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Why No Medicine For Kids Under 4?
By Mommie | October 22, 2008
With my son entering his second week with the same cold, and thus his second week of crankiness and the second week of my clothes being covered in kid snot, I thought I’d research why parents can no longer give kids under the age of 4 medicine. My daughter had the same cold and was over it in 2 days. I have her cold as well and it’s been just under a week for me, but I chalk that up to being pregnant. But what changed so that I can’t give my son medicine? Here’s what they’re saying…
A lot of it has to do with parents not knowing how to read labels. Many children are brought into the emergency room every year due to accidental overdoses from the parents. Sometimes one parent may medicate the child and then the other one will as well, without knowledge of the first parent giving them medication. They could read the dosing wrong and end up giving a Tbsp instead of a tsp.
Drug makers are actually changing their packaging to reflect this as well, going to a “do not use under 4″ warning. This is in stark contrast to a few years ago, when drugs like Little Colds came out on the market, making it 100% acceptable to give your child medicine.
I took my son to the doctor last week to see if he had an ear infection and even she said no medicine under 4. She suggested Vicks vapo rub and that was about it. That being said, I have a feeling I’ll be snot covered for at least the next few days….poor kid.
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Topics: Babies, School Agers |
October 22nd, 2008 at 2:34 pm
Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaarf, WHAT a picture! rofl.. ugh >get that outta my head get that outta my head.< !
My kids are all older (whew!) but even when they were little, I avoided giving them medicine at all costs. I gave them acetominophen for earaches, and during their preteen years I did allow them DayQuil. But cough medicines were not effective. And I think my upbringing taught me to distrust a lot of the medicines out there (very expensive for little effect).
Sorry to hear about your clothing, though. Bwahahaha! Ah, the joys of young motherhood!
October 23rd, 2008 at 8:28 pm
Same thing…my daughter had a cold last week however, her pediatrician says, give her plenty of water to drink. I don’t understand, why they don’t usually prescribe a medicine.