Cough medicine question

[AngeChica]

DS is 23 months. He is a very robust child and rarely ill, however over the holiday period he has had this nasty chesty cough. He is off his food, otherwise doesn't seem too unwell (still playing with toys etc.). We thought it best to keep him out of the cold dank outdoors though & I will take him to docs once it reopens tomorrow.

In the meantime the main problem is the cough is waking him at night and he is not getting a proper nights' sleep. Have used Calpol, Vicks, Karvol etc. to no avail.

Now the pharmacy will only sell dry cough medicine to under 6s and the stuff we have got is not helping at all. I just wondered if people knew whether this was just because people abuse the sedative property of chesty cough medicine, or whether they changed the rules because they found there was actually something harmful in it for younger kids? Will the doctor be able to prescribe it - otherwise what's to stop people lying about their kids' age to get hold of it?

not alot of research has gone into the benefits of cough medicines. Your body's response to expel an infection is to cough,so maybe suppressing it long term can cause infection to linger longer.

Also there are some mums who use the sedative effect to get LO's to sleep.

found the full bit of info for you

March 2009: Over-the-counter cough and cold medicines for children have recently been under review in the UK. New advice is that several cough and cold medicines, including this one, are no longer recommended for children under six years of age. This is because there is no evidence that they work in this age group, and they can potentially cause side effects such as allergic reactions, effects on sleep or hallucinations. The packaging and leaflets for cough and cold medicines will be updated over the next year to reflect this information. The manufacturer of this medicine will be re-labelling it to state that it shouldn't be used in children under 12 years of age.

Hi AngeChica - I hope your son's cough is better. Just thought I would share a natural cough recipe my mother always used with us in case you want to give it a try. Put roughly chopped onion into a jar. Cover it with honey (include some manuka honey if possible as this is potent). Leave overnight, strain it and voila! Few tablespoons every so often. Don't know if you are into natural remedies but this is a good one. My DP who is wary of all natural remedies was forced to admit that it helped him! Benefits of manuca honey are well documented and onion considered a natural anti-biotic. No side effects at all, no risks.