If you watch the news at all, I am sure you have heard about the potential serious and fatal dangers of giving infants and toddlers cold medicines. This made me very nervous.
The government issued its strongest warning Thursday about the dangers of giving cough and cold medicines to infants, urging parents to stop giving the over-the-counter remedies to children two and younger.The syrups and drops — from respected brands like Dimetapp, Triaminic and Robitussin — have been staples of child medicine cabinets since the early 1970s…Pharmaceutical companies aimed many of the products directly at use in kids, putting “Infant” in the names or images of young children on boxes…As it turned out, children don’t necessarily react the same as adults to medicines. Last year, Dr. Joshua M. Sharfstein, Baltimore’s health commissioner, and other pediatricians found the products led to some deaths.
~The Daily Herald
So what is a mom to do when her children are stuffed up, not resting well because they can barely breathe and coughing their head off? This is the dilemma I faced over the holidays.
My mom was a nurse, and we seemed to take medicine like it was candy when we were growing up, and I followed in the tradition when I first became a mom. I learned very early to ignore the “under 2 consult Your Physician”, that it really meant divide the dosage by the number of years. (i.e. if a 6 year old can have 1 tsp. then a 3 year old can have 1/2 a tsp.)
Over the years, in learning about organics and not putting too many medications into your body, I have become more and more conservative. (One doctor once pointed out, we do not have headaches because of lack of acetaminophen in our body. 😉 ) This does not mean I do not still take medications, but just more conservatively.
When I began hearing the reports about cold medicines, I had already begun to not use them near as often, but over the holidays Anna got really sick and I needed to give her more. The runny nose I can handle, but the coughing was really hurting her and not allowing her to rest. A friend gave me a fantastic remedy, that I tried over the holidays and last night. It works great!
One teaspoon Apple Cider Vinegar and One teaspoon Honey. You can mix it or give each individually. The Vinegar helps break up the mucus and congestion, and the honey soothes the throat, helping the cough. This really works, and there is no limit as to how much they can have. I give Anna a dose, and then in about 10 or 15 minutes her cough is cleared. If not I give her another round and wait 10 or 15 minutes. Even with the worst cough she has ever had (She ended up needing an antibiotic ) it still soothed her and allowed her to really rest.
Combine this with Humidifier, chest rub, and any other natural remedies, and you may just get through this cold season!
Any other moms out there have natural remedies that you have tried, and found works, let me know!
ok….i know this sounds crazy, but i’ve had about a half dozen people tell me that they’ve used vicks vapo-rub on their feet at night to keep them from coughing!
I tried this on Jay a couple of nights ago(he’s been coughing his head off for about a month now). They say that you just have to generously lather the bottom of your feet with vicks and put socks on before you go to bed. well….IT WORKED! jay didn’t cough even once during the night!>>>>>> it’s worth a try!