Too many parents give cold medicine to kids despite warnings

U-M poll: Too many parents give cold medicine to kids despite warnings

Cold Medicine

Too many parents continue to give their little ones cold medicine despite doctors’ warnings that the drugs can cause serious side effects. Two of five parents reported giving their children under age 4 cough medicine or multi-symptom cough and cold medicine, according to a poll of 498 parents conducted by University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital. That puts those children at risk for increased or uneven heart rate, drowsiness or sleeplessness, slow and shallow breathing, confusion or hallucinations, convulsions, nausea, constipation and allergic reaction. One in four gave them decongestants — a particular concern because such medicines can affect heart rate, Dr. Matthew Davis, director of the C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health, said. A parent’s feeling of helplessness is understandable, given that children can get five to 10 colds each year, Davis said. “We’re always trying to help kids be more comfortable when they’re sick,” he said. But research has shown that “these medicines might not be our friend in the middle of the night as we thought in the past,” Davis said. In 2008, the federal Food and Drug Administration warned that such medicines should not be used in infants and children under age 2. They have not been proven effective. In response, manufacturers changed the labeling to state that the medicines should not be used for children under 4 years old. The warnings confirmed a growing belief among doctors over the years that the medicines were ineffective at best — and potentially harmful at worst. But confusion lingers. The front of medicine packaging often features illustrations of children; age warnings are listed only in fine print. “I think it’s natural for parents to see children on the box or on the bottle and think it’s safe for all children, especially new parents who have not navigated the child medicine aisle in their pharmacy,” said Davis, who called for a consistent awareness campaign about the dangers. Other measures — propping a child to sleep to help mucous drain or holding them in a bathroom of warm mist before they go to bed — are still believed to be effective.

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