hello mommies. i have a question about sinuses and medicine pertaining to my 26 month old son.
let me begin by politely asking moms who are VERY opposed to using OTC meds to please, please not judge or criticize me. i fully appreciate & respect parents who choose not to use such meds & i feel that school of thought is very legit.
i should also add that last year after all of the hoopla on CNN, etc about the dangers of using otc meds, we stopped immediately. of course, upon doing so our son suffered with miserable mucus for 4 months straight, but anyway. i consulted one dr and three pharmacists about going back to triaminic. our ped dr is very against them & although i respect her as a dr., i don't agree about this issue.
well, we now use triaminic day time cold & cough when our son is sick. he is also asthmatic & is on daily breathing treatments. we only use the triaminic when the mucus keeps him from being able to eat, sleep & breathe. i am VERY carefull about dosage amounts & times. our problem is i think he has built up an immunity to the stuff. it just doesn't work as well any more. all i want is for him to be able to function happily. i also look at it this way.... if we let the mucus go, it builds up & turns into an ear infection, which then requries antibiotics. i feel he's better off on otc meds than prescribed ones.
so my question is to those of you who use OTC meds for a toddler. which brands/types do you use? i chose the triaminic because it was the only one with a dosage chart for a 2 year old. i asked a pharmacist & he said it went by weight, so if there was no chart for a 2 year old, look at the next age up & half the dose. basically i need something to help with mucus. his nose gets it & then when he tries to sleep in creeps down his throat & makes him cough.
also, i have heard pure honey is an awesome immune booster & illness helper. is it safe for a 2 year old? how much do i give? it has to be pure, right? we're in the dayton area, anyone know where i can get some? 2nd street market??
thanks in advance for any input!!
I use Dimatapp with my boys. I don't use it right away but only after a few days and I notice it is getting hard to breath or sleep. Sometimes what I think is a cold passes in a day without medicine. We don't take lots of medicine, but I do think this helps!
About the honey...it has to be LOCAL honey to help and it's safe for children over 1 year. I've tried it with my boys and it does work great as a cough suppressant!
I have been pretty fortuante in the fact that my twin daughters have been pretty healthy in their three years of life (knock on wood). I have used OTC medicine since day 1. I have had to cut the dose in half many times. I cannot give any advice on the honey or medicine, I just wanted to give you piece of mind that you are not the only one who gives their children OTC meds.
Hi L., I've had a similiar problem with my 3 year old son. The mucas would cause wheezing and develop into a sinus infection almost every time. We used to use Dimetapp (sp? purple stuff) but it didn't seem to help. His stomach cannot tolerate any other OTC meds (except the occasional Benedryl) so we're out of luck in that arena.
What has helped him are 2 preventative meds our allergist prescribed... Flovent (an inhaler that works to prevent the build up of mucas) and Nasonex (a nose spray for allergies.) Speaking of allergies, have you had him tested? Something in the air or food could be triggering this.
Two other thoughts... I've recently decided to switch our son to soy milk. He LOVES all dairy products, but I keep hearing that they produce mucas, so I am going to cut back on those and see what happens.
My last thought is an OTC saline nose spray. My son had NO sinus issues the first 20 months of his life when we lived in the FL Keys. Once we moved to OH the problems began, which leads me to believe the salty, humid air down south is a benefit to those of us with sinus problems. I haven't started him on a daily saline nose spray becauce I have a hard enough time getting the other two daily meds in him, but I intend to try it very soon (for myself and my husband too!) Good luck!!!!
mucinex thin strips..it'll help ALOT, i don't believe that every kid should stop using OTC meds..i think parents with an IQ below 80 shouldn't be allowed to purchase it...my son has had problems with his sinuses for about 3 years now resulting in 2 surgeries. if it wasn't for OTC meds, he'd never be able to breathe..just as with most other good things in the world..a couple ignorant people had to go & ruin it for the rest of us.
Which ever medication you try, double check with the pharmacist on the dose . . . as someone already mentioned, you may not be giving enough. I would want a more precise measurement than "just cut it in half."
Pediatric medication is most effective when based on weight. So, if your son is bigger or smaller than average, the package chart may be slightly off. Call your pharmacist with the name of the medication and your son's weight to verify an appropriate dose.
regardless, good luck!
I LOVE Triaminic. If I were you, I would call a nurse at your doctor's office and ask what dose your child needs. Maybe you're not giving him enough. It's actually the only thing I've found that actually works. Also, for a cough I love Delsym.
Have you talked to your doctor about trying singular? My son is asthmatic and has severe allergies. We put him on singular at the age of 3 and it has helped tremendously. It is an allergy and daily control med for asthma. Now we don't have to use as much otc meds. I think it is available for children as young as 24 months.
