A child's home medicine kit is not a stockpile of medicines “for every eventuality” — it is the minimum that helps in the first hours of an illness or a household injury, while you are getting in touch with the doctor. The main principle: any medicine for a child only on a doctor's recommendation.
For a raised temperature
It is worth keeping a children's fever reducer at home — but the specific active ingredient, the form (syrup or suppositories) and the dose by weight should be chosen by the pediatrician for your child. One thing to remember: some “adult” medicines are contraindicated for children — aspirin, for example. We covered when a temperature is dangerous and what to do in detail in our reference section.
Help with intestinal infections
With vomiting and diarrhoea, the main danger for a child is dehydration. Your kit should contain oral rehydration salts: they are sold in pharmacies as powders to dissolve in water. How to recognise the signs of dehydration, and when it becomes an emergency, is covered in our reference article. If your child refuses to drink or their condition worsens, you need a doctor.
Tools and consumables
- a thermometer — digital or infrared, one you know how to use;
- saline solution for rinsing the nose;
- a nasal aspirator for babies;
- an antiseptic for grazes, plasters, sterile bandages and cotton wool;
- blunt-ended scissors and tweezers — you will reach for them more often than you think.
What does not belong in a child's kit
Do not keep a stock of antibiotics at home “just in case”, or leftovers from old prescriptions: decisions about such medicines are made by the doctor in the specific situation. Never give a child adult medicines “in a smaller dose” — children's forms exist not for marketing but for safety.
Storage
The kit must be out of children's reach — a high cupboard or a latched container. Do not store medicines in the bathroom: humidity spoils them. Every few months, check expiry dates and throw out anything past its date. Anything that needs refrigeration should be kept in the fridge, away from food.
A kit for travelling
If you are heading off on a trip or to a dacha, pack a scaled-down version of the kit: a thermometer, the fever reducer the doctor chose for your child in advance, a rehydration remedy, plasters and an antiseptic. Do not count on “buying it there”: hunting for the right pharmacy at night in an unfamiliar town is stress you do not need.
A review every few months
- check expiry dates and get rid of anything out of date;
- replace whatever has run out — the kit should be ready, not “almost assembled”;
- as your child grows, update the contents: a baby's kit and a pre-schooler's kit differ;
- at a routine appointment, ask the pediatrician what is worth adding specifically for your child.