Cough Medicine????? - Cape Coral,FL

Jamie, the American Pediatrics people have changed the age for all medications and I do not believe you will find any medications on the shelves for a child under 5, most especially cough medicine. My pediatrician will not prescribe cough medicine to my 3 year old. Frustrating as it is, the best I can offer, that I have found quite helpful is to use Baby Vicks on the chest and use a cool air humidifier. I would not use cough drops on a 4 year old because they can be a choking hazard. Coughs, in my opinion, should be evaluated by a pediatrician and not taken lightly. As long as the lungs are clear, even though the cough sounds terrible, stick with a humidifier until the cough is gone.

My pediatrician does not recommend over the counter cough medicine. I use a humidifier and a spoonful of honey. it helps coat her throat and helps with the cough.

good luck.

We just went thru this too. In addition to the Mucinex "mini-melts", Triaminic makes cough strips that dissolve on the tongue. There are different varieties, so check to see what you need. My doc said my son needed a decongestant and an expectorant. We ended up having to get a prescription liquid med as the cough was getting worse, had the pharmacy add strawberry flavoring and it worked like a charm. All the other suggestions hear are good too. Lots of fluids, popsicles, humidifier, steam up the bathroom and sit on the floor w/ him. Good Luck!

Hi J.,
This trick helped me when my daughters were 4. Mix a few drops of lime with honey. Fill up small plastic spoons with with it and put them in the frizzer. When frozen, have him lick one as much as he wants to. You can throw away the spoons with leftovers and he can have as many as he wants during the day.
I hope this works for you too.

Cheers,

Jessica

I have liquid vitamins that my daughter hates to take. She drinks alot of sippies, and she can taste it if I put the full dose in. I reduced the amount I put in her orange juice , but put a little in with every sippie I give her. She don't notice anymore. Also, I let her eat alot of chewable vitamin c during the winter.(even though I hear they are bad on her teeth) She don't get much candy, so she eats them up..

This question is probably best suited for your pediatrician/pharmacist. Last year, there was a big change in how the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended over the counter cough and cold medications for children under the age of 6.

I know when our 2 year old had a bad cough last year, our pediatrician recommended Delsym syrup, but that doesn't sound like an option.

You can do tea with honey to try to soothe the inflammation/cough. You may also need to try a humidifier as the lack of humidity may be a root cause.

But, I'd seek recommendations since this was such a sensitive issue in recent years.

I use vicks. I rub a little bit on their chest around the bronchial tubes and they works great.

Hi J.,
I think it may be better to try to get him so he's not sick all the time. What does he eat? Is he eating dairy and processed food? Sugar? These are all bad for him and lead to a weakened immune system, hence making him sick. Give him fresh whole grains, fresh veg, beans, fruits, things like that, things that don't overload one's system and take a breath, he will stop getting so sick

Mucinex makes some of those pebble things that just pour out onto their tongue and then they drink plain water after. Sort of like a pixie stick. Most of them are just guafinasen (sp?) which is an expectorant... but there is ONE of the formulations that has cough suppressant as well. So read the labels on the boxes carefully.
They are with all the other cough/cold remedies in the children's section. It's a smallish squat little box. My daughter LOVES these as opposed to liquids.

Also... as a "home remedy" I have put Vick's on the soles of my kids' feet and then put on socks... it seems to help at night. Don't know why.. but I read it somewhere, tried it and was pleasantly surprised.

p.s. Oh Cheryl! I completely forgot about the Triaminic strips... we use those too! They are great for after the kids are already in bed.. they don't have to get up for a drink of water to go with it.. Pop it in their mouth on their tongue and they go right back to sleep (for those 'in the middle of the night' coughing fits that wake US up but not THEM). Be careful with them though.. some of the dosages are different.. some require 1 strip, some require 2.. so read carefully. :)

slip it in the their juice! Its the only way i get my 4yr old to take cough medince and now her allergy meds. Just make sure they finsh the juice that has medicine in it before adding more juice to the cup

Triaminic has a super fast dissolving cough strip just for kids. Mine are the same way and this med sticks to their tongue immediately and then dissolves. I've tried it and it even tastes good (cherry i think??)

