Do You Give Your School-Age Kid Cold Medicine?
In January of last year, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a new guideline recommending that children aged 2 and under no longer be given cold and cough medicines because they are not effective and could have dangerous side effects. Meanwhile, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) pushed for labeling on medicine bottles to inform parents that these medications don’t work and could also lead to harmful reactions in kids aged 6 and under. That hasn’t happened yet -- the FDA still hasn’t completed its review of these medicines for children 2 to 11. However, makers of cold and cough medicines have warned against use in kids under age 4 on their labels.
Now comes word from the United Kingdom that the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), which is the equivalent of the FDA, has issued an advisory announcing that cough and cold medicines do not work on children aged 6 to 12. Furthermore, the MHRA advisory notes, these medicines may cause harmful side effects such as trouble sleeping or even hallucinations.
I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty unhappy with the fact that there wasn’t any sort of guideline against using cough and cold medicines in children younger than 6 in all those years these products were on the market. Had I been warned, I certainly wouldn’t have given my son cough medicine when he was a preschooler. These days, when my now 7-year-old has a bad cough, I soothe him with some warm water and honey and a back rub.
I’m so glad my son never had an adverse reaction to cold and cough medicine, but it makes me wonder about other things he’s exposed to that might not be safe for him but are marketed to parents.
What are your thoughts? Did you give cough and cold medicine to your grade-schooler when he or she was younger, before the FDA announcement?
Related Articles:
Natural Ways to Treat Your Child’s Cough and Cold
Don’t Give Kids Younger Than 4 Cold Medicines
Before You Buy Children’s Cold Medicines
Comments
I just don’t believe them. Next they will be telling us again that infants and toddlers do not feel pain because their nervous systems are not fully developed. Baloney. Give us back the OTC cough and cold medicines for kids from 10 years ago. They worked for the children. I believe it is our litigation happy society that is making usefull medicines for children unavailable for toddlers and infants.
I totally agree. Kids suffer when they are sick just like adults do. OTC meds help relieve that suffering tremendously. I am a nurse and I know that these medications are safe in the correct doses. We still give them in hospitals. The reason they were “recalled”.
From the above listed web site: Keep in mind that according to the FDA, most problems with cold medicines occur when “more than the recommended amount is used, if it is given too often, or if more than one cough and cold medicine containing the same active ingredient are being used.”
If you read the ingredients of any and all medications and not just give them based on the symptoms listed, you can give medications safely. In fact, these same problems exist for adults who do not read the ingredients. I think instead of removing the childrens medications from the shelves, they should have required that the medications be listed in large type on the front of the box, not just symptoms. Currently they are in a tiny box on the back or side. Most people never read them or even know they are there.
I still give my kids OTC medications. I use my 10 year old Davis Drug Guide to dose them based on weight. My kids don’t suffer because of others who are not careful with what meds they give their kids.
That web site:
http://pediatrics.about.com/cs/pharmacology/a/byb_cold_meds.htm