cold medicine not allowed for under 2's, would you give it?

My 20 month old has a horrible horrible head cold and cough at the moment. Worst one he's had so far. I'm doing all the standard things - vaporisor, chest rub etc. Talking to a GF and she said "oh just give him Demazin Cold Relief. It says not for under 2, but we've given it to our DD (currently just over 2y.o.) since she was 9 m.o.!" (dosage adjusted down).

I was a bit gobsmacked, and on reflection (and reading the reasons why they stopped recommending these for use in under 2's) myself and DH have decided we're not comfortable with using it for our DS at this stage (note: he's smack bang on average weight for his size), BUT does have food allergies & eczema - maybe this makes us more cautious!?!?

Anyway, I was just curious to know how others felt about this, would you use it for your child under 2?

And as an aside, went in to re-settle him tonigth for the zillionth time, he was kneeling in his cot crying. He looked at me, flopped onto the mattress.... and snored. Fast asleep! :rofl: was very funny! (now I'm just praying it will stick!).

Nope. Definitely not. Warnings are there for a reason.

We used to with dd1 but you could buy it for under 2's and only when our gp recommended it.

yep i have for both kids. that is with the dosage adjusted.

We did a couple of times, but only after 18 months. The first time the GP recommended we do so, he told us to give half the lowest dose.
The second time was when she was 22 months, we diluted a half dose in her water cup and she drank it over about 30 mins.
Both times worked a treat and only needed one dose, and she was perfectly fine.

NB: Charlotte has no other illness, and no underlying health issues, hence why the doctor suggested we give her the expectrant.

With my eldest two there was cold medicine available for under two's so yes we did use it. Recently DD had a horrendous cold and my DR recommended Demazin, despite her age, and gave me a prescription for it with the amended dosage. A friend of mine also works in a Dr's surgery and the Dr's there say that it is ok for under two's as well provided you ammend the dosage.

I used to work in pharmacy.. Demazin used to come in infant drops, which were exactly the same as the regular solution just marketed in a smaller bottle with "infant" written on it for the share in that market too. I vaguely remember they upped the minimum age on them to two years. So they used to be safe, but now not so much... Makes you wonder hey!? Paedamin was almost exactly the same as demazin, just made with a different antihistamine, and I think I remember the dosage on that started at 6 months? Give your pharmacist a ring and check but I'm sure there will be something suitable for your little one. To be honest though, I never found that any of those mixtures really did much, especially cough mixtures, even the pharmacists that I worked with said they were all a crock, just a money maker. I used to just use panadol with my dd.
HTH x

I would only do it under the advice and direction of a GP, not just buying it and taking a guess myself.

The chemist wouldn't sell us Panadol for DD even after she was 2 months of age as she wasn't at the minimum weight for it..... but she was allowed to have it, just at an adjusted dosage for her weight.

Yep. With Oskar is was available over the counter with no prescription. As far as I understand it, it was a lot to do with misuse by parents (giving too much etc) that they made it only available by prescription. However, that said, my doctor refused to give me a prescription when I asked (I only asked cos I'd used it for Oskar and you can't get over the counter anymore) for Elijah as he was under 12 months (think he was about 10/11 months) and he said he doesn't like to use it on them under 12 months of age. Oh and actually there was something else he said. Ummm I think it was (don't quote me cos I only just remembered as I was about to hit the enter to post my reply) something to do with possible SIDS connection in young babies/kids?

DD used to have it when she was under 2 but back then it had the dosage on the bottle for under 2's.
I give it to DS occasionally (today infact) he is almost 22 months. The dosage for 2yrs is 2.5ml & I give him 1.5ml.
My children dont have any allergies or other health problems but if they did I would be alot more cautious like you I'm sure.

I'd do it if my GP recommended it, but not otherwise. Other mums in my mothers group do, but I'd kick myself if anything happened and DD suffered sick-effects.

Hope your LO is feeling better soon xox

No way, not a chance.

I know the minimum age was lifted fairly recently, and it used to be available for younger children, but last time we were in a pharmacy looking for something to help relieve Sam's congestion the pharmacist advised us that the minimum age was lifted as those medications were implicated in SIDS.

I don't use cold and flu medications for myself - I just don't like the idea of taking them so you feel better and can spread your illness to other people.

BW

They changed the laws because parents were using the cough mixtures to 'sedate' the kids. We've used it a few times when DS was around 20 months - with a dosage adjustment recommended by the pharmacist.

GP advised me to give DS1 Dimetapp when he was just over a year old and gave me a script for it which pharmacist looked at but sold it over counter as cheaper that way anyway. Dose was half the 2 yr old dose.

i have given DD both pedamin and phenergen in adjusted lower doses. apparently you used to be able to get it for under 2's aswell and all my friends did with thier kids with no ill effects.

The reason they are not recommended under 2 is due to the SIDS risk of the sedating antihistamines. It may not be an issue for most children but the risk outweighs the benefits. Particularly for those under 12 months. There are non sedating antihistamines available but the best option is to discuss with your doctor or pharmacist.

Just to clarify, guys - paedamin and phenergan are not cold or cough mixtures, they're antihistmines and sedatives.

I would use demazin in an under 2 year old - but I'm a children's nurse and know how to work out the appropriate dose by weight. ;) I wouldn't recommend doing it without your GP on-side to work out the correct dose. As someone else has said, the syrup now is exactly the same formulation as the infant drops used to be before they were withdrawn because of medication errors.

