Pediatric medication generally comes in a liquid form because it is easiest for children to swallow. Yet this formulation is also difficult for parents to measure, according to a study by Shonna Yin, MD, an associate professor in the departments of Pediatrics and Population Health at NYU Langone. For her research, Dr. Yin and colleagues surveyed pediatrics clinics across the country and found that 84 percent of parents made at least one dosing error when giving liquid medicine to their children. More than 68 percent of those were overdoses.

To minimize these errors, Dr. Yin and her colleagues recommend parents use an oral syringe—which significantly decreases mistakes compared to a measuring cup.

“If the parents don’t have an oral syringe, the provider should give one to the parents to take home,” Dr. Yin tells The New York Times. “Especially for smaller doses, using the syringe made a big difference in accuracy.”

Read more from The New York Times.