Important: This page is general information, not medical advice. It does not recommend or prescribe any treatment. Always consult your doctor or pharmacist before starting, stopping or changing any medicine.
About Medicines and Children
Children aren't just small adults. It is especially important to remember this when giving medicines to children. Giving a child the wrong dose or a medicine that is not for children can have serious side effects.
The drug labels for prescription medicines have a section on "Pediatric Use." It says whether the medicine has been studied for its effects on children. It also tells you which age groups were studied. Some over-the-counter (OTC) medicines, like those that treat fever and pain, have been studied for effectiveness, safety, or dosing in children. But many other OTC medicines have not. It is important to read the labels carefully, to make sure that the medicine is right for your child.
Here are some other tips for giving medicine safely to your child:
- Read and follow the label directions every time. Pay special attention to usage directions and warnings.
- Watch out for problems. Contact your health care provider or pharmacist right away if
- You notice any new symptoms or unexpected side effects in your child
- The medicine doesn't appear to be working when you expect it to. For example, antibiotics may take a few days to start working, but a pain reliever usually starts working soon after your child takes it.
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Food and Drug Administration
It sits within Children and Teenagers and Drug Therapy.
When to speak to someone. Reading about a topic cannot tell you whether it applies to you. Speak to a doctor or pharmacist if symptoms are severe, sudden, getting worse, or simply not going away — and seek emergency care immediately for chest pain, breathing difficulty, sudden weakness or confusion, or a serious allergic reaction.
Research on Medicines and Children
756 studies areregistered for this condition on ClinicalTrials.gov, the U.S. National Library of Medicine's public registry. A selection is below — the links go straight to the registry entry, not to a summary of ours.
What a registered study does and does not mean. Registration means a study exists and has been declared publicly. It says nothing about whether the treatment being tested works, is safe, or is available to you. Many studies find no benefit — that is what research is for. Never seek out an experimental treatment on the strength of a registry entry alone.
Research currently under way
- A Study to Assess a Medicine Called Tovorafenib in Japanese Children and Young Adults With Brain TumoursIpsen
- OLYMPIC-S: Outcomes of a Life-stYle Multicomponent Physical-activity Intervention in Children - School-based Randomized Controlled TrialFundacio d'Investigacio en Atencio Primaria Jordi Gol i Gurina
- A Study of a New Drug, Nirogacestat, for Treating Desmoid Tumors That Cannot be Removed by SurgeryChildren's Oncology Group
- A Study to Compare Standard Therapy to Treat Hodgkin Lymphoma to the Use of Two Drugs, Brentuximab Vedotin and NivolumabNational Cancer Institute (NCI)
- Minimising Adverse Drug Reactions and Verifying Economic Legitimacy in Children (MARVEL-PIC)Murdoch Childrens Research Institute
- A Phase 3, Placebo-Controlled Study to Investigate LP352 in Children and Adults With Dravet Syndrome (DS)Longboard Pharmaceuticals
Research already completed
- 05-001: Treatment of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia in ChildrenDana-Farber Cancer Institute
- The Effects of IV vs Oral Dexamethasone on Postoperative Nausea, Vomiting, and PainUniversity of Colorado, Denver
- A Study to Check the Safety of Dexlansoprazole and Learn if it Can Treat Symptomatic Nonerosive Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease in Children 2 to 11 Years OldTakeda
- Hypertension Intervention to Reduce Osteonecrosis in Children With Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia/LymphomaSt. Jude Children's Research Hospital
Study data from ClinicalTrials.gov, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine. Retrieved 2026-07-30. Registry entries are supplied by study sponsors and investigators; ClinicalTrials.gov does not verify their scientific validity. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH.
Where to read more
Rather than paraphrase, we point you to the primary sources. Every link below is to a government health agency, a national institute or a recognised medical body — grouped by what you are trying to find out.
Start Here
- Medicines: Using Them Safely (for Parents)Nemours Foundation
- What Medicines Are and What They Do (For Kids)Nemours Foundation
Diagnosis and Tests
- Acetaminophen LevelNational Library of Medicine
Related Issues
- As They Grow: Teaching Your Children How to Use Medicines SafelyFood and Drug Administration
- How to Give Your Child MedicineAmerican Academy of Family Physicians
Medical subject headings
Clinicians and researchers index this subject under Drug Therapy. These are the terms to use when searching medical literature.
This page is built from the MedlinePlus health topic record for Medicines and Children, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), National Institutes of Health. Information is from MedlinePlus.gov. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and is not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH. Retrieved 30 July 2026.