I have a serious problem. My sister is giving cough syrup to her children at night to make them go to sleep. I feel like this is serious child abuse, and could cause serious problems to their health. I am afraid of the consequences this could have on them in the future. I'm not sure if I should call CPS or not. Is their any other agency I can call?
2007-10-16 13:35:19 · 7 answers · asked by Anonymous in Family & Relationships ➔ Family
I'm not sure if this incident alone would be considered as Child Abuse, i would say it's more of a caseof neglet. Nevertheless, it is not acceptable and something needs to be done about it now before she starts giving them something stronger.
You said that your are afraid of the consenquences that giving them cough medicine will have on them in the future.
Well, thankfully, unless she is giving them an exsessive amount, it wont be life threatening.
What will proberly happen, is there body will become addictive to cough medicine and they wont be able to sleep without it.
Eventually, after a long period of use, it will no longer work and they will have to move onto something stronger.
There are a few things it would have been helpful for you to mention.
Such as:
How old are these kids?
In other areas, is their mother and good mother?
How muxh cough medicine is she giving them?
Is it ever night or only occasionaly?
How long has this been going on for?
You mentioned that your not sure whether you should call CPS or not.
Well, that depends on a few things.
If this is the only thing she is doing wrong, then i suggest you have a word with her before you get anyone else involved.
And i don't mean, shouting and accusations either!
More of a heart to heart chat over a cofee or a cup of tea, try and get her to open up to you. Perhaps the kids are miss behaving and she is finding it hard to cope.
She might not even realise that she is doing anything wrong.
But if she is doing other things and/or doesn't stop since you spoke to her, then i would reccoment you call CPS or Social Services. They will be able to investigate and deciede what's best for the children.
Good luck and i hope everything works out for you!
2007-10-16 13:59:09 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Your sister needs to be educated on what harm she is causing. The first thing to do is to call your local pharmacy, and inform him or her of the name of the cough syrup, and that you know someone who is using it regularly to put her kids to sleep each night. Request for the pharmacy to email you the danger of what she doing.
When you get the information send it to your sister anonymously. It will be a good idea to be there when it arrives so you be surprise and give her some advice. If she continues to feed her children cough syrup, you should contact CPS. I don't know what city you live in so contact your county offices and request for additional information of what services to contact.
It would be a good idea if you involves your family as well. Perhaps they can help persuade your sister of the danger she putting her kids in. God Bless
2007-10-16 14:12:26 · answer #2 · answered by tony 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't think there is any one else that you can call. I agree with you, I believe this to be child abuse. Tell your sister how you feel and let her know that if she continues this then you're gonna call CPS. That way you will give her a warning and she won't be so shocked to find out that you called.
2007-10-16 13:43:07 · answer #3 · answered by alexswife21 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
PLEASE call cps. your nephews and or neices are in serious danger. your sister obviously has some issues she needs to deal with and she is harming those childeren. DO THE RIGHT THING by those kids, call CPS now.
2007-10-16 14:52:16 · answer #4 · answered by shygirl 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
um....please call someone like asap because it is VERY serious and even if they are fine now...it WILL affect them when they are older. Call anyone even the police...not 911 or anything but if you call a police station they will give you someone to call!
2007-10-16 17:44:36 · answer #5 · answered by ♪♫♪ My Angel♪♫♪ I Love You♪♫♪ 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You definitely need to talk to your sister, and tell her of the effects of what she is doing. She might not realize it's unhealthy. If you explain it to her, and show documentation proving it, and she still does it, you need to call the police.
2007-10-16 13:47:06 · answer #6 · answered by vtothef 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
YES!By all means.She is a nut!When you take medecine when you arent sickoften it has bad consequences one being you become immune to it when you need it.
2007-10-16 13:47:23 · answer #7 · answered by Joe F 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