Give Your Medicine Cabinet A Makeover For The New Year
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Additional Items to Stock if You Have Children:

• Children are not just "little people": they often need different medicines and/or different doses. If you have any questions about whether an adult medicine is appropriate for children in reduced doses, read the product label carefully. If the label doesn't answer your question, contact your physician or pharmacist.
  
  
• Medicine spoons/droppers: No medicine will help your child if you can't get them to take it, or if you don't give them the proper dose. Your pharmacy carries several different types of medicine spoons or droppers to accurately measure even very small doses of liquids. Keep one in your medicine cabinet and in the kitchen.
  
  
• The appropriate type of fever medicine: Tylenol® (acetaminophen) or Motrin® (ibuprofen). Never give children under 12 aspirin unless directed to do so by your physician. For infants, drops or rectal suppositories are available and should be kept in stock. Suppositories should be refrigerated to maintain their form. For children, chewables come in all different flavors. There are also melt-away tablets that can easily be given to children who can't yet swallow pills.
  
  
• The character Band-aids® of choice (most mothers agree that these have unique therapeutic value-whether or not the child is actually bleeding!).
  
  
• Auralgan®: this is a great product to have if your child is prone to ear infections. Ask your pediatrician to give you a prescription for these ear drops which dull the pain of ear infections until properly treated with antibiotics. . .you, your child, and the pediatrician will sleep better as a result!
  
  
• Antifungals for treatment of diaper rash: products like Desitin® or zinc oxide are good to prevent diaper rash or for the treatment of mild diaper rash, but moderate cases should be treated with an antifungal (e.g. clotrimazole, miconazole, or Lotrimin®).