3 Risks Of Self-medicating Children

Self-medication for children is very dangerous, but despite the obvious risks, it is still common for parents to give their children medication without first consulting a doctor.

Self-medicating children: A dangerous habit

Self-medication thus means that you take medicines or alternative medicines without the supervision of a healthcare expert. The side effects of this can involve serious health risks both in the short and long term. In some cases, self-medication can even be fatal.

Parents often try to treat regular stomach cramps with the wrong kind of pain medication. Another common mistake parents make is to give antibiotics to their children when they have a fever, without first consulting a doctor.

When treating symptoms, both the choice of medication and the correct dose are very important. And only healthcare professionals have the right expertise to make these decisions. Giving the wrong kind of medicine or in the wrong dose can thus have serious consequences for health. 

The consequences of self-medicating children

1. Antibiotic resistance

It is very important that parents give their children antibiotics only on the recommendation of healthcare professionals. Otherwise, the child may develop resistance to antibiotics, making the medicine unusable in the future.

In some cases, stomach pain, breathing problems and fever may require treatment with antibiotics. However,  approximately 85% of the diseases are the result of viral infections, which can therefore not be treated with antibiotics. 

2. Risk of poisoning

Giving the wrong medicine is dangerous, and it also applies if you give the wrong dose. It is important to think about things like the baby’s height and weight to get the right dosage.

If the dose is too weak, the medicine will probably have little or no effect on the child’s symptoms. If, on the other hand, the dose is too high, the child may develop symptoms of poisoning, which can be life-threatening.

3. Side effects of self-medication with antibiotics

Self-medication of children with antibiotics unnecessarily can have serious side effects. Among the most common are, for example, diarrhea, rash and eczema, difficulty breathing, lethargy, poisoning symptoms and severe allergies that can be fatal.

Mistakes to avoid

• Follow other parents’ advice regarding medication. Children often get symptoms that can be very similar to the symptoms that another child had. But that does not mean that it is about the same disease. It is important to remember that only healthcare professionals can make the correct diagnosis and give advice on the right treatment.
• Save remnants of prescription medications from previous illnesses to give to children the next time they get sick. We take it again, parents must keep in mind that even if the symptoms are similar, only a doctor can make a diagnosis and prescribe the right medicine.

• Search for information online. The main reason why it is easy to do so is because there is a lot of information on the internet. The problem is that some information is valuable while much else is directly incorrect. Most parents do not have sufficient medical knowledge to be able to determine the difference.
• Assume the worst when the symptoms point to a serious illness. Your child has probably suffered from something quite simple and harmless, so have a pediatrician examine your child.

Self-medicating children: The solution to the problem

The right person to treat a child’s illness is a pediatrician. Only a healthcare-savvy person has the right knowledge and education to be able to make the right diagnosis and thus provide the right treatment.

You should never compare symptoms with other children, nor should you look for information on the internet. And last but not least, you should never self-medicate your children. The consequences can be very dangerous, and in some cases even fatal.

Unfortunately, the habit of self-medicating children is much more common than many people think. Therefore, it is important that parents become aware of how dangerous it is.

It does not matter if the parents have to work or are short of time, you should always do what is required and take your children to a doctor when they get symptoms.

Let us all remember that it is about the health of our children, and something that seems quite harmless can in fact be very dangerous. Self-medication is not harmless, and it is very important to know the potential risks.