Information for parents and carers about medicines for children
If you are a parent or carer of a child who needs to take medicines – whether once every few years or every day – we know you need good quality and reliable information.
Medicines leaflets
Our medicines leaflets cover many of the medicines that are prescribed or recommended to children by children’s doctors (paediatricians), pharmacists or nurses. They answer your questions, including:
- Why does your child need to take the medicine?
- When do you need to give the medicine?
- How do you give the medicine?
- What if you forget to give the medicine, or give too much?
- Are there any possible side-effects (effects that we don’t want)
- Where should you keep this medicine?
- Who can you contact for more information?
<Search our bank of medicines leaflets
Videos and leaflets about how to give medicines
Medicines come in different forms. Your child’s medicine may be available as a tablet, capsule or liquid (to give using an oral syringe or medicine spoon). You may need to inject a medicine, use a suppository or enema (medicines in the bottom), or give medicine in the eye or ear.
Go to Types of medicines for our videos and leaflets showing you how to give medicines
General information leaflets
Our general information leaflets give you tips about medicines, antibiotics and unlicensed medicines.
Produced by experts in children’s medicines
Medicines for Children leaflets and videos are produced by experts in children’s medicines – with real experience of the concerns and issues parents face when giving a child medicine at home.
Paediatricians (children’s doctors) and pharmacists write and review our leaflets. They make sure that the advice in our leaflets is up-to-date and accurate. With their experience in the clinic and understanding of children’s medicines, they advise on the medicines and topics we need to cover.
The other experts in children’s medicines – parents and carers like you – have been at the heart of this programme since the beginning. Through surveys and focus groups, parents and carers across the country told us what information they need to know about giving medicines to children, and how they wanted it. A panel of parents and carers now reviews every leaflet before it is published. And, we have started testing our leaflets with people who pick up our leaflets from hospital pharmacies.
All of the paediatricians, pharmacists, parents and carers who work on our leaflets do so as volunteers. Medicines for Children couldn’t exist without the knowledge and enthusiasm of our experts, and for that we thank them!
<Read more about how we produce our leaflets
Information you can trust
Medicines for Children leaflets carry The Information Standard kitemark to demonstrate that we are providing reliable healthcare information to the public.
The Information Standard is a certification scheme supported by the Department of Health. It was set up to help the public identify trusted sources of health and social care information. To gain this certification, we had to show that the way we produce our leaflets meets the criteria of the Standard. This includes:
- Stating our commitment to maintain and improve the way we produce our leaflets, and the information in our leaflets – read our policy statement (PDF, 2 pages)
- Making sure that all staff and volunteers involved in producing our leaflets know about the Information Standard
- Describing how we produce our leaflets, identify the needs of people using our leaflets, and involve parents and carers
- Auditing (checking) our process so that we always meet the quality criteria of the Information Standard
- Taking action if we find any problems, and reviewing our leaflets so they are up-to-date
<RCPCH Information Standard policy statement for Medicines for Children leaflet (PDF, 2 pages)
Who are we?
Medicines for Children is a partnership of three organisations that work in child health - Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH), Neonatal and Paediatric Pharmacists Group (NPPG), and national child health charity WellChild.
The Joint RCPCH and NPPG Standing Committee on Medicines leads and provides clinical expertise on this project.