Alternatives to Cold Medicine

After posting the article on the FDA reconsidering the banning of over the counter medications for children, I came across another article that gives some alternatives to parents who just don't know what to do to make their child feel better. Everyone needs to get some sleep, right?

The article is entitled, Your kid has a cold -- what now? and has some great advice. In addition to the standard saline solution and nasal aspirator (Little Noses is a very good brand) you should have on hand for your child who can not blow their own nose, we have some tips that might offer some relief.

Music and Baby Massage - Believe it or not, baby massage is a great way to give your child some comfort. I took a baby massage class with Willow when she was about 4 months old and I give her a mini-massage after her bath every night. Massage is a great way to loosen up the phlegm in the chest and mucus in the sinus'. According to Dr. Michelle Bailey, a pediatrician and associate director of education at Duke Integrative Medicine, which blends traditional medical treatments with alternative therapies, using an oil like lavender with massage can promote relaxation and sleep.

Dr. Bailey adds that since stress can make a cold stick around longer, playing soothing music can promote relaxation.

Tea and a Bath - Dr. Paula Gardiner of Harvard Medical School's Osher Institute recommends ginger tea with honey. But, she says, hold the honey for children under one year of age as it can make them sick.

Additionally, a warm bath can do a lot to help clear the nasal passages. The great thing about the bath is that is relaxes your baby and you can add eucalyptus oil as well as menthol to help open stuffed-up nasal passages. Another thing to consider is putting a humidifier in your baby's room. There are "hot" and "cold" vapor humidifiers and both work well for this purpose.

Vitamin C and Vapor Rub - Vitamin C also is worth trying, says Dr. Kathi Kemper, a professor of pediatrics at Wake Forest University School of Medicine in North Carolina and a specialist in integrative medicine. But she says there isn't enough in orange juice. "Doses need to be several hundred milligrams, depending on the age of the child," she says. "My 10-year-old gets two grams daily when he starts to get a cold." Vitamin C has been shown to reduce the duration of the common cold.

Dr. Kemper also recommends vapor rub, but not for children under 1 month of age as it can cause apnea (suspension of external breathing) in infants that small.

Many people "swear" by holistic medicine, including using herbs and natural ingredients to stave off things like cold and allergy symptoms. I am one of those people who see no benefit in such "remedies" as there are a multitude of studies that have been conducted that conclude they are not helpful (kind of like cold medicine).

As an example, we have a study completed in 2003 on Echinacea. Echinacea is a herb very commonly used to treat the common cold. The study (link here), published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, concluded that the "results do not support the use of echinacea for treatment of upper respiratory infections in children 2 to 11 years old."

I would just give the warning that unstudied medicines should not be used on your children before consulting with your doctor. But that's just from someone who isn't a doctor of any kind, just a mom concerned about her kid.

Honestly? Cold medicine never seems to help me either. The best thing I have found to help Willow breath when she has been stuffed up do to a cold is the trusty nasal aspirator and saline solution. She hates it, but she can breathe easier after I have sucked out the snot, at least for a while. And the humidifier is always helpful too.