They make cough drops that are lollipops. CVS and Walgreens carries them.

Triaminic makes little "strips" that are like a little paper square you put on their tongue and it dissolves almost instantly. My son loves them. You don't have to use the whole strip, you can start with 1/2 for your son's age if he is average weight. It comes in daytime or night-time formula too.

Oh my gosh, Vicks on the feet with socks works wonders! My kids will be up all night coughing, I rub the Vicks on and put some socks over and they sleep soundly. I have also done it during the day too if it's a really bad cough. There was one night a little while ago where I was up coughing all night and decided to try it for the first time, and it worked for me too. Also, a cool mist humidifier seems to help as well.

My son has the same problem. We have tried hiding it in Juicy juice and now he can taste the difference. Telling him that it because he is sick the Juicy juice will taste different, doesn't work.

Do a search on natural cough remedies.
We like honey. That naturally coats the throat. You could see if he/she would take a sip on a spoon.

What we are doing now: If our son looks like he is a little under the weather, I make a "Sweet Echenacia(spelling?)" Tea. I use what is recommended on the bottle in some warm water (NOT HOT) and add some honey. If he is running a fever, I may simmer some sliced ginger root and Red raspberry Green leaves and peppermint or spearmint leaves in a pot. Once my tea has simmered I store the bulk of it in the Refrig. Then as I think he/myself needs a cup of tea I only put about a 1/4 a cup of my mixture in a coffee cup and I'll mix that with the recommended dosage on the "Sweet Echenacia" (For my self, I use "Golden Seal Echenacia")add warm water to fill up the cup and add honey if it is not sweet enough. For us, that seems to help ward off cold symptoms.
"Sweet Echenacia" comes in a little bottle with an eye dropper, follow the guide lines. YOu can buy this at most health food stores. I have never seen it in a standard grocery store.

Ginger is a natural fever reducer. Since I personally am so sensitive to over the counter meds I started researching natural remedies and the above is what I have discovered in the process. This has really helped my son and myself on many occasions. And my son WILL DRINK IT.

I usually say: "Oh you don't feel so good?" He'll reply "Yeah", I'll ask if he would try some of mommies tea and he usually agrees.

I have also used Vicks, but I have put it on him after he falls asleep. I also like Tiger Balm. Usually available in Health food stores. I think it smells better than vicks and you don't need to use a lot. A small dab goes a long way.

I hope this helps.
I recommend doing internet search on "Natural Cough Remedies", "Natural Fever Reducers", "Tiger Balm"
Even put questions in the search field: What is a Natural .... ?

Never let it get out of hand.
Be sure to talk to your Dr.
This is just what we do.

J. - sounds like you have a child like mine!!! He is 6 and we now get capsuls that we can open up and put in jelly or yogurt when he needs medicine. However, there is one thing he will take when it comes to caughing. Mucinex makes a powder that you poor in their mouth and they just swollow it (DO NOT CHEW IT or it will taste horrible). It is a caugh and nasal congestion supressent. If he wont take it by just swollowing it, mix it up in jelly or jogurt - he wont even taste it. I also keep a cup of juice next to us when I give it to him for DRAMA that comes afterwards :-) I have a drama king when it comes to this stuff!!!

Good luck!

A little bit of vicks on his or her chest and back.
You should get a cool mist humidifier. Those really help.

I wish you the best.

Hi J.,

Elderberry syrup is an immune booster so that whatever is causing the cough should go away. My kids loved it because it tastes so good. There are other immune boosters like echinacea but you have to remove all sugar from your child's diet for it to help. That would be hard with a 4 year old.

A good absorbable multivitamin would help as well. When nutrition is absorbed, the immune system functions much better. Flintstones, etc are useless and just add sugar, which will actually work to break down the immune system.
I'd be glad to recommend one if you like.

Chiropractic maintenance care is also a good way to keep the immune system working as well. Go to upspine.com if you don't already have a Chiropractor you trust. Mine actually stopped my first daughter's ear infections so we were able to dodge tubes altogether. My second daughter met her chiropractor before she even saw her new home.

Hope I helped!

M.