I'm a family day carer and have jst had a look through the Childrens' Services Regulations (for NSW) basically it says:
licensee of a service must develop a policy concerning the administration of medication
medication is not administered to a child without written authorisation or authority from a parent of the child
medication is administered from the container in which it was originally packaged, being (in the case of a prescription medicine) a container that is labelled with the child's name, the prescribed dosage and the medicine's use by date
if necessary in an emergency to administer medication to a child that is being provided with the service without the prior consent of the child's parent, every attempt is made to secure that consent.

In reality your carers are just protecting themselves. If your child is that ill he/she needs lots of medication shouldn't they be at home. Sorry if that offends. If you really want to give your child both medications next time you are at the doctors have your doctor write a letter to give to the centre at least that way you are both covered and your child will get the medication he/she needs.

[Mother Goose]

Molly - I'm not offended. She isn't sick - she's in pain from Molar's breaking through and doens't cope well with pain hence the specific pain relief. All of the points you mentioned were followed prior to their phone call. The issue came down to miscommunication about their own medication policy and the dose I wanted compared to the box grid (I worked it out on the weight ratio as DD is above the 12Kg).

[meow]

As first aid officers they wouldn't be able to follow your dosage amount based on her weight sorry. They would need that dosage written for her from a prescription. As they can't weigh her that's why they need to use the age chart.