Do you keep medication in for minded children?

[Mouse]

Thanks for all your thoughts and ideas.

I can see I'm not alone in having no infant medicines in the house, so will continue as I am.

As I said earlier, in all the years I have been childminding I have never had any occasion when I would have needed medication for a child and regretted not having it. Parents know I don't keep anything in, so will supply it themselves if they think their child might need it.

I don't have a thermometer either, so it's good to know I'm not the only one!

[FussyElmo]

No I don't keep medicine in just in case.

My children are younger but can have the 6+ calpol so I have no need to keep a normal bottle in.

Don't have a thermometer either

[Simona]

Thanks for all your thoughts and ideas.

I can see I'm not alone in having no infant medicines in the house, so will continue as I am.

As I said earlier, in all the years I have been childminding I have never had any occasion when I would have needed medication for a child and regretted not having it. Parents know I don't keep anything in, so will supply it themselves if they think their child might need it.

I don't have a thermometer either, so it's good to know I'm not the only one!

Thank you for raising this important issue Mouse

I would imagine we all agree we do not buy our own medicine and keep medicine 'in stock' and then administer to any child...we only administer those that were given to us by parents when the need arises for their child.

That is the problem with the current EYFS...it is too open to interpretation and some requirements should be clearer
EYFS says we MUST have and implement a medicine policy which means we can give medicine with 'consent'...I think we all agree on that
It also says we MUST promote good health and prevent the spread of infections...medicine often do exactly that.

Section 3.46 I would say is very unclear in the last 2 lines in particular.

We also know that young children's systems cannot control temperature fluctuations ...it goes up and down for no reason.
Keeping an eye on temperature can, at times, give us clues of what may be happening in certain circumstances...meningitis is one case where temperature can rise even before any rash appears.

I do have a thermometer and I also ask parents to tell me what they think their child normal temperature is...that is recorded in their file and if there is a sudden rise I am alerted to something not being quite right....a thermometer in that instance would help to monitor the rise in fever.