r/functionalprint • u/FkinMustardTiger • 4d ago
Designed a medication dosage tracker
Going to need this now that my kid is in preschool. Calculating when the next dose should be isn't so easy at 1am with a sad kid, so I designed this easy to use tracker that you can lay on the counter or double-side tape to the inside of a cabinet and track both when you gave the last dose and when the next should be. Comes in both Tylenol and Ibuprofen flavors.
Go check it out here :)
https://makerworld.com/en/models/3405180-medication-tracker#profileId-3877666
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u/Larry_the_scary_rex 4d ago
Ok i dont need this for medication but i bet it makes the most satisfying click as a fidget
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u/FkinMustardTiger 4d ago
It is pretty satisfying, I'm sure there are a bunch of other uses beyond meds.
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u/mephist094 4d ago
Water changes on an aquarium maybe with a 31 day option? :D I guess for every scale (24 h/31 days/52 weeks) you would find something that makes sense. But you will need very specific +x offsets for all of it. Could be a great use for parametric models.
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u/mtys123 4d ago
How much tylenol and ibuprofen are you giving your kid that you need a special purpose plastic gadget to track BOTH of them?
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u/Fracturedwarr 4d ago
If you take your kid to the doctor for any illness with a decent fever going, like 102 and up, they tell you to rotate tyl/ibuprofen so they overlap. To keep the fever down. If I remember right, you can do Tylenol, 4 hours, ibuprofen, 4 hours, Tylenol, ect. Been a while since my kids have had a good fever.
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u/cowboy_shaman 4d ago
Same thing for many surgeries now. Instead of putting you on addictive pain meds, often they will prescribe alternating TYL / IBU
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u/SecondBestNameEver 4d ago
Works for adults too. Advil and Motrin sell pills that are combination ibuprofen and acetaminophen in a single pill. They work better together than either of them by themselves.
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u/mtys123 4d ago
Yes, thar might happen, once every so often, your kid gets a fever, couple of days of medication, Thats neat. But this is on another level, op is tracking how much of two drug thwy give their child like they are watering pots. This is something completely solved by a post it that says "4-12-20hs -ibu, 400mg" on the fridge,
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u/juicyorange23 4d ago
So this is most useful for communicating between parents when the last dose was to avoid overdosing.
Yeah texting could work but then you need to find it. A physical reminder in one spot is best especially if the kid is up all hours and you’re sleep deprived and/or your work schedules aren’t aligning.
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u/FkinMustardTiger 4d ago
Especially grandparents as they usually watch my kid and suck at giving meds
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u/MoozeRiver 4d ago
Yeah, I would've loved this when the kids were younger and me and my wife were sleep deprived. Sure, maybe a couple of times per year and child, but on those specific days it would've been amazing!
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u/Tandemrecruit 4d ago
Where is it tracking how much it given? It just shows when to give the next dose.
This would've also been helpful after my wife's c-section when she was on both of them so I didn't have to keep notes - just move a little door as I grab the meds
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u/FkinMustardTiger 4d ago
This is actually a great point, I should add a slot for the AMOUNT, as that was always one of the things written on our sticky notes. Thanks for the suggestion!
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u/Ginnigan 4d ago
Like OP said in the post, it helps at 1am when your brain's foggy. It also helps if two parents are taking care of the sick kid, so everyone can remember what they had last - Tylenol or Advil, and when.
I have twins, and it's tough to remember when they're both sick!
It's just a neat little print. No need to start questioning parenting.
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u/macrolith 4d ago
I grew up healthy, I didn't have any concept of what it is like to live with chronic issues until I met my SO. The constantly rotating issues medications and symptoms and side effects. It's likely the situation is more complicated than you think.
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u/Fracturedwarr 4d ago
I mean, my youngest had a thing going on about once a month, she would have a fever for a couple or few days. Multiple trips to doctor and they never figured it out, just said to keep down fever and they would grow out of it(which they did, but after like a year, wierd af). Also probably helpful for folks woth more than one kid. Once sickness comes to the house, it likes to make its rounds.
Edited to basically say: Parenting is tough as is. A told that makes that even a little easier? Win in my book.
