What can parents do when their babies and young children have a cold? It depends on the child’s age.
Although most colds in children don’t have serious complications, they can cause great worry to caregivers, and are among the top reasons for
What can parents do when their babies and young children have a cold? It depends on the child’s age.
Although most colds in children don’t have serious complications, they can cause great worry to caregivers, and are among the top reasons for visiting a doctor. FDA doesn’t recommend over-the-counter (OTC) cold and cough medicines for children younger than 2. For infants and children younger than 2, those medicines may have serious and potentially life-threatening side effects.
So what’s a worried parent to do? Here are some tips from FDA on how to safely treat your child’s cold.
Relieving Cold Symptoms
There’s no cure for the common cold, a viral infection that cannot be treated with antibiotics, says FDA’s pediatrician Amy M. Taylor, M.D., M.H.S.
“A cold is self-limited, and patients will get better on their own in a week or two without any need for medications. For older children, some OTC medicines can help relieve the symptoms—but won’t change the natural course of the cold or make it go away faster,” says Taylor, a medical officer in FDA’s Division of Pediatric and Maternal Health.
Coughs are a normal symptom of a cold and aren’t all bad. “Coughs help the body clear the mucus out of the airway and protect the lungs; so you don’t want to suppress all coughs,” Taylor says.
Non-drug treatments for coughs include drinking plenty of fluids, especially warm drinks to soothe the throat.
When to Call a Doctor
Not every sniffle or cough merits a trip to the doctor’s office. When in doubt, parents should call their healthcare provider. “Call your pediatrician at the first sign of illness whenever a baby 3 months or younger is sick,” Taylor advises.
For all children, call a doctor if you see any of these symptoms:
- A fever in an infant 2 months or younger.
- A fever of 102 or higher at any age.
- Signs of labored breathing, including nostrils widening with each breath, wheezing, fast breathing, the ribs showing with each breath.
- Blue lips.
- Not eating or drinking, with signs of dehydration.
- Ear pain.
- Excessive crankiness or sleepiness.
- If the cough lasts for more than three weeks.
- If the child is getting worse.
Those symptoms can signal that your child has something more serious than a cold.
“You have to know your child,” Taylor says. “With small infants, fever is a major concern, 