Cold Medicine That Dissolves in Mouth for a 2Yr Old????

Updated on March 26, 2009
C.Z. asks from San Francisco, CA
14 answers

Hi Mama's,

I need some help for my neighbor. His 2 year old has a cold and is refusing and is doing anything to NOT take any sort of liquid or any medication. I remember 3 years ago when my son was that age and had a bad cold and I gave him some medicine ( a pill) that dissolved in his mouth..I can't remember what the name of it was..i know i baught it in the store..I looked for it on line at Safeway but couldn't find anything for little kids younger than 6. Does anyone know any kind of cold medicine..over the counter would be better that i can pass on to my neighbors for their young one?? I prefer something that can melt in mouth..dissolve kind of pill..Or if not that..anything else that they can do for a toddler who will make herself throw up the meds to not take it..??? They tried putting the one liquid drop in juice, bottle ect, but she can sense it right away and smell it i guess and won't drink it..

Any advice or recommendations would be great!

Thank you,
C. Z

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So What Happened?

Wow! Alot of great advice. Thank you all for your wonderful advice. I informed my neighbor of all suggestions. Thanks again. God Bless

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C.P.

answers from San Francisco on

Cold medicines are not approved for kids under 5. Humidifier, saline drops and steam treatments are where it's at. There is something called sinupret. You can look into that. Chamomile tea with honey and lemon is good too.

-C.

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L.S.

answers from San Francisco on

what about children's Tylenol melt-a-ways? they are for age 2 and up.

1 mom found this helpful
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C.M.

answers from Stockton on

My 2 year old just got over her cold and i used Vicks vaporub. I put some on her chest, neck, back and the bottom of her feet and covered them with socks, and a teeny bit in her nostrils. She loved it and immediately would breath this big sigh of relief. I also had a humidifier running in her room. I would tell your neighbors to try just a little bit on her chest first, because some kids don't like the feeling. The humidifier is a good thing to get too...good luck!

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M.M.

answers from Modesto on

Please encourage your friend NOT to give cold medicine to her 2 year old. The medical community strongly advises AGAINST using over the counter cold medicine in children at this time. There are two reasons. One is that when they were actually studied, they showed no benefit in kids. The second is that adverse reactions are common and dangerous. Every year in this country over 7,000 kids have to receive emergency medical attention due to adverse drug reactions to cold medications.

http://common-patient-ailments.suite101.com/article.cfm/f...

February 2008 FDA Recommendations for Children’s Cold Medication
The questions raised by the panel’s recommendations in 2007 came after a three month investigation and were based on research that found that the cold medications likely have no effect in children. They recommended no medication for children under the age of 2. They also questioned the use of the medications in children under the age of 11, but were not ready to issue guidelines at that time.

October 2008 Doctor Recommendations for Children’s Cold Medicine
This month, the American Academy of Pediatrics asked the FDA to ban children’s over-the-counter cough and cold medication because of insufficient evidence of its benefits, particularly for children 2-6 years of age. The FDA refused due to fears that parents will just give their kids adult medication instead, according to Dr. John Jenkins. The use of adult medication in children has been deadly in the past. Accidental overdoses of acetaminophen and histamine-containing medications have increased in recent years, sending approximately 7000 children in the United States to the emergency room each year.

Read more: "Fall 2008 Cold Medicine Update: Children Should Not Be Given OTC Medications" - http://common-patient-ailments.suite101.com/article.cfm/f...

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K.B.

answers from San Francisco on

Follow the advice of Mary Poppins. Just a spoon full of sugar really does help the medicine go down. I still have to bribe my 5 year old with a few jelly beans or a spoon full of Hershey's chocolate syrup to take any kind of medication - even if she's feverish and feeling really miserable.

I give her a little taste of a junk-type food she really likes, then tell her she can have the rest AFTER she drinks down the cough syrup. If she won't do it, then I tell her "OK, then I'll just eat the rest of the treat." That usually works if nothing else will.

Saying that cold/cough syrups don't work for kids under 5 is a load of BS.

They work, the problem is that a bunch of idiots out there didn't read the dosing directions and overdosed/poisoned their kids. Of course they blamed the medication manufacturer instead of themselves. Rather than having to field an ever-growing number of lawsuits, the manufacturers decided to remove the infant cold drops from the market. This was around September, 2008. Talk about a few ruining it for the rest of us!

The goal of a cold "medication" is not to cure. There is NO cure for the common cold. The goal is to make the child not have a miserable cough and have boogers running down their chin so that they can breathe and sleep better in order to get well.

If you have a good relationship with your child's doctor, and the doctor trusts you not to be overzealous in over-medicating, you can ask the following: What is the ratio of Children's Tylenol/Cold/Cough (etc...) to pounds of child? (The infant drops were highly concentrated, so you'll have to give more of the Children's cold "medicine".)

