Why did the FDA make that new warning about only kids 2 and over can have over the counter meds like triaminic? I ask the DR when I was there last week and he just said it was what they now recomend it that way. I never really got the answer. So I get home and my husband asks and I'm like "I don't know". Does anyone know the reason?
Elizabeth is a discussion leader for arizonamoms she writes about everything from her needing mommy advice to crazy and silly stuff that happens. She lives in the West Valley with her husband and 3 children.
The reason they made that
The reason they made that recommendation is two-fold. 1) The effectiveness in children under two has never been proven. (And even in adults, it doesn't cure your cold or make it go away faster, it just makes the symptoms easier to deal with.) And 2), most importantly, parents were overdosing their children. A silverware "teaspoon" is not the same as a measured teaspoon. And sometimes parents would give their children more than one type of medicine without realizing that they contained the same active ingredients. This would result in an inadvertent overdosing.
Yeah, that's right, not to
Yeah, that's right, not to mention that the dosing recommendations were based on a huge weight range (24-35 lbs in many cases) so that kids in the upper limits were actually not getting enough medication for their size.
I've started doing other things to help my kids with colds: steamy showers, vaporizer, vapor rub on chest, sleeping upright, nasal saline, and massage. My kids both just got over mild colds and all this stuff did help, more than the medication ever has.
Allison
Mom to Talia (10/03) and Trip (3/07)
I had also heard (don't know
I had also heard (don't know if it's true) that there were concerns that parents were using the medicine for the wrong reasons - for instance, to get a child to sleep, even if they didn't have a cold. I have personally heard parents say they were going to give their healthy kids some medicine before flying in a plane so the kids would sleep. Pretty scary if you ask me.
Hobbymommy, 38, is a discussion leader from Mesa. She is a happy stay-at-home mommy to a 3-year-old daughter and a 2-year-old son.
Much of the responsibility
Much of the responsibility lies in the parents. Those who were overdosing their children by not measuring with the proper spoons and double dosing by giving children multiple medications with the same ingredients need to educate themselves about administering meds. Those are user errors that should not occur with a diligent parent. Same thing goes for parents who use meds for purposes other than cold symptom relief (getting children to sleep).
I also agree! However, the
I also agree! However, the more research I've done regarding alternate therapies the less I'm using typical cold medicine, even for my preschooler and myself (can't convince my husband to not use meds for himself, though). Homeopathy and things I can do at home, like showers and massage, have really been just as effective, with no drowsy side effects.
Allison
Mom to Talia (10/03) and Trip (3/07)
The massage is a idea I have
The massage is a idea I have not tried. I will try that one. Both my kiddos are sick. My 6 son with rsv and my daughter Croup. I did the steam shower for her and it helped her all night. The weird thing my DR said was that the night air would be the best thing for her? I remember when I was little and my Mom would say things like "get out of that night air it's horrible your sick" I was confused as to why he would say that. If the shower helps and a vaporizor helps those are humid things and then the air outside is cold and dry. anybody know if my DR has lost his mind?
I knew someone close to us that would give her children sleepy meds in the bottle no less to go to sleep. It was crazy. Maybe they were sick but it was a lot. My mom and I still talk about that.
Elizabeth is a discussion leader for arizonamoms she writes about everything from her needing mommy advice to crazy and silly stuff that happens. She lives in the West Valley with her husband and 3 children.
My son is 2 years old and
My son is 2 years old and has croup 3 times. 2 times in the winter and one time in the summer. I also tend to try natural remidies over drugs. One of the best ways to get my son to stop coughing was to take him outside or to even drive him around in the car with the windows down.Crazy I know. However, what the cold air does for croup is it helps to take down the swelling in the airways and it opens up their breathing and calming down the cough. Another thing you can try is she is having a coughing or wheezing attach is give her a popsicle. This too has that same cooling effect and reduces the swelling.
Hope this helps and reassures you.