Ok, I know I am opening a can of worms here. Do not bother replying if you plan on telling me that I am horrible or am going to kill my kid. I have spoken to many who work in the medical field (ents/nurses/etc.). I am aware of the study that led to the recommendation that cold medicines should not be used for children under 6. I understand that these medicines do not treat the cold, but instead treat the cold symptoms. However, I know that as a kid who regularly visited the ent, I took these medications and I know kids that were born only 3-4 years ago that took these medications. We were all fine (as our parents paid attention and did not overdose us) Right now, my boy is following in my footsteps already and I foresee many sinus/allergy issues coming our way given his mom and dad’s sinus/allergy issues. So I am contemplating if I will administer these products to my son (I have dosage information based on weight). I personally think it is ridiculous that we have the ability to improve a child’s quality of life during a cold but we are unable to do so. Instead the child is left to be miserable. This may be faulty logic, but I equate it to telling someone who has had surgery that they can’t have pain medication because it won’t heal the incision.
Anyway…if you have used these products with your kiddos past or present, how did it go? Any issues not related to overdosing?
Be Honest… Have You Given Your Infant Or Toddler Dimetapp/otc Cold Medicine?
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We used cold medicine twice with our oldest. Once when we all caught the flu (know it doesn’t help for flu, but it at least gave her some relief overall with symptoms), and again when she cut 4 teeth at once while having a cold. (which was scary to say the least lol…we were up for days with her it seemed like)
It was the Tylenol cough and cold for infants. Back then (in 05) her pediatrician didn’t have any problem with it at all. That was before all the crap started with it being “bad” for them. I don’t remeber exactly what month it was with the flu, but she was right around 6 months, and they told us to use 1/2 of the small dose. She didn’t have any effect other that obviously less stuffy and fussy. The second time she was right around 13 months at Christmas time 05. No effect then either except for helping her with congestion and stuffiness.
After their big recall on the infant stuff we went out and stocked up on 4 bottles of the infant tylenol (regular kind, not cough and cold), just incase they recalled that too. Our second baby was around 4 months old then (early 08 is when they took it off the shelfs here).
We used the regular infant Tylenol for him when he was teething twice, and once after shots. Same thing, no effect other than obviously feeling better.
I personally think it’s ridiculous that they’d recall something because morons OD’d their kids!!!! I mean seriously, we made sure to listen word for word to the doctor, and only used it when we felt it was absolutely needed…..with no problems at all. So what the heck. I understand it might cause an allergic reaction, or something like that, but people OD’ing their kids is something totally different. I don’t think everyone should be punished for some jacka$$e$ ignorance…sorry.
i give them cold meds without thinking twice about it. thankfully they are rarely sick to require it, but when they do my kids are not going to suffer needlessly.
they are 4 and 2.
anytime i have given it to them, it has helped immensely, it’s totally obvious when it has worn off too.
I’m not embarrassed to say yes I have! My pediatrician gave me the go ahead. It worked great and guess what? They are still alive and healthy today!
I do, and as long as you give the right dosage based on weight your kids should be fine. Like you said our parents gave it to us and we are still here.
I gave my son some dimetapp cold medicine before when he had a really bad cold and was waking in the night alot. I thought it would help him sleep better by relieving some of the symptoms. I actually found it to make him hyper and he slept less, so I did not do it anymore. I react strangely to some medicines too. I’m not the sort of person who goes running to the medicine cabinet all the time, for myself or my children, but when their symptoms are bad you do think twice about it. Since these studies though, I am more reluctant to use them, perhaps other things can help? I have used saline nose drops to help clear a stuffy nose, I do use regular tylenol if needed. A humidifier can work well too.
When my older 2 children were little it was common to give a child Robitussin or Dimetapp for cold symptoms. Frankly our doctor recommended it many times. We never had any bad effects from it that I am aware of. However, just because we didn’t have any bad effects doesn’t make it safe. Medical knowledge is always changing. If it isn’t recommended I wouldn’t use it.
my mom started giving us cold meds at the age of 1 1/2 yrs. My daughter is almost 11 mos. The only thing I have gave her is perscription meds and baby motrin and tylenol.. If it is ok with the doctor then I dont see any harm in it. Cold meds are not going to kill your baby if they are given in the right doses. Now those mothers who overdose their baby with meds need to be shot. That is the reason why a lot of meds got put over the counter. Also with the thanks of people making crystal meth.. But I wouldnt see any harm in giving my child cold meds if it was ok with her doctor. I would probably only give a half of a dose and go from there.
My kids were young before that information about those OTC cold products was around, but even then my pediatrician recommended using only a humidifier and saline nose drops (and fever reducer if necessary). There was one time, however, when my son had a particularly croupy thing; and the doctor said to give him Novahistine. My son’s heart was pounding like crazy, and this otherwise very calm little guy was very agitated. I was holding him and could feel his heart pounding really dramatically. That was the one and only time he (or any of my kids) had an OTC cold medication.
I think your logic is a little “off”, because telling someone who had surgery not to take pain medication because it won’t heal the incision is a very different thing. The incision is a separate issue. The pain medication in question has probably not been associated with serious complications and would be aimed at relieving pain.
I’ve had allergies and sinus issues most of my adult life. I’ve found that the potentially dangerous medications are the ones that work, while the ones that are said to be a little safer just don’t do any good anyway. So, I’ve been living without allergy medication for about 20 years now. It’s fine. I don’t take cold medications either. The way I see it, I’m miserable with a cold anyway – with or without medication.
I’ve always been the person with sinus congestion, bronchitis, coughs, and asthma; when I was little about 15 years ago my mom gave me those medications and I was tiny for my size; at four I was probably only 35 pounds or so and I never overdosed on that stuff. I think it was a ridiculous move as well I mean when your son or daughter is completely miserable with a cold or a flu wouldn’t you want them comfortable? When I would get a full blown sinus infection the stupid sinus rinses and a humidifier would not cut it at all; sometimes that even made it worse. I’m not a doctor by any means but trust me from somebody who gets a sinus infections 4X a year sense I was two I know a lot about cold drugs.
nope – i never did believe in that stuff. it doesn’t actually alleviate the symptoms – babies’ systems don’t work the way adult systems do – it just dopes the kid into not complaining.
there’s another issue: the toxic load on the liver. kids’ livers are very delicate and damage done at this point is life long.
i’ve always found steam, hot baths, humidifiers, and vicks vapo-rub more than adequate to the need.
I haven’t used any of these products, but it makes me wonder. I recently bought some Tylenol Cold for my son, who is four because he was miserable and stuffed up and couldn’t sleep. I got home and read the label and it said “under 6 yrs – call doctor” and then gave dosing information for 48 lbs and up. I called the doctor because my son is under four, however, he is over 48 lbs. They still told me not to give it to him. It just makes me wonder, what is the difference between giving the medicine to a 48 lb 4 yr old vs. a 48 lb 6 yr old? Dumb. They should just go by weight, not age.