New cough medicine recommendations...

[mummaof2]

DD woke with a slight cough this morning so I headed to the chemist to grab some cough mixture as I was all out and wanted some on hand if she it worse. I was told that cough mixture is no longer recommended for children under 6 years of age and subsequently they essentially wouldn't help me choose one. Most of them now do not display dosage for under 6 years but I managed to find a Demaxin one that did...

Anyone else encountered this and what on earth are we supposed to do for our babies when they have a bad cough!! My DD has had coughs before that made her cough so much to the point of vomiting and I'm sorry but no amount of panadol or neurofen can help that which is all they said to use!

Would love to hear about other mums experiences with this new recommendation.

[black_rose]

It sucks! The same thing happened with dimetapp to stop runny noses a few years back. Used properly they work especially when just getting a cold meant my kids would end up getting really sick and needing redipred for their airways everytime they got a cough. We always used them under drs guidance, I have stocked up on a couple of bottles for my younger two.

[AndiE]

I think the new regulations came in at the start of the year. I haven't given my older kids over-the-counter cough medicine, but DS1 and DS2 have both had stuff to dry up super runny noses in the past. So now I just don't tell the chemist it's for a child. I mean seriously, given occasionally and to the correct dosage (and obviously not when there is a temp etc indicating something more severe), where is the problem in giving cold and/or cough medicine to children aged between 2-6??

[Arimeh]

Yup its best to let them ride it out - those medications can do something to their breathing I believe.

We put a teaspoon of honey in a warm cup of water and get the kids to drink it. Works just as well. For chesty cough we also put vicks on their chest and feet

[sangie]

I was told that the over the counter cough mixtures just don't work in kids and can be dangerous? Not sure if you can still get it but we had robitussin chesty cough with we thought helped DS when he had bronchitis. We have since found out that our kids cough's are due to asthma so ventolin helps.

I also do what Arimeh suggested, honey/warm water and vicks and sometimes a vapouriser.

[Floweryfields]

Well, in my opinion, cough medicine is a waste of money anyway and I'm pretty sure there is research to prove that too. And you have to be very careful not to overdose as cough medicines can also contain ingredients that are in pain relief meds that you may not notice.

ETA - not saying that everyone is so unintelligent not to be able to read a label - but I've seen it first hand with a parent who presented 3 conflicting over the counter medicines for her baby and didn't realise they shouldn't be used together.