Ever had one of those mornings where parents are rushing in, kids are clinging to their coats, and someone’s trying to tell you about a last-minute schedule change? In the chaos, a bottle of cold medication quietly ends up in a classroom — and suddenly, you’re facing a safety risk.

Administering medication in a child care setting requires careful planning, clear communication, and strict adherence to Illinois regulations. We know it’s a lot to juggle — which is why our online training on medication administration is here to help. This required training for Illinois child care providers gives you the tools you need to keep kids safe and meet state guidelines with confidence.

Even with training, mistakes can happen. Here are some of the most common medication administration errors in child care settings — and how to prevent them.

1. Families Dropping Off Medication Without Written Instructions

Illinois child care regulations require written parental consent with clear instructions for administering medication. This must include:

• The child's name
• The medication name
• The dose, time, and method of administration
• The number of days the medication should be given

How To Avoid This Mistake: Create a clear policy that requires parents to fill out a medication consent form before leaving any medications with your staff. Keep blank copies readily available for parents during drop-off. Have teachers redirect parents to administrative staff to complete this form and not simply leave the medication in the classroom with oral instructions to the child's busy teacher.

2. Families Providing Expired Medication

Expired medications — including non-prescription items like diaper creams — should never be administered. Using expired products can be ineffective or even harmful.

How To Avoid This Mistake: Ask parents to provide medication in its original packaging with clear expiration dates. Regularly review stored medications to identify and discard expired items.

3. Teachers Not Clear on How To Administer Emergency Medications

Your teachers are superheroes — juggling snack time, storytime, and scraped knees — and when they know a child in their care has a life-threatening allergy, they’re often incredibly tuned in. 

What they may need most is hands-on training from that child’s parents so they feel confident in exactly what to do if an emergency arises. Without proper allergy medication training, they may not recognize the signs of an emergency or know how to respond.

How To Avoid This Mistake: For children with severe allergies that require emergency medication, it's not enough for staff to have general training — their teachers should receive specific, hands-on training from that child's parents. Parents are the best resource for demonstrating how to properly administer their child’s EpiPen, inhaler, or other emergency medication.

4. Kitchen Staff Not Clear on Who Has Food Allergies

How To Avoid This Mistake:

• Train kitchen staff on safe food handling for allergy management
• Create a clear labeling system to identify children with allergies (e.g., RED placemats for children with food allergies)
• Maintain detailed records of each child’s food allergies in the kitchen area.

5. Expecting Teachers to Manage Timed Medication on Top of Everything Else

How To Avoid This Mistake: It's important to have a plan in place for handling scheduled medications. Consider these options:

• Suggest that parents ask their pediatrician whether the medication schedule can be adjusted so doses are given at home instead of at school.
• Encourage parents to visit during the day to administer scheduled medications.
• Consider having administrative staff — who may have fewer interruptions than teachers — manage the administration of timed medications.
• If you don’t feel comfortable administering medication beyond life-saving treatments like EpiPens or inhalers at your child care, it may be possible to create a policy around that. In this case, you would only be required to administer life-saving medication to remain in compliance with ADA regulations, but you should double-check with your licensor to ensure the policy is in compliance with local regulations.  

6. Not Bringing Emergency Medication When Leaving the Classroom

Protect Children and Stay Compliant with Proper Training

🌟 Unlimited Access to Illinois-Aligned Training 🌟

ProSolutions Training offers subscriptions with state-aligned courses tailored just for Illinois. These comprehensive training options make sure staff members are classroom-ready and compliant with state requirements.

Here are a few key courses included in our subscription:

✅ Classroom Management 101

✅ The Early Years: Infant and Toddler Mental Health

✅ And many more Illinois-approved courses!

Our subscription is designed to make staff training easier, help you meet compliance, and allow your team to manage their classrooms confidently.

For Child Care Center Directors:

Managing training for your entire staff? Our Group Subscription includes unlimited access to all required Illinois health and safety courses, including Medication Administration training. Track completion, manage assignments, and ensure compliance all in one place. Director features include staff tracking, assignment management, and comprehensive reporting—all designed to save you time and reduce your administrative burden. 📊

For Individual Teachers:

Want access to all Illinois-required courses at one affordable price? Our Individual Subscription gives you unlimited access to our complete Illinois course library, including all annual required training. Perfect for teachers looking to advance their careers and maintain their credentials with high-quality, state-approved training.

This blog post is for informational purposes and does not replace comprehensive Medication Administration training. For official Texas child care licensing requirements, please refer to the Illinois Department of Human Services’s website.