What OTC cold medicines do you give?

[Anonymous]

Sarah has the beginnings of a little cold…runny nose, congestion, etc…Are there any Children’s Cold Medicines that you have had great success with? What dosages are safe when it says “Children 2-6 yrs” or “Children 6-11 yrs”. I know all babies respond to medicines differently, I just wanted to be able to get something that will make her feel better! (and sleep better!)

My friend’s ped. suggested Dymatap or Tylenol Cold for her little 5.5 month old…any other good ones?

Amy

[Anonymous]

My children never responded well to any of the cold medicines and I actually read somewhere that cold medicinces generally don’t work well for most infants.

What I found that works the best when they have a cold is Tylenol for the fever and discomfort, and Children’s Benadryl for the stuffy and runny nose. There is dosing information for Benadryl at

http://www.askdrsears.com/html/8/T088800.asp

I only give Benadryl at bedtime or naptime because it does cause drowsiness which will only add to their misery if they are not going to bed.

I hope Sarah’s feeling better soon.

[Anonymous]

We just took Brianna to the Ped to find out what we could give her and he suggested Benedryl as well. 🙂 Good luck! I know we also saw that they make an infant tylonol cold now, so that might be worth a shot too.

[Anonymous]

My friend’s ped and told her to give Benadryl early on and now that she’s a little older, she said they could try dymatap. She said bedadryl only has the antihistamine but a cold medicine has antihistamine and a decongestant???

I just tried Tylenol Cold so I’ll let you know how that works out. We already had it at the house, otherwise I would have gone to the store to try something different.

Thanks ladies! We do have Benadryl here…so that will be option #2 if the tylenol doesn’t work out!
Amy

[Anonymous]

I like Tylenol cold if they have a fever, and Triaminic if they don’t. They both seem to work well for my kids & help them sleep better. I usually only give them if they’re having problems sleeping because of symptoms. I personally don’t like Benedryl. I remember taking it as a kid for allergies, and it always made me feel horrible – worse than the cold or allergy symptoms made me feel. That’s me though. So I haven’t tried that one with my kids.

Guess it’s just one more thing that depends on the child. Hope you find something that works & Sarah gets feeling better soon!

[Anonymous]

My doc likes to recommend Dimetap. I find it makes Hailey wired. Sometimes I use the one that’s dye free without the pain reliever, and then add on advil for the pain. That’s worked well for us. Sometimes I also give a combination of Benadryl (antihistamine), and this other stuff for coughs (the name just slipped my mind) that has decongestant and cough suppresant. I’ve played around to find what works best and it varies depending on what her primary symptoms are. Good luck. Hope she feels better soon.

Heather, I love your new pic.

[Anonymous]

I use that new tylenol cold plus. It works pretty well for him, as do the pedicare products. I use the 2 year old dose b/c Aidan is almost 24 lbs.

[Anonymous]

Tylenol cold and such are specifically for stuffy nose and a dry cough. DO NOT use it if your child has a runny nose. it has a decongestant in it.
Trace has had a cold-flu with a very runny nose and i used benadryl and its been great. i also stagger it with tylenol or motrin.

[Anonymous]

i use LITTLE COLDS.. no artificial stuff and so on. similar to tylenol cold i think. i picked that one up only because i couldnt find anything else @ the store. it seems to work fine and help him sleep. shanesmom2006-12-3 18:33:3

[Anonymous]

Well, we’ve resorted to the swing for sleep. She is so stuffed up she can’t suck her thumb…which is essential for her sleep. She was ready to crash for the night and after 15 minutes of tossing and crying in the crib…I just put her in the swing. Hope I’m not stirring up any bad habits again, but she’s miserable! Poor baby!

Amy

[Anonymous]

Poor baby.

Oh, how I hate these colds! It’s not so bad when they are older but I feel so bad when a baby is sick because they don’t understand.

Do you have a cool mist humidifier? That seems to help some when my kids are sick.

I hope she’s feeling better and back to sleeping in her bed like a little angel soon.

[Anonymous]

We have a warm mist humidifier. It usually seems to do the trick.

I just got done putting her back in her crib. She was trying to get out of the swing…so hopefully she’ll do OK in the crib. I’m sure I’ll be up several times with her through the night. Poor girl just can’t breathe!! Now that she’s a belly sleeper (and moves around EVERYWHERE) I guess I”m not surprised that the swing was a little too confining.

Yes, these colds are the worst! DH swears that she’s teething again. Maybe so…but my guess is it’s just a cold. At least I’m 100% sure this time it’s NOT reflux!

We just did a dose of dimetapp…we’ll see how that works. We’ve never given it to her before so I’m crossing my fingers it won’t make her hyper!

Amy

[Anonymous]

How’s she feeling today? I hope you all got some sleep last night.

[Anonymous]

Christine – Thanks for asking. She was in good spirits this morning but last night was a rough one. She was up on and off about a dozen times. We kept switching her back from the swing to the crib and she even spent a few hours sleeping on DH’s chest. Ho hum. Hopefully tonight will be better! She doesn’t have a fever…so at least she can go to daycare. I just hope she doesn’t get another ear infection…or already have one. I hope it just stays a runny nose/congestion. Wishful thinking probably.

Amy

[Anonymous]

Well, that’s good news that she was in good spirits. Hopefully that means it’s going to pass quickly.

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