Top parenting mistakes revealed

Would you believe that 20% of parents have forgotten their child’s birthday?

The number is as high as 36% in countries like Indonesia. This is just one surprising finding uncovered by a recent global survey on parenting mistakes, conducted by Calpol. 

Becoming a parent is a journey of trial and error, also known as the world’s most widely played game of improvisation. No amount of reading or preparation is going to save a first-time parent from a child left to their own devices. 

That’s often when the most amusing, albeit messy, mishaps happen. In fact, more than half of parents believe that they can’t take their eyes off their children, otherwise chaos would reign. 

Getting a child ready for school is when most mistakes happen; 93% of parents have had some form of related mishap, from oversleeping and making their kids late for school (38%), to forgetting to give them something to eat at recess (31% have forgotten)! 

When it comes to medicating their sick child, 55% of parents are confident about treating their child’s pain, but nearly 1 in 2 parents in some countries find it stressful to know how much medicine to give. This is hardly surprising as the number one parenting concern is when their child is sick. Compared to fathers, mothers are often the most concerned in such situations. 

One handy tip is to always consult a dosage calculator with your child’s latest weight in hand when giving medication. Because children come in all shapes and sizes, it’s not very accurate to dose them based on their age alone. Using their weight in the calculation makes it possible for medicine to work more effectively. A dosage calculator takes the guesswork away, making it one less thing to worry about. 

The other common issue parents encounter is a sick child refusing medication. To avoid stressing your sick child further, distraction in the form of entertainment can be soothing and can become your strongest ally. 

To help parents with sick children while they wait for the fever to subside, Panadol has introduced an interactive animated character called Buddy Bear. With a few clicks, parents can personalize a video for their little ones in which he sings nursery rhymes and cheers them up. See Buddy Bear in action here. Want to read more about the parenting mistakes uncovered? Check out the full survey on Panadol.com.