Should You Give Over-The-Counter Medicine To Children?

There are hundreds, if not thousands of different over the counter medicines available throughout the world. Some are designed to alleviate cold symptoms while others may be able to take away fever and pain.

These medications generally fall into one of five different categories. They are usually classified as expectorants, analgesics, antihistamines, cough suppressants, and/or decongestants.

If your child becomes ill the absolute best thing that you could do would be to take him or her to your physician. Your doctor will know your child's health history and will be able to prescribe the best medication.

However, going to the doctor can be a very time consuming and expensive experience. That's probably why so many people opt to purchase over the counter medications for themselves and for their children when someone in the family gets ill.

But that's not always a good idea.

For example, even though cold medicines may offer some temporary relief, they don't actually cure a cold or make it go away any faster. And they do not offer any significant health benefits. What's worse is that if some cold remedies are given to a child who is less than six years old there is actually a greater risk of hurting the child than helping him or her. For that reason parents should not give any cold medicines to young children.

And, if you have a small baby, you should never give any cold or cough medicine to him or her unless your doctor prescribes it.

But what if your baby is sick and you want to help but you aren't able to see your child's doctor? What can you do? There are some non-medication therapies that have worked for children over the years and you might help your child.

For example, you could put one half of a teaspoon of salt into one cup of warm water and swirl it around. Then put one or two drops of the salt water into your baby's nose, one nostril at a time.

The salt solution should loosen mucus. And it doesn't introduce any medicine into your baby's system.

After putting the saltwater drops in your child's nose you should wait about twenty seconds. Then use a bulb type of syringe to suck the mucus from his or her nose.

Keep the baby away from cigarette smoke and you may want to use a humidifier (that you regularly clean) to try to loosen the mucus.

However, if the baby has significant difficulty breathing you absolutely should call your doctor right away or take him or her to the emergency room.

Some adults take acetaminophen to relieve pain. And it is available in many over-the-counter medications for children. Although it is generally safe there could be serious repercussions if too much is taken.

Tylenol law firms are law firms that specialize in representing families of people who have inadvertently taken too much of that over the counter drug.

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