Cold Medicines and Children

Cold medicines and children; what is the relation and are the cold medicines necessary? Cold medicines are actually quite unnecessary as any Pediatrician will tell you, except to soothe the worries of parents, especially the first timers.

They say bringing up the first child is the toughest. It is the first child that parents tend to give the most too. The first child is the one parents cannot try the 'cry it out method' on. It is the first child parents hate to raise their voice at and it is the same first child that parents worry about the most. Not so much that they love this child more, just that the first child is one born in ignorance.

The mother does not know the pain she will be feeling during labor. The father does not know that his life as a man without worries is over. The parents do not know that this one small child will change their life forever. That is why if the child sniffle's the parents balk with fear and race to the emergency room. The diagnosis, the common cold cannot soothe the fears of these parents. They need some sort of proof that their child is being taken care of which is why doctors tend to prescribe cold medicines.

However, latest studies and reports all prove that cold medicines are ineffective.[1] Most children will recover from a cold with the help of lost of fluid, steam and saline drops. Most children will get 10-12 bouts of cold a year and some more. If parents start delving out cold medicines to combat these bouts of cold the pharmaceutical companies will be in the seventh heaven. Parents should understand that cold medicines have been proven ineffective. Acetaminophen or ibuprofen can be used to combat fever but other than that let the child's immune system help him.

A cold lasts 5-7 days with the worse days being the third to fifth day. A cough may linger for up to two weeks. Again no cough medicines are necessary. Just keep the child hydrated and he or she will get through it.

As parents it is hard to watch a child suffer and do nothing about it. Giving soup, water, juice and saline drops all seem useless remedies. Yet, these may be more effective that all the cough, cold and flu products available as over the counter medicines minus the side effects.

The FDA is thinking of banning cold and cough medicines for children under six years of age. The only thing stopping them is the doctors who claim that a ban may cause parents to start giving children adult cough and cold medicines. So are we as parents willing to risk our child's health for our peace of mind?

Cough and cold medicines are not harmful per se, but they do have risks associated with them, from overdose and/or from ingredients whose effects have not been studied. It may be hard but letting the body handle the illness naturally is in this case most effective-it's what the doctor would prescribe, if we as parents were better equipped to handle the stress.

Reference:

1. Cough Medicine, Harvard Health Letter, Harvard Health Publications available at http://www.health.harvard.edu/press_releases/cough-medicines.htm