Kids Cough Medicine; Or why you're an idiot THIS time

This isn't usually a problem I have myself, but atm, I DO have it. I foolishly took my son to the doctor (18 months) when he swallowed a very tiny fuse. The foolish part was taking him to the damn waiting room, where apparently we all caught a severe cold. (How do I know it was there? We hadn't left the house for a week except for the doctor appointment, how the hell else does the WHOLE family turn up sick on the SAME day? Anyone with more than one child knows if it's getting passed from child to child, each child generally turns up sick on a different day or a different time. Normally they don't all get sick at the same hour.) So anyhow, this is right after the big FDA warning: NO COUGH MEDS FOR THE LITTLES.

Naturally of course parents are now in the throes of the newest demand and so what you see online is "OMG, NO!! No cough meds!!!! IT'S THE DEATH!!!" And this classic suggestion from the apparently brilliant at CNN-massages and music....let's just sing the sick away...PRAISES...pray..er..sing the sick away...yeah....

Listen VERY carefully you morons-STOP GUESSING DOSAGE!!!! It takes 5 minutes to call the nurse, give her/him your child's weight and get a proper dosage suggested. If you don't (for some odd reason) have a doctor, you can also call the hospital and get someone to tell you (sometimes, they are so afraid of lawsuits. However, a nurse in a location not to be named did NOT tell my husband that sudafed is ok for pregnant women..get me? My doc's answering service was down). Also, why in the hell (unless there's some fever) would you give a child a dosage EVERY 4 hours just because the meds say so? How do you know if they are getting better??? ATM, my 3 year old is getting Motrin ONLY for fever, she has no cough, throat pain, congestion. Dosage naturally double checked since I'm not a complete moron. My 18 month old is getting tylenol cold and cough ONLY for sleeping. Not so *I* can sleep, I'm still not sleeping, but so HE can. Who doesn't know it's VERY important to get plenty of rest when you're sick? Hell, it's one of the things the doc ALWAYS says "drink plenty of fluids and get a lot of rest". If your body is wore out from lack of sleep, it's gonna be shit to fight off illness. So, except for nap and bedtime I leave him alone except to wipe his nose and check for fever. This also allows me to pay attention to his symptoms, so I can see if they are improving, worsening, or maintaining. If you're giving a child an anti-fever medicine, you're not gonna be able to tell if fever is a new symptom. (Yes, it does treat a symptom he doesn't have, however, he has all the rest). My daughter doesn't get her Motrin unless she shows signs of returning fever, not at the exact moment the medicine says so. Motrin says wait 6-8 hours, so I wait generally longer. If her fever isn't returning, kind of stupid to give her medicine for it, wouldn't you think?

Use a little common sense. You are all so quick right now to return to the methods of our grandmother's time. Some are great, I won't lie. My grandmother is one of the first I call too. But common sense applies. A tiny amount of whiskey and honey is suggested for over 1 year olds...that IS an old method, but not my idea of a GOOD one. Don't be so quick to throw out medicines. Remember, while some of these children's medicines haven't been tested on kids, neither has many of these home remedies. At least Robotussin has been on the market for 40 years and is something we can sue over if it's wrong. Yeah, echinacea has been around a lot longer, but my grandmother (much as I like to think she knows everything) does NOT know medicine. Also, what works for you not only won't work for others, but may prompt an allergic reaction. I'm allergic to belladonna, a staple in many natural sty remedies (and some pharma ones).

Look, I'm not a big one for meds myself. Quite frankly, except for yesterday I've been treating MY cold naturally. I had to finally take something to help me relieve my symptoms long enough to get some rest, just like I had to do for my son. But I'm for sure not stupid enough to throw out medicines that HAVE been tested publicly over 40 years just because you people are too stupid to give it properly. And I surely am not going to be shamed into letting my children suffer by a bunch of idiots who read a headline and start screaming like Chicken Little (or who are all too stupid to pay attention to their kids and the medicines they take).

As for the deaths that have occurred even when properly dosed...I believe it was 30 deaths in the last 40 years...not to sound too harsh, but really....there have been more deaths in the last 5 years from driving cars, we're not throwing cars out are we??

BTW, for those of you too stupid to pay attention, if your kid isn't improving after 3 days TAKE THEM TO THE DOCTOR. I know some of you people are giving these kids this crap for a week with no doctor visit...that's beyond stupid. If my kids haven't improved by tomorrow morning they go to the doctor. I don't keep dosing them for a week. And if they are improving, they not only don't need a doctor, they don't need the damn medicine. You don't keep giving kids this shit for a week, that's just idiocy. That also includes home remedies...TAKE THEM TO THE DOCTOR. Yeah, it may still be a cold, but if you're kid isn't improving, isn't it safer to be sure they don't have something worse than to wait and let it really settle in? You think a doctor visit is expensive, try hospital bills.