Coughs, Colds and Kids

In a 3 On Your Side health alert:  If you have children under the age of two, the Food and Drug Administration warned today, you should not give them over the counter cough and cold medications.  That's because young children may suffer life-threatening side effects.

The FDA says there's no evidence the medications will even work in kids under two.  While cough and cold medicines for babies and toddlers are no longer being sold, experts advise parents to throw out whatever you may have in your medicine cabinets.

We wanted to know what can parents with sick kids do to help their ailing little ones, and, should parents be worried if they have been giving their tots cold and flu medicines?  NEWS 3’S Tristan Tully went out to Memorial Health today to get some answers.

Tis' the season, the cold and flu season that is.  No parent ever likes to hear their child coughing and sneezing.  But now with the FDA pulling the children's meds off the counters, it's even more difficult to treat your little one's sniffles and sore throats. 

    

Doctor Chris Bowers, a pediatrician with Memorial Health knows what it's like, "We feel their pain, we understand how frustrating it can be, especially on our side because you come to us for help.  We're looking, trying to find the best thing for them but we also want to be safe and not give out medicines they don't need."

The problem with the children's medicines is that they were deemed ineffective and because parents want their kids to feel better, they are quick to give them medicines.  However, both the FDA and doctors alike worry that parents may accidentally give too much to their youngsters, "It turns out they are actually more likely to over dose a child cause so many products have so many medicines in they you can get double doses very easily."

But if you've given your little one children's medicines in the past, don't worry, you should be in the clear, "If they didn't have a problem when they used it, there's no long term damage, there's nothing to worry about."

And if you still have old bottles in your cabinets, "We recommend either not using them or reading the labels very carefully.  Only use one product on a child.  Don't use multiple products for multiple problems.

Here's what you can do for your toddlers or infants who may have colds and coughs:

- You can run a humidifier beside their bed.

-  Make sure they get plenty of fluids, such as Pedia-light for the very young and even something like Gatorade for children a little older.

-  If they have a fever, you can still use infant Tylenol or Motrin.

- For the older children, you can give them a spoon of Karo Syrup or honey before bed to help with the night-time coughs.