Do you tell your kids about possible side effects?

[kellyg403]

Nope...wouldn't do it. Then again, I have a mixed bag here at home. Couple kids can barely take the medicine without a two hour set up and production. If I told them there were side effects, it wouldn't happen. Just getting them to take a pill without the resulting gagging sound effects is a win for me!

Kelly

PS..I don't know if there are allergy meds that can cause growth issues but my son who is a severe asthmatic has taken oral steroids for extended periods of time and we were warned that there might be growth issues because of it. Now, he is 14 and comes from a family tree of shorties so he never was destined to be 6 foot tall..so kinda was irrelevant to me at this point. He is shorter than most but when both grandmas are less than 4'9 and the tallest person in both families is right around 5'7..he is genetically average.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

When your child is prescribed a drug, do you normally tell them all of the possible side effects they may suffer from the drug? Do you think a child "deserves to know" what may happen to them from taking a drug?

Just want to know if my thinking on this is out of line. If it makes a difference, let's say that the child is, oh, say 5.

Not if they are 5. I would just ask how they were feeling.

Now my 13yodd will ask the side effects from meds on her own from me.