Cold Medicines Can Be Dangerous For Children Under Two
It seems toddlers are constantly sick with a cold. I know firsthand! My daughter Kymberly, who’s eight years old now, used to bring me home a present every month from daycare when she was a toddler. “Poor little Kymby-Wymby,” my wife and I would always say, as she lay sick while we would brush her gorgeous curls away from her forehead. Like clockwork, two days later, I would assume Kymberly’s role as the sick one while Kymberly sprinted around the house and I would curse my wife (under my breath of course) as she playfully teased me by reminding me she had the most powerful immune system on the planet!
Before giving your child cough or childrens cold medicine, you should know that the Food and Drug Administration has recommended you should never give cough and cold medicine to a child under the age of 2, and here are some facts;
1. Universally, most doctors are unsure about what dosage is safe for children under 2.
2. Universally, many doctors are unsure if childrens cold medicine, cough medicines, and antihistamines are even safe for kids under 6!
3. In the US, approximately 1,500 children under 2 visit the emergency room after taking cold medicines.
4. Children cold medicines can actually throw the heart’s electrical system into arrhythmia or it can constrict the blood vessels in children, but most often this is due to overdoses or mixing medications.
5. Cold and cough medicines only treat the symptoms and not the underlying problem.
Now, I don’t mean to frighten you; I just want to keep you informed. Independent studies on this subject are released a handful times a year and their conclusions are generally the same; it is unwise to give kids under 2 cough and cold medicines.
So what are our alternatives when our little ones are even struggling to breathe? Many pediatricians recommend using saline nose drops to soften mucus and soft bulb syringes to suck out the matter. Humidifiers are also a good choice under dry conditions but beware; many doctors don’t recommend humidifiers for kids with respiratory conditions such as asthma because excess humidity can irritate breathing passages and it can cause mold and dust mites.
If you do choose to give your child childrens cold medicine under a physician’s care, make absolutely certain you give the right dosage at appropriate times, and make sure you review with your pediatrician other medications your child is taking and the risks, if any, associated with them.
If you have a home or natural remedy for colds in children, please leave a comment. This would definitely be information we could all use!