Infant cold medicines

Infant cold medicines

If you’ve ever had a sick baby, you know that you want to use any medications you can to soothe your child and get some rest. But have you ever noticed that directions on over-the-counter cold medicines say ‘consult a doctor’ for children under two? Cold medicines, such as cough suppressants and decongestants, affect children differently than adults. So what is safe and effective for you may not be for your child. This is especially true for children under two years of age. If you recently entered a drugstore you could find infant cold medicines. But these medicines do not have dosage instructions for the young ages they target. Without tested dosages, it is unsafe to use these products. A parent could easily overdose a child under two. Even the effects of a normal dosage on these children have not been satisfactorily studied and proven safe. CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta says that these over-the-counter cold medicines could cause side effects such as sedation, irritability, allergy and heart abnormalities in young children. The FDA reviewed reports from the last four decades. They found 54 child deaths from decongestants and 69 child deaths from antihistamines, which treat runny noses. Due to these risks, manufacturers have pulled their infant cold medicines from stores and the FDA will continue to investigate this problem. So if you have a young child with a cold, try remedies other than over-the-counter cold medicines. Give your baby plenty of rest, time, fluids, and love. You can also try humidifiers and nose bulbs.