Remembering to Take your Medicine
Updated March 05, 2015.
It can be hard to remember take your medicine or to give medicine to your child each and every day, especially if there aren't any symptoms at the time to remind you of why the medicine was prescribed in the first place. In addition to completely forgetting a dose, you may forget that you already gave your child a dose and give him another one.
To avoid underdosing and overdosing your child's medicines, it is important to have a system that you use to remind yourself and keep track of when your child gets his medicine.
One easy system to use is to simply keep a record or diary of when your child's doses are due and then put a check mark each time you give your child his medicine. And then post it somewhere that you are sure to see it, like on the refrigerator or bathroom mirror. This also makes it easy for other caregivers to check to see if your child already got a dose.
It can also help to match the times that you give your child his medicine with other routine tasks, like brushing his teeth.
For pills, an even easier system to use is to just flip the bottle over after you take a dose. So at night, you can turn the bottle upside down (sundown = bottle faces down) after you take a dose, and then flip it right side up after your morning dose (sunrise = bottle faces up). So if you forget if you have taken your dose at night, just check the bottle. If it is upside down, you probably took it already (unless of course you missed your morning dose too), while you probably forgot to take it if it is still facing up.
Also, keep in mind that most of the pill reminder boxes that you can also buy and store your medications in aren't child resistant, and aren't a good choice in a household with children.
It can be hard to remember take your medicine or to give medicine to your child each and every day, especially if there aren't any symptoms at the time to remind you of why the medicine was prescribed in the first place. In addition to completely forgetting a dose, you may forget that you already gave your child a dose and give him another one.
To avoid underdosing and overdosing your child's medicines, it is important to have a system that you use to remind yourself and keep track of when your child gets his medicine.
One easy system to use is to simply keep a record or diary of when your child's doses are due and then put a check mark each time you give your child his medicine. And then post it somewhere that you are sure to see it, like on the refrigerator or bathroom mirror. This also makes it easy for other caregivers to check to see if your child already got a dose.
It can also help to match the times that you give your child his medicine with other routine tasks, like brushing his teeth.
For pills, an even easier system to use is to just flip the bottle over after you take a dose. So at night, you can turn the bottle upside down (sundown = bottle faces down) after you take a dose, and then flip it right side up after your morning dose (sunrise = bottle faces up). So if you forget if you have taken your dose at night, just check the bottle. If it is upside down, you probably took it already (unless of course you missed your morning dose too), while you probably forgot to take it if it is still facing up.
Also, keep in mind that most of the pill reminder boxes that you can also buy and store your medications in aren't child resistant, and aren't a good choice in a household with children.
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