trusting a kid to take prescription medication

[Anonymous]

At what age would you trust your kid to take prescription antibiotic as scheduled and finish the prescription? 10? 12? 15? 17?

[Anonymous]

depends on the kid. at 10-12 no

[Anonymous]

Trust as in no reminders or trust as in remind but don't watch or verify they actually took it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Trust as in no reminders or trust as in remind but don't watch or verify they actually took it?

Trust as in no reminders

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Trust as in no reminders or trust as in remind but don't watch or verify they actually took it?

Trust as in no reminders

Yes, depends on the kid. On the person, really. I can be forgetful about those things (49 years old, still working on it) so I would give myself a phone reminder and probably a little sticky or other visual reminder. So, I teach my kids techniques like that also. Reminders, but not necessarily from me. As a mom, though, I'd probably still ask if he took it. Hell, I can do that with my husband if there's something new he needs to do.

[Anonymous]

I ask because I'm in therapy and I'm learning that so many things about my upbringing were strange and perhaps erroneous. Like my parents expecting me to take antibiotic pills on my own without forgetting and without reminders. When I was 10. My therapist says this was too young. Do you agree? I was in 6th grade at the time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I ask because I'm in therapy and I'm learning that so many things about my upbringing were strange and perhaps erroneous. Like my parents expecting me to take antibiotic pills on my own without forgetting and without reminders. When I was 10. My therapist says this was too young. Do you agree? I was in 6th grade at the time.

Yes. Absolutely. Way too young, especially because antibiotics are a relatively short term thing (so you don't make a habit) and because measuring the amount of liquid correctly is really tough at that age

[Anonymous]

I work in student health. High school students have difficulty remembering their daily meds that they’ve taken for years.

[Anonymous]

ADHD runs in our family, so... never!

Kidding, but my point is that even adults can forget.

[Anonymous]

Depends on the kid.

My now 18 year old has been managing and taking his own medication without reminders since middle school - age 12.

My now 15 year sometimes forgets - it's one of my goals of this summer - to get him to remember on his own. It's an important life skill...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I work in student health. High school students have difficulty remembering their daily meds that they’ve taken for years.

This.

Even my college student DC who is remarkably responsible and needs (and wants) little to no reminding about anything still can forget a medication, especially because she's not on any med ALL the time. So short-term ones do require reminding (for my peace of mind as the parent, even if she does remember).

Work with your kid, OP, about setting a timer to remember the medication. Have a specific cup used for the water to chase the pill if it's a pill, and have your kid mark on the cup a "fill line" showing how much water to put into it every time so he's not trying to down a pill with too little. If it's a liquid, mark the dosing cup really clearly with a marker (the marks on plastic dosing cups sometimes are clear print on a clear cup -- impossible to see easily!). Have your KID do this then you check later. I also find it helps if the person taking a med keeps that med in the same place and takes it in that location every single time, somewhere very easily seen as you go through your day so you have a visual reminder as well.

Kids who have taken meds for years often do better at remembering but yes, as the PP above says, even they can forget. They are busy, their brains are still developing, they can get distracted even if they're focused kids.

And being sure anyone in your family is remembering to take meds is just part of being a good family member, too. My husband is brilliant but recently kept forgetting to take a post-operation medication so we did timers and I would remind him religiously. Short-term meds like antibiotics are just easy to forget because there's not enough time using them to build a routine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I ask because I'm in therapy and I'm learning that so many things about my upbringing were strange and perhaps erroneous. Like my parents expecting me to take antibiotic pills on my own without forgetting and without reminders. When I was 10. My therapist says this was too young. Do you agree? I was in 6th grade at the time.

Stop blaming your parents.

My sister was babysitting at 10.

By 6th grade, I was making my own lunch and doing my own laundry.

Forgive them for not scaffolding the self care skills you needed to take care of yourself. the past is past. Focus on what you need for the present and future.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I ask because I'm in therapy and I'm learning that so many things about my upbringing were strange and perhaps erroneous. Like my parents expecting me to take antibiotic pills on my own without forgetting and without reminders. When I was 10. My therapist says this was too young. Do you agree? I was in 6th grade at the time.

Stop blaming your parents.

My sister was babysitting at 10.

By 6th grade, I was making my own lunch and doing my own laundry.

Forgive them for not scaffolding the self care skills you needed to take care of yourself. the past is past. Focus on what you need for the present and future.

OP here. I was too and just assumed this was normal. That’s why I’m asking. Because my therapist is consistently shocked.