You will probably have to make an appointment and ask this in person, though, as it is unlikely to be answered over the phone.

Good Luck,
K.

P.S. If humidifiers and saline drops and tea with honey were all that effective, there wouldn't be such a huge adult cold remedy selection. Ask yourself this: If you're really miserable with a cold is that all you do? Or do you take something to make you feel not so miserable? Relief from a cold = A better night sleep = recovering from illness faster. This equation works for adults and kids.

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M.L.

answers from Redding on

Vicks Vapo Rub on the chest and feet at night help my 3 year old.

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J.L.

answers from San Francisco on

Plain old saline solution to help clear out nasal passages would be fine. A teaspoon of honey to help soothe a sore throat. 2-yrs-old is too young for OTC cold medicines.

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B.S.

answers from Sacramento on

My understanding is that the current school of thought is that cold medicines don't actually work for children under 6 and that you shouldn't give kids that age cold medicine at all. Try using a humidifier at night or having the child in the bathroom with the steam from a hot shower (don't put the child in the shower).

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J.K.

answers from Fresno on

They have the dissolvable strips that he can try.

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E.C.

answers from San Francisco on

There's also the Triaminic "thin strips" which look like little papers that dissolve quickly on the tongue (there's a few different types - antihistamine, decongestant, etc.), not sure if they're appropriate for a 2YO though. http://www.triaminic.com/products/index.shtml . I vaguely recall, though, hearing that cold medicines are generally not recommended for children under about 4 years of age so she might want to check with the pediatrician's office for rec's on what would be appropriate for her LO.

A couple non-medicated things that helped our kids when they were congested as toddlers were bathing them in the Johnson & Johnson's soothing vapor baby bath (in a sort of blue-greenish bottle http://www.johnsonsbaby.com/product.do?id=7) and what we called "baby sauna" - having them sit with us in the bathroom after we got it nice and steamed up from the shower - when they were really little we would have them in bouncy seats, when they got too big for that we'd just have them sit in there with us and read a story or something like that.

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D.J.

answers from San Francisco on

Hi My 7 month old boy is sick now and My Ped said to give him 1/2 a packet of Mucinex Mini-melts. But you should ask your MD first.

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J.C.

answers from San Francisco on

I believe that pediatricians do not recommend any type of cold or cough medicines...only Tylenol, Motrin drops for pain or fever reduction. Saline drops and sitting in a steamy bathroom for congestion.

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L.V.

answers from Sacramento on

I don't know about the one you are speaking of but there are some chewable vitamins out there for children. All my suggestions are vitamins or supplements ... NOT cold meds per our doctor's advice.

One I just got (recommended from her doctor) is an Immune Sytem Booster for children. It's pretty large chewable tablet ... my 2-yr-old loves it but then she loves vitamins too... anything that resembles candy. You could always crush it between two spoons facing the same way and pour it into yogurt or a dissolve it in a drink. It's called "Children's Immune Chewable" from a company called Source Naturals out of Santa Cruz. It says 'ages 4 and up and consult doctor if under 3.' Our doctor recommented it for our 2 year old so I give her half a tablet, twice a day.

They also have Airborne for children which dissolves in water and they drink it like cool-aid or juice (you could even dissolve it in juice) ... again, I'd cut it in half for the younger children.

There's also probiotics, omega 3s, vit. c for children ... etc. Lots out there. Hope this helps. I would recommend finding a good holistic doctor to take her to so you have an educated, trustworthy advocate.

Oh, and one thing I do is take my vitamins at the same time I give her hers. She usually wants the older sibling and her dad to take theirs at the same time too. So you might suggest making it an event ... time to take vitamins! Yippee! or the opposite, downplay it depending on the child. Sometimes we do the reverse psychology thing if she's in that mood ... "Whatever you do, don't eat this yummy vitamin ... no, don't do it, don't do it! Oh, you DID it!!!" with lots of smiles and exageration of course. Sometimes that works like a charm. AND if I eat one of hers, she's more likely to try it the first time. Of course I always say, "oooh, this is yummy." If she tries it and crinkles her nose I'll add, "but a bit sour isn't it?" or "but a bit of an aftertaste, don't you think?" This honesty helps her trust my pallate in the future. I just leave that part off if she seems to like it ... no need to introduce a contrary opinion. I also explain how it'll help her feel better sometimes...although that can backfire.

R.M.

answers from Sacramento on

the reason that you can't find cold meds for kids under 6 is that recently, they were taken off the shelf. I remember about 6 months ago, the FDA found that cold/ cough meds are more harmful than helpful in kids under 6. So, you might have to try to get him to sit in a steamy bathroom or try some other old school remedies.

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