The Food and Drug Administration and the drug industry have been grappling with safety concerns about cough and cold formulas for more than a year. In January, the FDA advised parents not to give the medications to babies. Many pediatricians worried that the drugs can cause more harm than good in older children, too. Every year, thousands of children end up in hospital emergency rooms with breathing problems, dizziness and high blood pressure.

That’s why the industry is now changing its product labeling for toddlers. Linda Suydam, president of the Consumer Healthcare Products Association, which represents companies that sell over-the-counter medications, says 2- and 3-year-olds are the most vulnerable.

“Accidental ingestions are the result of curious toddlers getting into medications that are left out in a place where they can reach them and take them and overdose,” she says.

That, along with parents who accidentally give children a double dose of medication. “We are actually on the packages now putting the active ingredients in bold letters on the front of the package, so parents know when they pick up the package that they should not use another product that contains that same active ingredient,” Suydam says.

I gave my two year old cold/cough meds recently, after having heard these arguments. We put off giving her anything until she was miserable and couldn’t sleep at all (between the cough and snot), but we read the labels carefully, only gave her half the dose her pediatrician recommended, and kept the bottles where she couldn’t get to them.

I can’t say, scientifically, that they worked, but her cough did let up, her nose did dry up (a little), and we all got some sleep. If nothing else, she equated the meds with feeling better, so they had at least a psychological benefit.

Despite the warnings, I don’t see letting other parent’s inability to use the product properly interfere with my ability to take care of my child. In the absence of hard data showing that the drugs are actually harmful in small doses, I’ll continue to use them, rarely and carefully.

I’m sorry but this whole thing is bunk of the highest order in my household. If it were not for these over the counter decongestants my two and a half year old son would have gotten little to no recuperative sleep over the last two months as we have been besieged by viruses. For us they work fantastically.

The bottom line on this issue is that people do not carefully read the labels and ensure that they are not doubling up on dosages. Honestly people if you can’t read labels and be conscientious enough to make sure you are safely medicating your kids you’ve got some serious issues.