Why did they stop making OTC cold meds for infants?

lmpdjc · December 2010

Does anyone know? When my 14 year old was an infant, you could buy infant cold & cough medicine. Now I know that they don't make it nor recommend it for children under 2 (or maybe 4?) I'm just curious as to why?

mojito14 · December 2010

Becuase some parents decided to either not read the labels or just overdose their kid for the Hell of it, so now they just decided to take them off the shelves for fear of overdosing.

I have been told by pedi to use Benadryl (right now anyway), for stuffy/runny nose and coughing.

Some people claim that the OTC cold meds don't work anyway, but I don't agree. I think they defnitely do (to a point anyway).

lmpdjc · December 2010

mojito14:

Becuase some parents decided to either not read the labels or just overdose their kid for the Hell of it, so now they just decided to take them off the shelves for fear of overdosing.

I have been told by pedi to use Benadryl (right now anyway), for stuffy/runny nose and coughing.

Some people claim that the OTC cold meds don't work anyway, but I don't agree. I think they defnitely do (to a point anyway).

This is exactly the reason I was thinking! I've been considering buying something OTC and dosing it by his weight.

mojito14 · December 2010

lmpdjc:
mojito14:

Becuase some parents decided to either not read the labels or just overdose their kid for the Hell of it, so now they just decided to take them off the shelves for fear of overdosing.

I have been told by pedi to use Benadryl (right now anyway), for stuffy/runny nose and coughing.

Some people claim that the OTC cold meds don't work anyway, but I don't agree. I think they defnitely do (to a point anyway).

I have done this (but waited till a year old). If he was absolutely miserable and nothing else was working, then I would do it at this age too.

This is exactly the reason I was thinking! I've been considering buying something OTC and dosing it by his weight.

emily0829 · December 2010

lmpdjc:
mojito14:

Becuase some parents decided to either not read the labels or just overdose their kid for the Hell of it, so now they just decided to take them off the shelves for fear of overdosing.

I have been told by pedi to use Benadryl (right now anyway), for stuffy/runny nose and coughing.

Some people claim that the OTC cold meds don't work anyway, but I don't agree. I think they defnitely do (to a point anyway).

This is exactly the reason I was thinking! I've been considering buying something OTC and dosing it by his weight.

From what I understand, people would accidentally overdose their kids by either not reading the directions, of the cold medicine themselves had ingredients that were not really appropriate for a child under the age of two, resulting in completley unavoidable deaths. So you could still get something OTC and give a dose based upon his weight, but that doesn't mean that the ingredients are appropriate for him.

I give DS Tylenol, and usually give him less than the recommended amount. (not much less, but a little bit less) because I'm terrified of overdosing him. That's just an OCD fear of mine.

lmpdjc · December 2010

emily0829:
lmpdjc:
mojito14:

Becuase some parents decided to either not read the labels or just overdose their kid for the Hell of it, so now they just decided to take them off the shelves for fear of overdosing.

I have been told by pedi to use Benadryl (right now anyway), for stuffy/runny nose and coughing.

Some people claim that the OTC cold meds don't work anyway, but I don't agree. I think they defnitely do (to a point anyway).

This is exactly the reason I was thinking! I've been considering buying something OTC and dosing it by his weight.

From what I understand, people would accidentally overdose their kids by either not reading the directions, of the cold medicine themselves had ingredients that were not really appropriate for a child under the age of two, resulting in completley unavoidable deaths. So you could still get something OTC and give a dose based upon his weight, but that doesn't mean that the ingredients are appropriate for him.

I give DS Tylenol, and usually give him less than the recommended amount. (not much less, but a little bit less) because I'm terrified of overdosing him. That's just an OCD fear of mine.

I worry about this, too, but I give him the dose the Pedi told me to give him, so I don't worry too much about Tylenol. I just wish there was something I could give him to dry up his poor nose. I've tried all of the non-medicine ways.

emily0829 · December 2010

lmpdjc:
emily0829:
lmpdjc:
mojito14:

Becuase some parents decided to either not read the labels or just overdose their kid for the Hell of it, so now they just decided to take them off the shelves for fear of overdosing.

I have been told by pedi to use Benadryl (right now anyway), for stuffy/runny nose and coughing.

Some people claim that the OTC cold meds don't work anyway, but I don't agree. I think they defnitely do (to a point anyway).

This is exactly the reason I was thinking! I've been considering buying something OTC and dosing it by his weight.

From what I understand, people would accidentally overdose their kids by either not reading the directions, of the cold medicine themselves had ingredients that were not really appropriate for a child under the age of two, resulting in completley unavoidable deaths. So you could still get something OTC and give a dose based upon his weight, but that doesn't mean that the ingredients are appropriate for him.

I give DS Tylenol, and usually give him less than the recommended amount. (not much less, but a little bit less) because I'm terrified of overdosing him. That's just an OCD fear of mine.

I worry about this, too, but I give him the dose the Pedi told me to give him, so I don't worry too much about Tylenol. I just wish there was something I could give him to dry up his poor nose. I've tried all of the non-medicine ways.

Ugh, I know. It's awful, and it seems like it is never ending. DS had what seemed like the same cold for about a month and a half.

lmpdjc · December 2010

emily0829:
lmpdjc:
emily0829:
lmpdjc:
mojito14:

Becuase some parents decided to either not read the labels or just overdose their kid for the Hell of it, so now they just decided to take them off the shelves for fear of overdosing.

I have been told by pedi to use Benadryl (right now anyway), for stuffy/runny nose and coughing.

Some people claim that the OTC cold meds don't work anyway, but I don't agree. I think they defnitely do (to a point anyway).

This is exactly the reason I was thinking! I've been considering buying something OTC and dosing it by his weight.

From what I understand, people would accidentally overdose their kids by either not reading the directions, of the cold medicine themselves had ingredients that were not really appropriate for a child under the age of two, resulting in completley unavoidable deaths. So you could still get something OTC and give a dose based upon his weight, but that doesn't mean that the ingredients are appropriate for him.

I give DS Tylenol, and usually give him less than the recommended amount. (not much less, but a little bit less) because I'm terrified of overdosing him. That's just an OCD fear of mine.

I worry about this, too, but I give him the dose the Pedi told me to give him, so I don't worry too much about Tylenol. I just wish there was something I could give him to dry up his poor nose. I've tried all of the non-medicine ways.

Ugh, I know. It's awful, and it seems like it is never ending. DS had what seemed like the same cold for about a month and a half.

It is. No matter how often I clean him up, he seems to have a permanent crust of snot between his nose and mouth. Gross.

Dreamsicle23 · December 2010

I read somewhere they were considering banning them all the way up until age 11. Why can't the poor kids get some relief?

lite-bright · December 2010

It's not as simple as overdosing, although that's a big part of it.

This NYT article gives a good summary.

https://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/29/health/29fda.html

A lot of the ingredients in infant cold medicine were never tested in children -- people just assumed that since they'd been tested in adults and were safe, that they'd be safe for LOs. The story references studies (plural) saying that they're not effective in young children, plus there have been quite a few deaths and/or serious health problems from adverse reactions and/or overdoses.

Interestingly, there's also apparently been a CDC before-and-after study that shows that the ban (in 2007) cut ER trips for the under-2 set in half.

I've seen some labels lately that say they're not for kids under age 6, but I don't know what the official recommendation is.

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