First off, I don't want this to get into a debate about meds so please don't go there with this one.

I am wondering how many of you have cold medicines for children and infants and have been using them?

My son has a horrible, horrible head cold. He can't sleep more than an hour or two before waking up. He simply cannot breathe out of his nose. He also has a cough. He is miserable.

I have done everything - the vicks on feet, on chest, the vaporizer, saline drops, raised the bed, etc. The truth is, he isn't sleeping, neither are DH and me, and we are all so tired. DS looks like a zombie. Yesterday I put him down for 3 naps and none lasted over an hour. He wants to sleep more but he is uncomfortable.

Well, I have some infant pediacare from before it was recalled and I am so tempted to use it. I think I used it when my son was about 9 months and I found it did work, even though they are saying they are not sure if these meds work. For us, it did.

I am torn between helping my son feel better and the guilt of using something that could be harmful - although they say they are harmful if used improperly. If I do choose to use the pedicare, I only plan to use it overnight - so we can all get some rest. I won't give it to him during the day.

So, are any of you still using these meds?

Thanks!

ABSOLUTELY!!!!

the only way our children can get over being sick is if their little bodies can rest.... if they can't breathe and are coughing their lungs up all the time, they can't rest! i've always given nyquil or dimetapp (cold and cough or cold and allergy) or benadryl to both my girls starting from about 12 months old. i can't remember the dosing for that age, but if you call your doctor and explain that you want to give it to him at night so he can sleep, they can tell you the proper dose.

what makes the cold medicines "unsafe" is parents who overdose their kids because they can't figure out the proper dose, or give it too often. a good safety rule is to only give it once, and give it at bedtime. if you think they really need a second dose, look at the higher number of hours between doses and add two.... that probably made no sense.... like if it says every 4 hours, wait 6 hours to give a second dose, or if it says every 4-6 hours, wait 8 hours.... and then don't give anymore!

anyway, like you, i don't want to get into the whole debate.... just wanted to reassure you that it's not the medication itself that makes it unsafe for babies, it's when the kids are given too much!

i'm not sure exactly what they mean when they say the medicines "don't work." of course the medicines won't cure the cold, but i haven't met a child yet (of any age) whose cold SYMPTOMS aren't at least temporarily relieved with cold medicine!

point is, i absolutely use cold medicines on my kids (ages 2 and 4). in fact, they both currently have colds and i just went out and bought a whole new round of cold meds (the ones we had were expired) for them! :)

I've always used Children's Benderyl when my kids were really congested, per doc's advice. It helped dry them up enough to sleep. To be safe, I always used a bit less than the doc's recommended dose.

It was my understanding that it just wasn't an overdosing issue....I think the real reason they were pulled because they had the ingrediant that people use to make Meth. As long as the product hasn't expired and you follow the dosage schedule your babe should be fine. I hope he is better soon:angel:

Thanks everyone for your support. I gave my son some pediacare last night and he only woke once. We all look and feel a lot better. Like you said, MCR, the only way to feel better is to rest. How true! The directions say to give 2 droppers but I did 1.5 and it worked well.

Thanks again!