Over-the-counter medications have been recalled for babies and toddlers due to inaccurate dosing, and mothers may not remember all recommendations for prescription drugs from pediatricians. To better manage family medications, mothers should use color codes to label each family member's drugs, keep a calendar to check off doses, and lock all drugs in a high cabinet that children cannot reach. Mothers should also talk to their pediatrician immediately about any suspected dangerous drug reactions or concerns.

1. Keeping Your Medicine Cabinet Safe For Your Kids
Over the past year, we have seen many over-the-counter medications being
discontinued for babies and toddlers. Inaccurate dosing was one of the reasons that
some of the drug manufacturers recalled their infant cold medicines.
Oftentimes, moms are distracted while the pediatrician is prescribing medicine and
may not hear or remember all of the recommendations for when to take the
medicine, or potentially dangerous interactions with other medications and
symptoms of a bad reaction.
There are a few things that moms can do to better manage their family with
medications:
Create a color code
Place brightly colored stickers on each medication. Assign a different color for every
family member.
Keep a calendar
It's easy to forget to give a dose of medicine to your child as you're running out the
door for school and work. Clip a calendar to the refrigerator or cabinet to check off
after every dose.
Lock it away
Be sure to keep all medications high up in a locked cabinet where kids can't reach
them.
Talk to your pediatrician
If you suspect that your child is having a potentially dangerous reaction to a drug call
your pediatrician immediately. Also, become your child's advocate and bring up to
your pediatrician any concerns you have about a particular drug or whether you
believe it is not helping your child.