Why isn't there cough medicine for kids under four?!


Question: Why isn't there cough medicine for kids under four?
When my kids were first born our pediatrician gave us a chart for how much Children's Tylenol products (acetaminophen) the kids could take for when the label said "consult your doctor".

I know there was a recall in 2010 of children's medications, but why can I not find ANY children's cough and cold products that do not say "not for use in children under 4 years"? My kids are three and they've both been sick twice this month. My daughter was coughing so hard yesterday she was gagging and aside from some homeopathic stuff that is really expensive, has to be given every two hours and doesn't really work, I don't have any options to alleviate their symptoms.

1. What happened that you can't give kids under four cough and cold medicine?
2. What CAN I give my kids that might actually work?

Answers:

I have five children and when the recall hit I was fearful that I shouldn't give my daughter cough medicine because she was only 3. I took her into our pediatrician and she told me to give her some robitussin for children and give her half of the lowest dose on the box. The FDA never stated that companies had to either pull the OTC medicines or mark on the label not recommended for children under four they chose to do so. It was a concern because when younger children get these types of medication they think it's candy or juice and when unsupervised they can get into it and overdose. I just read an article about it. If asked your Dr. what OTC cough/cold meds to give he would tell you and tell you how much. Just go to your search engine and type in about not giving kids under the age of four otc cough/cold medicine and you'll see the answer. I hope they get better? Good luck to you.



I remember when my 2 daughters were baby's, their pediatrician told us to use Pediamicin, it may be misspelled but it worked great

Father of 2 adult daughters and a paramedic



If its cold you ask theres no 'cure' for common cold




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