Testing Tips for Parents

It’s natural to want to trust your child. But you know the facts—even good kids can sometimes make poor choices when it comes to experimenting with drugs and alcohol. Peer pressure is intense and temptation is a reality. Using a First Check® Home Drug Test to test your child’s urine for drugs is the best and easiest way to get an honest answer to one of the most difficult questions facing you today—“Is my child using drugs?”

Here are some testing tips to help ensure an accurate test result:
  • Without notice or warning, wake your child up in the morning and escort him/her directly into the bathroom while letting them know you will be testing them for drugs.
  • Use first morning urine since it’s typically the most concentrated urine of the day, which makes it best for detecting any drugs your child may have taken.
  • First Check makes two different kinds of drug tests—cups and panels. If you’ve purchased a cup test, hand your child the cup portion of the test only. If using a panel test, hand your child a clean cup for urine collection. Keep the test cap or panel test within your control throughout the testing process.
  • Stay in the bathroom with your child and supervise the collection of urine from start to finish. Your child may be more comfortable if the parent of the same sex does the supervising.
  • Have your child hand you the urine-filled cup immediately after collection. The exterior of the container should feel warm to the touch, as fresh urine is body temperature.
  • Once you have obtained the urine sample, you are now ready to perform the test. Do not leave the sample unattended until you have received the result and you are certain you do not want to send it to the First Check Lab for confirmatory testing.
  • If the test result is a Preliminary Positive Result and you are still unsure if your child took drugs (or if your child disputes the result), you have the option of sending it into our lab for confirmatory testing. If this is the case, do not leave the sample unattended at any time, as positive urine can easily be tampered with.
  • For further information on how to send a Preliminary Positive Result sample into our lab for confirmatory testing, click here. (Information can be found at the bottom of the page)
  • A negative sample does not need to be sent into the First Check Lab for further testing.

First Check® Home Drug Tests are only as accurate as the urine sample being tested. Keep in mind that urine samples can easily be adulterated (i.e., contaminated or tampered with) if you do not closely supervise the entire testing process.

Urine samples can be tampered with in the following ways:
  • Cleaning products and common household liquids (e.g., toilet-bowl cleaner, bleach, floor or tile cleaner, glue, and soaps) can be used as adulterants. Adulterants can also be placed on fingertips and hands and rubbed inside the test cup prior to sample collection, so encouraging hand-washing prior to urine collection is recommended.
  • Be particularly aware of whether your child is concealing small containers such as eye-drop or ear-drop bottles. They’re easy to hide in pockets and can be used to hold enough bleach (or other adulterants) to cause a false test result.
  • If you’re worried about your child diluting his or her urine sample with water from the toilet bowl, you may want to add several drops of blue food coloring to the bowl. If necessary, you may want to shut off the water to bathroom sinks, tubs, toilets and remove excess water from the toilet bowl.