It’s officially cold and flu season. I know that my kids are currently sick with colds so I thought that it would be fitting to share these great tips from Dr. Zak Zarbock a trusted children’s pediatrician . And maker of the all natural child-safe cough syrup. He shared these helpful tips about using drug-free cough and cold remedies.
There are surprisingly few safe and effective drug-free cough and cold remedies like Zarbee’s on the market for children, so what can parents do to treat their young children safely? The most important thing is to read product labels and avoid any OTC product that contains Dextromethorphan or other drug.
Parents are also advised to follow the FDA’s recommendations (source: www.fda.gov):
§ Call a physician, pharmacist, or other healthcare professional if you have any questions about using cough or cold medicines in children 2 years of age and older.
§ Only use the measuring spoons or cups that come with the medicine or those made especially for measuring drugs. Do not use common household spoons to measure medicines for children since household spoons come in different sizes and are not meant for measuring medicines.
§ Carefully follow the directions on the label. These directions tell you how much medicine to give and how often you can give it.
§ Understand that using OTC cough and cold medicines are intended only to treat your child’s symptom(s). OTC cough and cold medicines do not treat the cause of the symptoms or shorten the length of time your child is sick. They only relieve symptoms and make your child feel more comfortable.
§ Check the “active ingredients†section of the label. This will help you understand what “active ingredients†are in the medicine and what symptoms each active ingredient is intended to treat. Cough and cold medicines often have more than one “active ingredient†(such as an antihistamine, a decongestant, a cough suppressant, an expectorant, or a pain reliever/fever reducer).
§ Be very careful if you are giving more than one OTC cough and cold medicine to a child. Many OTC cough and cold medicines have more than one “active ingredient.†If you use two medicines that have the same or similar “active ingredients†a child could get too much of an ingredient which may hurt your child. For example, do not give a child more than one medicine that has an antihistamine.
§ Do not use these products to sedate your child or make your children sleepy.
§ Choose OTC cough and cold medicines with childproof safety caps, when available, and store the medicines out of the reach of children.
Stay healthy!
