15 Month Old Has a Sore Throat, How to Soothe It?

As far as giving him cold medicine, I would check that out with your pediatrician. But in the meantime, a dose of Children's Tylenol will take some of the pain away and you could try making homemade apple juice "popcicles". I just poured it in a few sections of my ice tray and let my nephew lick and suck on them while I held it for him (for safety reasons). Between the cold and having something "new" to try, it really seemed to help. Hope this helps you some.

Tylenol and ibuprofen can be given safely and would help with the discomfort, not the stuffiness or runny nose part, but the sore throat.

One of the things you can do during the day to help is to give him a popsycle (sorry about spelling). The coolness of the popsycle will numb the pain a little. I am sorry I don't have anything for helping him at night.

If it were me I would give him teaspoon of honey. That will soothe a sore throat. And it has no side effects unlike cold medicine. It always works for me and my kids! (Because he is 15 m old this would be okay. It can be unsafe to give children under one year honey)

You can give him some infant tylenol to help with the pain.
A warm drink can be soothing, too. Maybe some lemon tea with some honey in it. Not hot, just warm.

You can give him tylenol or motrin, that will help with the pain. I have three chilren, ages 5, 3, and almost 1. I have given the 5 and 3 year old cold medication and they are just fine. The problem comes with giving them too much. If you give them the proper dosage, you don't have to worry. If it is just a sore throat, then they won't help though. If it is a sore throat caused from drainage from a stuffy/runny nose, a cold medicine might help. You can usually find a proper dosage based on weight online. askdrsears.com is a great resource for medicine dosages.

I wouldn't worry about the cold medicine stuff too much. I think that people were miss useing it and that became a problem. I recently took my 13 month old into the doctor and she had tonsilitis. The doctor said that I could give her 3/4 of a tsp of childrens tylenole or motrine every few hours until the antibiotics kicked in. I would think that if you talked to your pediatrician or doctor they should be able to give you some advice.

All advice is good, the problem isn't cold medicine, it has more to do with giving him the right dosage. Having said that one thing I have found to work on the little ones when they have a sore throat is Chamomile tea, let it get luke warm put a little sweetner in it, honey is best but he isn't old enough yet so go with a little sugar. And let him drink it from a bottle or cup which ever one he uses. I hate Chamomile tea but my kids love it, of course they like honey and I hate it and that is what the tea reminds me of. Good luck.

Popsicles, vicks vapor plug is awesome and soothes the room with that smell and lasts eight hours. I didn't give my kids cold meds until they were 2 1/2 or 3, and even then with Dr approval. You can give tylenol and even call and see if you can give benadryl if he has a runny nose that is causing sleep problems. Try vapor rub on his chest, prop up his crib slightly too. Lot's of hydration will help too. I would never give a 15 mos old anything without your Dr's approval, cold meds are fine I truly believe and do work for my kids but they are 3 1/2 and 6 1/2 and I called our Dr to find out correct dosage. You should always dose by weight not age and a 15 mos old is very young. Some of the cold meds can cause the heart to beat too fast and if you give the incorrect dose can be deadly. The main thing with the news calling on this is the number of kids in the ER that were overdosed by accident. I don't buy the are ineffective as I have seen them work with my kids but my son who is 3 1/2 is as tall and weighs as much as a 6 year old and my daughter is 6 and I got permission from their Pediatrician first.

Try using chamomille tea with lemon in it.
Stephanie

I would just stick to baby Tylenol and/or Children's Motrin (in his dose, of course).
At best, I know "they" are saying that cold medicine doesn't even work in kids under 2. At worst, I'm not sure, but I personally wouldn't take the risk with my baby.

Cold medicines are actually not all that good for a sore throat. What they do is dry secretions (snotty noses, for instance) which also makes your throat drier and that makes it hurt worse. Moist air does help, frequent sips of fluids help if he's awake. Also, if he is having pain from the sore throat, using either acetominophen (tylenol) or ibuprofen (advil/motrin) will help the pain and improve sleep.

There are infant remadies & doses, i would go with advil or motrin before tylenol, tylenol is really hard on the liver. Also Advil/motrin is an antiiflamatory which tylenol is not so it would reduce the inflamed tissue, it lasts longer for pain relieve & by decreasing inflamed tissue it will help the body heal.

My Acupunctuist would scrape/scratch or hold pressure on, the outside (away from the rest of the hand, side of the thumb nails)

Thats what they had me do when my 6 year old had his tonsils removed I would hold & massage & do that when I was trying to get him to swallow or eat & it totally worked.

frozen "go-gurts" work great! Also, I use vics on the neck and chest. And, try using some throat spray.

Have you tried homeopathics? Your local health food store should be able to recommend some for him--they work great and have no side effects. Which homeopathic you choose depends on his exact symptoms, but some to look into are: belladonna, ferrum phosphoricum, chamomillia.

Hope he gets well soon!
J.

I give this advice all the time to my moms with great success. A couple drops of pure lemon oil in a spoonful of honey. Make sure it is mixed up the lemon is bitter.

You might ask your pharmacist what he or she would reccommend.

I have always gave my kids cough medicine.They have pediatric formulas out there. Usually for a 2 year old it says a 1/2 tsp or something I always just halved that and gave it to them. If it is going to make him feel better than I don't see the problem. Best of luck.

I would give him infant Motrin. That should take the edge off the sore throat.

I want to emphasize the honey - it is one of those remedies from our grandmothers but the doctors are recommending it now. My family just went through the flu and my 16 month old ended up with a raw throat and ear infections. The MD said honey - but MAKE SURE IT IS PROCESSED until they are 2 years old. My mom always added Lemon to the honey because the lemon juice has properties that help with upper respiratory infections and the honey is soothing and helps with cough and rough throat.
I also use ice pops or juice pops throughout the day and motrin at night so they can sleep.