Medication Topics To Discuss When You Choose A Daycare

8 January 2020
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Medication isn't necessarily a subject that you'll immediately think about when you're looking for the best daycare to send your child to, but it's something that should be on your mind. Even if your child doesn't take medication most of the time, you want to be confident in the daycare's approach to medication should a need arise. Whether you're touring a daycare or are calling around to a few locations in your community, don't be afraid to bring up the following topics to get a sense of how the daycare approaches providing medication to its children.

Administering Of Prescription Medication

If your child is sick to the point of needing prescription medication, there's a good chance that he or she will be staying home from daycare for a number of days. When the child feels good enough to resume attending daycare and you aren't aware of any illness-related symptoms, you can return the child to the center. However, this doesn't mean that the child will no longer be taking his or her prescription. It's common for children to need to take their medication even after their symptoms disappear, and while you might give a dosage in the morning or at night, you may need to rely on the daycare staff to give your child a dose during the day. Confirm that the daycare can do so; typically, you'll need to provide written consent and documentation from the child's physician.

Security Of The Medication

If you'll be dropping medication off when you deliver your child in the morning, don't hesitate to ask how the medication will be stored. You want to hear that the daycare keeps your child's medication (and any medication for other children) in a locked cabinet or other secure environment and that a daycare staff member has the key on his or her person at all times. This will make you feel confident that your child won't discover the medication and, perhaps believing that it's candy, consume some of it.

How To Provide The Medication

You might feel as though it's easy to slip a couple of pills into a zip-top bag and hand it to a daycare staff member, but many daycares require you to take more of a careful approach. For example, some daycares will only dispense medication if it comes from a proper prescription bottle. This way, the dosage instructions are clearly listed, leaving no room for error.

Contact daycares in your area to learn more.