mints

I use LifeSavers and occasionally mints to soothe sore throats and ease coughs. I don't see why it would be a problem.

sounds ok to me ... we can use cough drops though ... we have a list of "standard treatments" that we use that is on our website and goes home with every student in the begining of the year. If a parent has any issues they can "opt out" of the standard treatments.

We supply coughdrops here (why???) and my main concern has always been choking.

We aren't allowed to dispense cough drops...I can't even use Neosporin or any TAO on wounds.

We supply coughdrops here (why???) and my main concern has always been choking.

Actually had this happen at my last school. The kids were taking those long tests(forget what they're called) and the teacher had passed out peppermints for the kids to suck on. Sure enough, one of th 7th graders swallowed hers whole and it got stuck in her throat. We got the candy dislodged eventually, but it scared the bejeebers out of me and the teacher.

My experience with using mints in the clinic wasn't very positive. I did use them when I was in the middle school and ended up having kids coming out of the woodwork to get candy. And teachers were letting them come! Geez! I finally had to put my foot down and make a hard & fast rule: No candy, crackers or sodas in the clinic. It took me almost a year to get through to the staff and students.

. I did use them when I was in the middle school and ended up having kids coming out of the woodwork to get candy. And teachers were letting them come! Geez! I finally had to put my foot down and make a hard & fast rule: No candy, crackers or sodas in the clinic. It took me almost a year to get through to the staff and students.

I think that's more of my concern than the choking aspect. And does it technically violate the fda foods of minimal nutritional value since it's all sugar AND i'm supplying it....

We supply coughdrops here (why???) and my main concern has always been choking.

Children aged 5 and older shouldn't have issues with choking on hard candy anymore than food that they get in the cafeteria.

Keep in mind, they sometimes have baloons in school (major health hazard for children), they give them ice cream with sticks, etc.

You can't field off everything.

Actually had this happen at my last school. The kids were taking those long tests(forget what they're called) and the teacher had passed out peppermints for the kids to suck on. Sure enough, one of th 7th graders swallowed hers whole and it got stuck in her throat. We got the candy dislodged eventually, but it scared the bejeebers out of me and the teacher.

My experience with using mints in the clinic wasn't very positive. I did use them when I was in the middle school and ended up having kids coming out of the woodwork to get candy. And teachers were letting them come! Geez! I finally had to put my foot down and make a hard & fast rule: No candy, crackers or sodas in the clinic. It took me almost a year to get through to the staff and students.

If I didn't see the kid coughing his head off...there would be no candy.

Once you send a few kids back, they will stop sending them.

This is a very sensitive subject for me because my own child is in a school system where she misses ENTIRE days of school because I sleep during the day and they will not give an OTC medication without my being there. They do not have a school nurse (county can well afford it...too cheap to hire one).

If I keep her home for 24 hours due to illness and do not take her to the physician (no pediatrician around here will give your kid antibiotics without a postive strep screen in less than 48 to 72 hours)..they consider it an unexcused absence...which is RIDICULOUS...as if every kid in America requires medical treatment every time they are sick.

Burns me up to no end..she probably misses double the days from school because of the medication issue because I have a very high co-pay with my health insurance and there is no way I am taking her to the doctor over every sniffle.

I had a snippy secretary call when my kid missed last week wanting to know "why" my daughter missed a day or so before...I said, "Does it matter?" She said, "Well, we just need to know if she was sick or not"...I said, "No, you don't...because if she doesn't go to the doctor, it is considered unexcused..I didn't take her to see a physician, so if I kept her out due to illness or because I felt like taking her shopping and spending the day at the movies with her...it doesn't matter to the school..so all you need to know is that she was absent, she did not see a physician, and the rest is between me and my daughter."

Yup..I know that is purely irrational and neurotic..but so is their medication policy.

If I didn't see the kid coughing his head off...there would be no candy.

Once you send a few kids back, they will stop sending them.

This is a very sensitive subject for me because my own child is in a school system where she misses ENTIRE days of school because I sleep during the day and they will not give an OTC medication without my being there. They do not have a school nurse (county can well afford it...too cheap to hire one).

If I keep her home for 24 hours due to illness and do not take her to the physician (no pediatrician around here will give your kid antibiotics without a postive strep screen in less than 48 to 72 hours)..they consider it an unexcused absence...which is RIDICULOUS...as if every kid in America requires medical treatment every time they are sick.

Burns me up to no end..she probably misses double the days from school because of the medication issue because I have a very high co-pay with my health insurance and there is no way I am taking her to the doctor over every sniffle.

I had a snippy secretary call when my kid missed last week wanting to know "why" my daughter missed a day or so before...I said, "Does it matter?" She said, "Well, we just need to know if she was sick or not"...I said, "No, you don't...because if she doesn't go to the doctor, it is considered unexcused..I didn't take her to see a physician, so if I kept her out due to illness or because I felt like taking her shopping and spending the day at the movies with her...it doesn't matter to the school..so all you need to know is that she was absent, she did not see a physician, and the rest is between me and my daughter."

Yup..I know that is purely irrational and neurotic..but so is their medication policy.

You can't just sign a form, leave the medicine, and let her take it when needed?????

You can't just sign a form, leave the medicine, and let her take it when needed?????

Nope, the reason I was given was that the school secretary was not a "trained medical professional" and that the "wrong medication might possibly be given" to a student" triggering an allergy/etc to an OTC medication.

I said, "Well, then what do you do with the diabetic and the asthmatic kids...just let one lay and die on the floor while you get ahold of the parents to come and bring the inhaler or insulin pen?"

They said, "No, they go through special training to handle that particular population..but we can't teach them to handle all medications."

So needless to say, every time we get a newsletter, they are always complaining how their absenteeism is sky high, as if the parents are too lazy to take them to school.

Biggest load of crap I have ever seen.

I am in a high school and we can't use cough drops either. I give lemon candies for sore throats/cough and peppermints for upset stomach ( with no ulcer history). There is so little I can do, this at least makes the kids feel better and keeps them in school.