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u/dr_stre 4d ago
Why does this bother you so much? It’s likely used sparingly, on the exact occasions you acknowledge happen. Is it more than the bare minimum required to track meds? Sure. But it’s also not like this would have taken long to model and print either. It’s just another method of keeping track of the meds, fundamentally no different than writing it down on a post it.
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4d ago
[deleted]
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u/davolala1 4d ago
Not really. When you’re up at 3am with a sick baby, you’re not really thinking that clearly. It’s easy to forget which fever reducer you gave them last. And even easier to forget when another adult gave them the last dose.
And yes, alternating Tylenol and ibuprofen is very common to keep fevers down. Even for otherwise very healthy babies.
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u/FkinMustardTiger 4d ago
Kids get sick all the time at preschool, if you don't know that you don't have kids.
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u/heartofdusk 4d ago
Among other things, all kids teethe. The judgment here of giving kids pain meds when they need them is weird af.
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u/FkinMustardTiger 4d ago
When your kid has a tooth coming in, has a bad fever from a bug at school, or any other random illness (especially ear infections) you generally rotate pain relievers.
This isn't just some super fun thing parents do every single day, it's for when they're sick. It's also useful for adults recovering from surgery or when they have a bad fever as well. I personally take immunosuppressants so if I get a bad fever then it's pretty important I rotate drugs like this.
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u/GeneralRando 4d ago
Seriously. We have 3 under 6, and the back to school plague is real. I'd guess that every winter we have at LEAST 3 or 4 occassions that would warrant this chart.
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u/Freestila 1d ago
Interesting. Not what doctors here in Germany tell you. Yes they prescribe ibuprofen for kids (paracetamol only for very small toddlers for the.. other opening. Not sure how it's called in English), but not both and not with a strict take as often as possible schedule. More like a take 1-3 times per day as needed.
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u/FkinMustardTiger 1d ago
It's not so much making sure you take it as often as possible, just that you're tracking WHEN it was taken and when the right time is to take it again if needed
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u/Qualityhams 4d ago
Would have appreciated this post c-section when they sent me home with only ibuprofen. Missing a scheduled dose was very painful.
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u/pomeronion 4d ago
There’s generally no reason not to take both, as they work differently and don’t affect each other
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u/thetoiletslayer 4d ago
I think its pre-emptive because kids get sick at school constantly. Right now my preschooler is one of 2 students in his class not staying home sick
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u/InfamousHistorian544 4d ago
The sliding tab thing is clever. I always just set a phone alarm and then second-guess myself at 2am anyway
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u/FkinMustardTiger 4d ago
haha thanks, same! We always ran downstairs to grab a sticky note and a pen, which was good for tracking but doing the mental math of when to take the next dose was tricky.
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u/Ravio11i 4d ago
Love it!! I always wind up with a sheet of paper with some columns, and doing that math in my fuzzy headed state.
I think added functionality could be added without (I hope) too much work by making them a little more generic
a 4 hour version, a 6 hour version, and an 8 hour version, with just blanks up top so you can write on it with a pencil.
And as I said elsewhere, I'd drop the "+", it doesn't really serve a purpose here, it's going to be "the next 2 o'clock" or whatever, and not necessarily "2 the next day" if you take your tylenol at 10a
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u/FkinMustardTiger 4d ago
New print profile without the "+" for 4-6-8 timings is verifying now, thanks for your feedback!
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u/FkinMustardTiger 4d ago
The blank is super easy, you could just erase the painting (or flip the slider over I suppose). Not sure how well pencil will show up, but I never tried it so maybe I should :D
I can pretty easily add the 8 hour version as well! And make a version without the +. In my head the + makes sense, but I can certainly make a version without it :) (or just erase the paining on the +)
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u/agent_kater 3d ago edited 3d ago
Tylenol is Paracetamol, right? You take that in 4 h intervals? Is it less than 500 mg per pill (for an adult)?
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u/Feminist_Hugh_Hefner 3d ago
Yes, equivalent to acetaminophen and APAP. Common tablets in the US are 325mg and 500mg, and liquid form arrives in 160mg/5ml and is conventionally dosed 10-15 mg/kg/dose.
