giving kids medication when they're sick

my LOs had a stomach virus yesterday and today they are ok. i gave them acetaminophen yesterday and i'm wondering if i should toss it today. i did not clean the pipette-dispenser thingy (LOL) and am not sure if i should be doing that when they're sick.

 

I probably would for a stomach virus just because I would be paranoid about getting anything like that again, but I don't usually when they have colds. Things like rotavirus can live on surfaces for a really long time, so I wouldn't want to reinfect anyone.

 

i just throw the entire bottle out at the end of the sickness. i don't think there is a really great way to clean the syringes and i am sure bacteria from their mouths are growing rampant in the meds....if I were using a spoon, I would run it through the dishwasher and that would be good enough.

 

I also don't for regular colds, but probably would for a stomach virus.

 

do you have an eye dropper or a syringe? i've washed the syringe dispensers in my dishwasher - i use the basket for small bottle/sippy cup bits i bought at BRU & just pull the two pieces apart & toss it in there. sometimes, after numerous washes, the volume markings on the side start to come off - then i toss the dispenser. my pharmacist has generic syringes that he'll give me for free if i need a replacement. for me, even with an eye dropper dispenser, i always just washed it in hot, soapy water & called it a day. ardon:

 

I wash the droppers after each use. Even generic OTC meds are just too expensive for me to just throw out a whole bottle.

 

I never liked the dispenser that came with those bottles because it was hard to get the dose right. I started using ibuprofen when the kids were 6 month because I think it works better and it comes with a syringe that is separate from the lid of the bottle. I would just wash the syringe after each use. Now, we have switched from infants to children's and just use the syringes we get from the pharmacy.

 

I boil water and wash the dispenser in it for a few seconds to kill any lingering virus/bacteria.

 

I wash the dispenser after every use. I also keep the syringes and medicine dispensers from other products (like when the kids used to use Infants Mylicon), so I do have extra on hand.