No single source answers every paediatric medicines question. The regimen may come from national, local or specialist paediatric guidance; the exact formulation and licensed particulars come from the product’s SmPC; administration, neonatal practice, enteral-tube use, poisoning and parent communication each need their own specialist source. This guide maps those roles with worked examples.
The paediatric resource map
National, local and specialist paediatric guidance: indication, regimen, monitoring and responsibility. iatroX Medicines: rapid medicine-level orientation and links to product sources. Medicines for Children: parent- and carer-facing information from RCPCH, NPPG and WellChild. eMC: the exact product’s SmPC and PIL, including concentration, excipients, storage and supplied device. Local formularies and antimicrobial guidance: approved choices and local responsibilities. Neonatal formularies and specialist neonatal guidance: neonatal practice. Medusa: preparation and administration of injectable medicines. NEWT: swallowing difficulties and enteral-tube administration. TOXBASE: overdose and poisoning.
Why the manufacturer's leaflet may not answer the paediatric question
A structural point worth teaching every trainee: manufacturer product information centres on the licensed use, and for many medicines that licence was built primarily around adults. Children are frequently treated under specialist or off-label practice that the PIL simply does not describe, so a parent reading the box leaflet may find their child's regimen absent or apparently contradicted. Medicines for Children exists for exactly this gap, its own materials note that child-focused guidance can differ from manufacturer information that predominantly addresses adults, and the professional habit follows: the patient-facing explanation should come from an appropriate paediatric source, with the PIL contextualised rather than left to alarm.
Worked example: paracetamol
The iatroX paracetamol page maps the available formulations and highlights duplication risk across pain, cold and flu products. Use applicable paediatric guidance to determine the child-specific regimen, then check the exact product’s SmPC for concentration, excipients and the supplied measuring device. Use parent-facing information to explain measurement, duplicate products and what to do after a possible overdose.
Worked example: amoxicillin liquid
Local antimicrobial guidance determines indication, choice and duration; applicable paediatric guidance supplies the regimen; iatroX amoxicillin maps available formulations and links to their sources; the exact SmPC confirms reconstitution, storage and excipients; and Medicines for Children provides parent-facing information where available. Each source has a distinct job.
Worked example: apixaban oral suspension
Paediatric anticoagulation is specialist territory. Age, weight, indication and formulation all matter, and separate apixaban suspension products have separate SmPCs, excipients and devices. The iatroX apixaban page maps the preparations and links each SmPC, while the specialist team’s protocol governs whether and how the medicine is prescribed.
Parents' information versus prescribers' information
One editorial discipline for anyone writing, or building, in this space: label the audience. Professional prescribing material presented as self-care advice is how families end up dosing from the wrong document, and parent-facing reassurance presented to prescribers is how detail gets lost. The well-built stack keeps the layers distinct and adjacent, the iatroX guides do this with a readable overview and a separate clinical tab, and the clinician's job at the bedside is matching each audience to its layer.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a free equivalent source of official paediatric medicines information for parents?
Medicines for Children is the closest thing and is excellent for the medicines it covers; it is guidance for giving medicines, not a prescribing reference, and the two should not be confused.
Where do off-label paediatric questions go?
To the specialist team's guidance, the local paediatric formulary and pharmacy; the national references describe the licence, and paediatric practice legitimately extends beyond it under proper governance.
What about children's interactions checking?
Start with the applicable national, local or specialist paediatric guidance; check the exact product’s SmPC on eMC; use a current interaction checker and the relevant specialist source; and involve pharmacy or a medicines-information service early whenever the regimen, formulation or interaction is complex.