Cold Symptoms : Know When To Give Medicine To Your Child
What do you usually you do when your child comes home from school sniffling and coughing hard
? Do you rush right to the drugstore to get some cough and cold medicines?
Here's a fact. Did you know that over-the-counter medicines only treat the symptoms, rather than the illness itself? This is the reason why you should determine first how uncomfortable your child is before giving out the medicine. Medicines are most effective against severe symptoms rather than minor ones. A slight case of sniffles and sneezes doesnt require medicine but severe nose congestion can benefit well from a decongestant.
Observe your child and use simple common sense to determine the severity of your childs symptoms. If worse comes to worst then seek the help of a medical professional immediately.
Also, take your childs age into consideration when determining if he or she needs medicine. Infant over-the-counter medicines have been believed unreliable for treating cold symptoms. Children under the age of two risk the possibility of severe, life-threatening side effects from some over-the-counter medicines. This is why the FDA is currently reviewing the medicine guidelines for toddlers to avoid such effects.
Bearing in mind that these medicines are all man-made and full of chemicals, do we really want our children to take in these medicines that might cause them harm, especially if they dont really need it?