Second thoughts about giving Benadryl

amf22Wed97981

My 15 month old son has a cough.  The pediatrician said I could give him a small amount of Benadryl.   Pharmacist told me about 1/4 tsp.  I just gave it to John and suddenly I am having second thoughts.  Is he too young?  He only weighs 19 pounds. 

 Any thoughts to this?  Is Benadryl ok?  I left a message with my dr. But since it's Sunday evening I won't hear back right away.

 

Thanks 

jxd215

At that dose, you're probably fine - it's not much. Not for a cough, but our pedi gave us the ok to try Benadryl with our kids to help them sleep on a long plane flight, and the dose for our kids was 3/4 tsp (18 months, 22 and 25 lbs). The pedi said that after 1 year it's medically used to treat allergic reactions anyway. (Of course, the Benadryl just seemed to make our kids irritable, so we didn't use it for the flight, but they didn't seem to have any other ill effects.)

MagPie08

amf22Wed97981:

 Any thoughts to this?  Is Benadryl ok?   

If my kids' pediatrician okayed the use of a med, and a licensed pharmacist confirmed the proper dose, I would not be worried. 

I hope that your little guy feels better soon  

amf22Wed97981

Thanks.  I don't know why I suddenly freaked.  I just needed reassurance.  I appreciate it!

tarajayne

MagPie08:

If my kids' pediatrician okayed the use of a med, and a licensed pharmacist confirmed the proper dose, I would not be worried. 

I hope that your little guy feels better soon  

 

This

mrsmac08

Our pediatrician told us to give 1/2 tsp for sinus/ear infections before bed at about 9 months.  Around the same time, DD's allergist told us it was okay to give her 1 tsp if she was having an allergic reaction. Both babies have tolerated the benadryl well.

CaliDutchGrl

My son's allergist told us to give him 1 tsp if he was having an allergic reaction...my kiddos are right around the same age.

Carmela752

It's fine as long as you've checked with your doc and have the correct dose.

The controversy/problem with those drugs was that kids were having problems from getting overdoses, or from parents combining medicines with similar ingredients (also causing overdose.)

 

WaitingforGrace

If you are looking for something else for the cough, we finally found Zarbee's cough syrup. It's a honey based non-medicinal syrup. It worked a miracle in our LO who would get that horrible lingering cough overnight for weeks after a cold.

I might sound like an advertisment, but seriously, we've been using it for a week and she has gone from waking every hour coughing to maybe once a night. It's a little pricey at $10 a bottle. We didn't care, we'd have paid $5 a night just for her to finally sleep peacefully.