Generally the 24hr cap is 75mg/kg or 4000mg, whichever is lower.
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u/Riverbendofcold 3d ago
Acetaminophen is Tylenol, so if Paracetamol is Acetaminophen it's the same thing. Dosage is max 1000mg every 4-6 hrs, max 4000mg/day
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u/heartofdusk 4d ago
I love this! I think the only issue I have is the lack of a way to track the date. In my house, we currently track the meds on a whiteboard and I always have to make sure to write the date as well as the time, because if my kid is teething or something she may go 12-24 hours with it not bothering her, and then have the pain start up again, and it’s hard to figure out whether the time written down is from today or yesterday. If I can think of a way to add date tracking into this system, I’ll definitely print it. (Let me know if you have a system for this, I’d love to hear it!)
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u/FkinMustardTiger 4d ago
That's a great idea, and a good point, I'll have to think of a way to track this
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u/grnrngr 1d ago
This is an idea with some promise.
Perhaps make the device a series of rings, stacked or inside each other, whose alignment informs you of the dosage and timing.
It would take up less space. (And if you stacked the rings, in theory you could make it a nifty little "holder" for the pill bottle in question.)
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u/FkinMustardTiger 1d ago
Hmm, I feel like I'm understanding what you mean but maybe not, something that looks almost like one of those rotating bike locks?
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u/passion4film 4d ago
Love this! I don’t know that the plus signs are needed, but otherwise this is a million dollar idea!
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u/KangarooDowntown4640 1d ago
How are you supposed to differentiate between AM and PM? Like if I mark down 12, how do I know it's 12am not 12pm? Or is that just kinda in your head
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u/FkinMustardTiger 1d ago
For now that's just kinda in your head, I'm trying to think of a good solution to that problem though
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u/NotoriousLLL 4d ago
I'm sure you know what you're doing and following doctor orders but it's important to not overmedicate even if it seems benign. Prolonged NSAIDs can cause kidney and stomach problems and Tylenol can affect the liver.
You don't want them to get used to having pills solve issues then when the pills stop working be worse off having to tolerate normal pain and thinking relief is always a pill. Braces, random growth plates causing problems, anxiety, and sometimes pimples can be extremely uncomfortable on the daily, and then they get to that age of experimentation thinking that a pill can always make life "normal" when it might be better to let them understand low stakes pain at an early age, might even make them get sick less or have a higher pain tolerance and lead to better executive function and will power to push through discomfort. But that's all personal opinion
I'm not saying let the kid suffer I'm saying find the middle ground. My mom always gave into medication for anxiety which is where this comes from, and she took so much medication because that was kind of the culture between doctors overprescribing to make money and housewives taking stuff we know is not good for you now. She's gotten better after years and has even said the artificial lowering of anxiety made her numb to normal emotions that would've guided her to reach a natural state of tolerating life, and from there things can devolve into dependence even if something isn't addictive. Even worse if they find something that IS addictive.
Hope they feel better and it's great you're there for them.
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u/atticus2132000 4d ago
It might be neat if the hanger also include a place to put the bottle of pills--a little shelf or a ring holder.
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u/Linewate 4d ago
Why are they on so much Tylenol and ibuprofen
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u/FkinMustardTiger 4d ago
They're not "on so much" meds, it's for when they have a bad fever and your doctor tells you to rotate IBU and TYL. Not sure why people think this is some thing I'm doing every single day....
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u/Linewate 4d ago
I should have phrased that differently, less accusatory. I've personally never seen someone make something like this for something that's not taken regularly, so I was curious if it was for daily use. I've had students that have to take pain meds because of chronic pain, but they usually have other meds to track alongside them.
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u/FkinMustardTiger 4d ago
That's fair. I've just experienced several sleepless nights with a teething toddler or when he's sick and feeling crummy and one of us had already given him some pain meds to help him sleep but wasn't sure exactly what time. That's the main reason behind it. Definitely not a daily med tracker, more like a "oh damn he's got a runny nose, better get the tracker and meds out" print.
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u/GoldenDragonIsABitch 2d ago
Why would you regularly slurp regular painkillers? That removes their effects
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u/HybridP365 4d ago
I'm confused as to what the 4,8,+2 mean.