Strollerderby : overdose

Is Candy Medicine the New Candy Cigarette?

JeanneSager — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 15:06:00 GMT

Remember candy cigarettes? So much fun pretending to be so bad? I haven't seen them on store shelves for years, so I've got to assume marketers saw the danger of hooking kids with candy. But I wonder: is the new trend toward diguising kids medicines as gummy candies really any better?

The gelatinous blobs have sold like hotcakes to parents who have struggled to make their children swallow the traditional pediatrician-prescribed multi-vitamin. The fight to take your fiber pill becomes a non-entity when you're promising them, "you can have a gummy this morning!"

And here's where I'm going to play the grinch. I'm not going to argue they're easier to serve up, but should we really teach our kids that medicines are like candy?

Like those sweet slim ciggies before them, the gummy meds are parading something potentially dangerous in a candy form. Even "good for you" medicines like vitamins, which can reach toxic levels when overconsumed. Even those fiber treats, meant to keep your kids from getting blocked up, can cause the exact opposite when they get hold of the bottle of sweets and go to town.

So let's weigh this out - toxic possible overdose versus a morning fight. Which are you going to pick?

Image: MyCalorieCounter

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No Cough and Cold Medicines Until Age Two!

Karen Murphy — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 14:28:00 GMT

The FDA is telling parents now to never give over-the-counter cough and cold medicines to children under the age of two unless told to do so by an actual doctor. I am guessing that this advice is for parents like me who routinely ignore the label on such medication and give it anyway but an (estimated) adjusted dosage. But if you have been doing this, STOP, because it's way too easy to overdose. Plus, younger kids react differently than older ones do to medication.

Good thing I don't actually give conventional cough and cold meds even to myself, let alone my kids, but given my predilection for ignoring label advice, if I did stock that type of OTC medication I might give it to a toddler, sure. And you might too. But the FDA says don't.

And it's good to know that decongestants can cause rapid heartbeat in kids, like they need to be anymore wired than they already are, and of course decongestants do nothing for a cough anyway. Some groups are lobbying to outlaw marketing of OTC cough and cold meds to kids under six, and other groups think they should be banned altogether. And the Canadian Paediatric Society advises that over-the-counter cough and cold medicines should not be given to children younger than three years old unless prescribed by a doctor.

I'm thinking that with all this uncertainty over age limits and dosages and efficacy, it's probably best, when faced with a cold or cough, to ride it out or explore other remedies and leave the OTC meds on the shelf.

Study: Cough Supressants Risky For Babies And Toddlers

Alisyn — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 01:45:00 GMT

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control issued a new warning against administering common cough and cold medications to infants and toddlers under two.

Dr. Michael Marcus, director of pediatric pulmonology, allergy and immunology at Maimonides Infants and Children's Hospital in New York, said, "The best thing (parents) can do is support with fluids and lots of kisses and time, because lots of infections are viral and will pass in a few days. The medications have a greater potential for harm than the infections you are trying to treat."

Emergency room examinations of infants who had died to due overdoses of over the counter medications, found that some had up to 14 times more than the recommended amount of pseudoephedrine (a nasal decongestant) in their systems. The CDC said it's no known how much cough or cold medicine can cause an adverse reaction in children under two, and that there are no approved dosage recommendations for that age group.

It's particularly scary to be reading this at the height of cold and flu season, I know - I've got a 20-month-old who's prone to picking up every little bug her big sister drags home from preschool. I usually don't bother the doctor with her little week-long colds, since she almost never has a fever - just tons of boogers, a little drip towards the end of the week, and general grumpiness. But I admit, this makes me think twice about the 1/4 doses of Children's Tylenol Cold I give her to ease that yucky cold feeling. To be totally honest - it scares the crap out of me.

Strollerderby : overdose

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