New Medicine Labels for Children’s OTC Cough and Cold Medicines. What Does It All Mean?

Posted by Christie in Health & Care

You will soon begin to notice a change in the medicine aisles of pharmacies and discount stores, a new label appearing on all over the counter children’s cough and cold medicines. The label will warn all parents to not use the product in children under age four. 

Many parents are asking why the change in the labeling and the recommendations from the FDA and the American Academy of Pediatrics is necessary. Research has shown that each year thousands of children ages 2-3 are admitted to emergency rooms nationwide with symptoms of breathing difficulties, high blood pressure, and dizziness. 

These groups are concerned that the medicines involved have never been properly tested in children under the age of four, therefore making it unsafe to recommend that they be given frequently to treat symptoms of the common cold. 

Other concerns associated with the medications involve the high frequency of accidental overdose in children, either by parents accidentally giving a double dose of an active ingredient or the medication being improperly stored in a place where children are able to get into it. 

As you all know I shared with you that two weeks ago this scenario played out in my own home when my daughter got into a bottle of cough and cold medication and overdosed on it. She was in the emergency room for five hours and treated with liquid charcoal to absorb the chemicals in her body. Learn from my mistake here.

I can tell you that based upon that personally scary experience and the new information from the FDA I am going to take their recommendations seriously and treat my children’s coughs and colds with natural home remedies this year. 

I have researched numerous home remedies and spoken to our local pediatrician and have compiled a list of some ideas for all of us to use this upcoming cold and flu season to move away from the over the counter medications and back to a natural remedy approach.

♦ Humidity and fluids will help with runny noses. Keep a humidifier running in your child’s room, especially at night and make sure that you are giving your sick child LOTS of clear fluids during the day.

♦ Serve lots of Chicken soup. Turns out our grandmothers really did know best… science has now shown that the combination of salts, protein, and fluid can help power the body to heal when children are sick and don’t have a large appetite. Try an easy homemade recipe versus a canned soup because you will reduce the amount of sodium in it.

♦ Saline nose drops can help clear the nose which is important to keep a stuffy nose from developing bacteria and leading to an infection.

♦ Take warm baths or stand in a warm shower to help clear up stuffy nasal passages. With young children, try just sitting in a steam filled room with the shower running. The steam will help loosen their congestion.

♦ Honey is a proven cough suppressant… BUT SHOULD NEVER BE GIVEN TO CHILDREN UNDER THE AGE OF ONE. This is because it contains botulism spores which can be very harmful to a young infant. Check with your doctor first, but a spoonful of honey can help soothe coughing in older children.

♦ Apply warm compresses to the face around the nasal are to help temporarily relieve congestion in children. The relief from this will only be short, normally as long as the warm compress is on.

As a good rule of thumb, be cautious of all remedies, and check with your doctor before trying something new to treat your child’s symptoms. 

I hope that many of you will join me this cold and flu season in helping to make our children safer. If you have any other proven home remedy ideas for your children’s cough or cold, please feel free to post a comment… I know with these new warnings, all parents are going to be searching for new ways to relieve our children’s symptoms.



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