Coping with Your Child’s Cough and Cold Symptoms

Cough and cold medicines for young children were taken off pharmacy shelves because they were potentially dangerous, especially for babies and infants. No problem. You can treat your children safely and effectively from home.

Because of deaths — and other troubling side effects — on January 17, 2008, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released a Public Health Advisory suggesting over-the-counter cough and cold medications should not be used in children younger than age two. The panel is still evaluating the safety and effectiveness of these medications for children from two to 11 years old and will make an official announcement as soon as the investigation is complete.

So what should parents do when their children are sick and need relief? Manage their symptoms with home remedies. Here are some of the most common symptoms and what you can do.

• Runny nose: Suction your child’s nose or have her blow it.
• Blocked nose: Place two to three saline nose drops or spray (available over-the-counter at drugstores) in each of your child’s nostrils, one side at a time. Wait a few minutes and then blow or suction her nose. Repeat until her nose is clear.
  Perform nasal washes at least four times per day or whenever your child can’t breathe through his nose. For infants, use nose drops before feedings. If you don’t want to buy drops, make your own saline with ½ teaspoon table salt and 1 cup warm tap water. Warm tap water without any salt works better for some kids. You can also remove mucus with a wet cotton swab.
• Coughing: Use homemade medicines. If your child is younger than one, use only warm, clear fluids, such as water or apple juice. Give her one to three teaspoons (5 – 15 ml) four times per day. Avoid honey, as it can cause infantile botulism — a rare but serious form of food poisoning.
  If your child is older than one, use ½ to 1 teaspoon (2 – 5 ml) of honey as needed. This thins secretions and loosens the cough. If you don’t have honey, you can use corn syrup. Recent research has shown that honey is better than store-bought cough medicines at reducing the frequency and severity of nighttime coughing.
  For children over six years old, use cough drops or hard candy to soothe an irritated throat.
• Coughing spasms: Expose your child to warm mist, including foggy bathrooms and humidifiers, to both relax the airway and loosen any phlegm (thick mucus). Moist air keeps the nasal mucus from drying up and lubricates the airway.
  Be sure your child drinks plenty of fluids. Staying well hydrated thins the body’s secretions, making it easier for children to cough and blow their noses.
  And, as always, protect your child from tobacco smoke. Exposure to smoke only makes coughing and nasal congestion worse.

Written by Barton D. Schmitt, MD, author of Your Child’s Health, Bantam Books, revised February 2008.