Hi L.! My daughter is the same with asthma and allergies... .she is now almost 7 and it took us until she was almost 6 before we figured out what worked best for her. As far as OTC, we found that sudafed for children worked best (and I would only give it to her before bed). . .however, as you have found, with the Triaminic, it starts to not work as well over time. Therefore, I talked to the pediatrician and we put her on Singulair. It works awesome! And as she gets older they just up the dosage. This has also helped tremendously with her asthma. I know you said you were lokking for OTC but, the Singulair has definitely worked the best for our daughter.Hope this helps!!
Hi L., we use Triaminic along with a vapor plug-in.
It's been along time since i used OTC meds for my kiddos but i have some tried and true less conventional things taht might help, they work for my kids anyways. first about the honey yes it ahs to be pure and most stores have an organic section now and you can most likely find it there, not sure what the dosage would be for your son but i'm sure google could tell you. my middle son has a nebulizer, he's not bad unless he is sick though so we don't use it often but i know a little of what you go through there, soemthing that works great for him when he has a cough is vicks, even the johnson's kind on his feet and then putting socks on, it immediantly takes care of his cough, as in he misse school today for a cough and feer while he was with his father, and is now sleeping soundly with no cough at all and all i did was give him a warm bath and rubbed up his feet good, it makes for some slimey socks though. something else that helps more with congestion is lemon juice in a vaporizer, works just like all the medicine additives you buy at the store but it's natural. and since you mentioned it in your post i want to say kuddos to you for being informed, it's your choice how to raise your child and even "chrunchy" parents can be ignorant jerks, just because something is natural does not mean it is safe, and an informed decision that is best for your family is generally the best one you can make, hopefully you find something that works to help your son feel better and be the happy little boy i'm sure he is.
If it's just for congestion, my dr. suggested using benedryl, but it might make him sleepy.
My daughter is almost the same age as your son (12/4/05). We have given her OTC meds since she was about 6 months old as needed. I think if meds are used responsibly then there is not a problem. I use Robitussin (sp?) Pediatric formula for my daughter and based on what her Pediatrician told me she gets 1 tsp per dosage. I also use Triaminic and Dimetapp. I have also used the WalMart Brand Equate and it works just as well. I personally see nothing wrong with giving a toddler OTC meds if they are really needed and it sounds like in your case they are truly needed. Please feel free to email me if you want to talk more. Good Luck.
L.,
I just got over having snotty mucus kids..lol I use OTC meds just as long as your smart about what dosage and keep an eye on ur kids for any reactions. My son is 3 (43 lbs) I give him dylsem he only gets a 1/2 tsp. But it works awesome. My daughter is 14 mnths (26 lbs) and i gave her tylenol with cold and cough. I also used vaporizers in their rooms and put vicks on my daughters feet (since she was under one) and some vicks on my son's chest. I didn't give them any milk for a week. I don't know if that is a true or a myth about milk and mucus.. but i didn't want to add to their symptoms. I gave them OJ instead and kept the fluids in them. Also i heard if they use a saline spray daily or x amout of times a weeks that helps to clear the sinus cavities from where the mucus lies and then the bacteria builds up. My aunt gets chronic sinus sinalitus (sp) and by this time this year she would have had her sinus infection.. but she started that saline spray and it's working great. Good luck
M.
I have used triaminic and also pedicare. Vic's has plug in's that work great for sleeping!
I recently purchased a warm air humidifier and some vic's liquid (not sure of what it is called at the moment) that pours into the humidifier and acts as a cough suppresent.
http://www.target.com/Vicks-Warm-Mist-Humidifier-V-745A/d...
Try diamatap. It seems to work wonderfully for my girls when they get stuffy.
Personally - I love the triaminic Cough and Cold strips! They taste so good, that the kids love taking them. They are very portable and already dosed out. And very hard to open, until you finally figure it out.
My daughter is also 'asthmatic/allergic' and is on breathing treatments when needed. She also takes Singulair--for the asthma/allergies. Since we moved here from Louisville Ky her nasal issues are very rare. (I suspect we had hidden mold in our basement...which hubby thinks is crazy...but that's another issue.) Maybe you should consider a mold test if you have a 'wet' house.
Also, as a non-medicinal option, try a netti pot (a nose rinse system, seen on Oprah). I have seen some squeeze bottle versions that may work on children. Since, I started using the Netti Pot I NEVER use my prescription nasal spray anymore. And, I only use the Netti Pot about 2x a week.
Good Luck.
My Md like your pharmasisit told us when our daughter was sick we could use most otc meds as long as they didn't say not for children under two. It does go by weight more than age so if you have a smaller child than average. We also found that benadryl made our daughter hyper, not sleepy. It just takes trying different things. Saline nose spray also helps her keep her sinuses clear.
I use Dimetapp for all of our kids, it the only thing we use. For our 2 year old (born christmas eve 2005) we give him 1 tsp. At night we also use a cool mist vap. by his bed to help him sleep. We also up vic's rub on his chest to help with any congestion. I was also told that if you put the vic's on his feet and then cover with socks that that helps also...haven't tried it yet myself.
