The easily-made parenting mistake that could put your child at risk of deadly overdose | The Sun

GIVING your little one their dose of medicine can often be no easy task.

It might be the middle of the night and you're scrambling around your drawer for your syringe, or you could be running to catch your hyperactive tot.

Whatever the situation, the last thing a parent wants to do is make a mistake with their medicine dosage.

But medics behind the baby and child first education page CPR Kids have warned that parents using a specific syringe could be giving too too much – or too little – medicine to their child, putting them at risk of overdose.

In a recent post to their Instagram page, the team of paediatric nurses said mums and dads should pay close attention to the markings on their syringe when measuring out a dose on a double barrelled syringe.

You'll know you have one like that if your syringe that has both an smaller inner barrel and an an wider outer barrel.

Read more on medicines

COUGH COUGH

Two more children's cough syrups found to be toxic – as 141 reported dead

COUGH IT UP

Warning over cough syrup that leaves people high – as it faces ban from shelves

CPR Kids showed how easy it could be to give the wrong dosage if you don't know how to read the measurements correctly.

They shared a picture of a two barrel syringe filled with liquid.

While at the wide barrel the liquid sat at 5 ml, parents looking at the smaller barrel might think there was only 3.5 ml in the syringe, CPR Kids said.

"In this style of syringe, the widest part of the barrel shows the correct amount of liquid being measured," the paediatric nurses wrote.

Most read in Health

WEIGHTY ISSUE

We’re health experts – here’s what it means to be ‘fit but fat’

ASK DR JEFF

From Covid jabs to swollen feet – Dr Jeff answers your health questions

TAKE AWAY

The healthiest and unhealthiest curries revealed – and mild fans won’t be happy

MY AGONY

I lost my job for taking time off to take Skye to chemo – strangers paid my bills

They added: "It is so easy to make mistakes with the number of different syringe types out there – especially when you are tired, with a screaming baby, at 3am!⁠"

If you think you've given your little one too much medicine but they don't appear to be seriously ill, it's a good idea to call NHS 111 for advice.

But if they're being sick, appear drowsy, are losing consciousness or having fits, you should call 999 or go to your nearest A&E immediately.

It comes as two more cough syrups made in India have been found to contain toxic chemicals linked to 141 child deaths worldwide.

The World Health Organization is currently investigating whether the products have been exported elsewhere, but contaminated cough syrups have struck down children in Gambia, Uzbekistan and Cameroon since July 2022.

No deaths have occurred in the UK or US.

Meanwhile, scientists from Swansea University that a horrifying 85 per cent of baby formula preparation machines fail to kill harmful bacteria in the powder.

Source: Read Full Article