Mommy Tip- Keeping Track of Medications

This one can be used for anyone… not just for the kids.

As the days, months and years go by, I have a hard time remembering what I ate for dinner last week let alone what medications my kids and I have had in the past and what our reactions were. This tip can come in handy when you’re faced with an emergency situation, while helping a family member who has fallen ill, or while trying to remember what medication your child took the last time he had bronchitis… 2 years ago.

Our doctor usually gives me a handful of appropriate options when it comes to medications (only when they need it) for my children and asks how the sick child reacted to said medications. Again, I can’t remember what I had for dinner last week never mind 4 different medications that any one of my 3 children has taken over the years. I’ll take the one that doesn’t give them a gut ache and violent diarrhea thank you very much… but which one was that??

In comes the Medicine Journal (or envelope).

You can do it two ways-

1. Write, on a separate envelope, each family member’s name. Then peel off the pharmacy prescription information from the prescription bottles (after you’re done using it!!) and staple a post-it note or scratch piece of paper with any pertinent information- reactions, etc. That way you have the name of the medication, dosage, pharmacy name & number, the doctor’s name and information all in one place.

You can also…

2. Get a small/pocket notebook and write all the information (everything on the prescription bottle plus pertinent information) in the notebook.

It’s not a bad idea to include any known allergies on the envelope or written in the journal.

Either way, each one is easy to grab as you’re heading out the door to the doctor’s office or if you are talking on the phone with the pharmacy or doctor.

Just make sure you put it in a place where you’ll remember it…