The right dose depends on weight, not on age.

Why children are not small adults

With adults the dose is on the pack and is right for almost everyone. With children it is not. The right amount depends on body weight, not on age, and between two children of the same age there can be several kilos. Anyone dosing by the age on the pack will quickly be too high for a slight child and too low for a sturdy one.

That is why our first question is never “how old?” but “how heavy?”. We work out the dose, write it down, and you no longer have to look for it at two in the morning.

On top of that: some active ingredients that are a matter of course for adults do not belong on the shelf for children. Acetylsalicylic acid for example, a common painkiller and fever reducer for adults, is not used in children and adolescents with feverish infections. You do not have to know things like that – you just have to be able to ask someone who does.

A tick bite on a child: we will do it

On children the tick is rarely where you look first: at the hairline, behind the ear, on the neck. Come by with the child, no appointment needed. We remove it, look at the spot and record the date. We do not charge for this. What matters is that the tick comes out early and completely.

What to watch for afterwards and when a red patch needs attention is set out in full in the health guide article ticks and TBE.

Before the start of school and before the holidays

Two moments in the year when almost all families have the same questions.

Before the start of school it is usually about head lice: what actually works, how often you have to treat again, and what you really have to do about bedding and cuddly toys rather than out of panic.

Before the holidays we put together a travel medicine kit that fits the family – with children’s dosages worked out, so that you do not have to convert anything in an emergency. The checklist for it is in the health guide article travel medicine kit.

A nursing room, loans and infant formula

There is a nursing room ready for you here, quiet and undisturbed; just ask at the counter. You do not have to buy breast pumps or crutches, we lend both. We keep Bimbosan infant formula in stock.

We offer vaccinations from the age of 16, as described on the vaccinations page. Younger children are vaccinated by the paediatrician.

Where we stop

We do not make diagnoses, and with children we are even more reserved about it than usual. If something belongs in a doctor’s hands, we say so directly and name the place that is responsible.

The other way round applies just as much: a great deal can be settled at the counter, without an appointment and without a waiting room where your child picks up something else. Better to ask once too early.