When DS has a cold, I give him some infant paracetamol. That stops his nose running. I put some anti-cold vapour on a muslin cloth above his bed. I don't give anti-cold meds as the one time I tried Vicks his eczema flared up something chronic.

No I wouldn't either.. Infact I don't use any of those products for personal reasons. I think your body does a fine job on its own in ridding the body of a cold/virus.. Of course I am not stupid if my child isn't getting better I go to the Drs.. But most of the time I let them fight it themselves.

If they feel really lousy we use panadol. for coughs I found a fantastic natural one. It is an exporant so helps the body clear plegm if the child is having trouble. I can't remember off hand if you can use that one for under 2's as I bought it for my 4 yr old.

I hope your DS gets better soon. I hate when little ones get sick.

I remember when they stopped selling the infant drops. I asked our pharmacist why and she said that in the US some parents had overdosed their children (for the sedative affect) which had led to their deaths. Very sad and avoidable :(.

I would consider using it for DD, but not without going to our GP first. I think I'd wait until she is 12 months before considering it though, particularly if it is linked to SIDS.

We have used the infant cough syrup think it was dymatapp? It was specifically for under 2's, we used it as nothing else was working and the more mite couldnt breathe through her nose and it was running like a tap and getting red from having to be wiped so much. If we are sick with the cold and nothing else is working we get the cough medicine to help eleviate the symptoms so i guess for me it was no different than doing it for us. Theres nothing sedative in the under 2's one as far as i know. I also got ripped shreds at the chemist when i wanted to buy some for DD (she was 20months at the time :o:rolleyes:) as apparently i was a bad mother for wanting to make her sleep and drugging her up with infant cough medine! Never mind she had, had this cold for the last week and nothing was clearing it up but at the same time it didnt warrent needing to see a doctor. Pfffft was so P'ed off at him but thats another story!

Used it under 2 here when DD2 has had a rotten cold, found it clears her up enough and eases her coughing so she is then able get some sleep which makes her better overall. I spoke to our chemist about it and we worked out the dosing.

wow interesting range of replies, thanks everyone!

Schmickers - thanks for clarifying regarding which meds, you're quite right that I mean specifically cold & cough meds. In terms of antihistamines, with my DS's allergies, our GP and pharmacist wouldn't give us anything when DS first had full-body hives, but our allergy specialist has allowed him to have an antihistamine since the age of 10 months. So it seems that if your requirement is considered severe enough, and you're prepared to monitor them - meds will be given at a younger age.

So saying, I'm digressing as I'm really interested in the cold stuff. For those who weren't aware, the recommendations on the cold & cough meds have been changed within the last year or so. Having checked a few pharmacies and googled, as far as I'm aware, ALL of these products are now removed for under 2's (same in NZ too). So things like Dimetapp for infants and Demazin infant drops do not seem to exist anymore. Interestingly the UK and Canada have even go so far as to make all these products unavailable for under 6's. The listed reasons are as follows:

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• Very limited evidence for efficacy of these products in children under two years of age.
• An absence of evidence-based dosage advice for the use of cough and cold medicines in children aged less than two years.
• Evidence of harm in therapeutic use in this age group.
• Evidence of significant toxicity, including death, in overdose in this age group.

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I actually thought it was interesting that it doesn't directly mention SIDS, but I wonder if that's part of the consideration.

I think watching your child struggling to breathe and sleep is horrible, I know for our DS this is the worst he's ever been (and yes he's been checked out by a dr). But then when I weighed up whether to give it, for me it was about "what if". If he reacted badly, I couldn't forgive myself for going against the guidelines. So saying, I think if he doesn't improve, I'll go back to the dr and say is this an option. Good to know that's a possible avenue.

we've used it for DD2 under GP supervision but for glue ear and not a cold, if hes that bad id ask your GP, maybe ring them

Sounds like you have made the right decision for you and your bub Belfie.

I dont know if its AUS wide but when I was working in pharmacy they changed the rules for over the counter selling of those products, Demazin and Dimetapp (essentially the same thing) in SA are only available for under twos by prescription from your doctor, some pharamcies will then just sell it as "over the counter" so youre not paying the dispensing fee, But you still need a rx.

"So saying, I'm digressing as I'm really interested in the cold stuff. For those who weren't aware, the recommendations on the cold & cough meds have been changed within the last year or so. Having checked a few pharmacies and googled, as far as I'm aware, ALL of these products are now removed for under 2's (same in NZ too). So things like Dimetapp for infants and Demazin infant drops do not seem to exist anymore. "

Thanks! I haven't worked in Pharmacy for at least a year so there you go!!

I would only use them under a GP's direction. No way would I take it upon myself to do it. I agree, there's warnings there for a reason.

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I would only use them under a GP's direction. No way would I take it upon myself to do it. I agree, there's warnings there for a reason.

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I feel the same way.

I think I would BUT only if I had had a chat with our GP or pharmacist. It'd probably have to be a pretty bad cold/cough for me to consider a cough mixture though.

well not the end to our story that I expected. DS's cough got worse, and he sounded very wheezy and puffed this afternoon. So off to the doctors and turns out he's got croup/possible asthma. On steroids to settle it down. Made me even gladder that i hadn't masked the cough with a cough mixture!