Before You Buy Children's Cold Medicines - Your Complete Guide to Buying Children's Cold Medicine Online
When your child doesn't feel well, you want a gentle yet effective remedy for their cold and flu symptoms. While you want to ensure that they get better quickly, you don’t want them to feel drowsy or nauseous on the way to recovery. To help you wade through the various options out there, review this guide to choosing and using cold medicine for kids so you'll be prepared when you hear that first little sneeze.
How To Choose the Right Children's Cold Medicine
Before you figure out the appropriate medicine for your child, it’s best to figure out what you should never give your child. For instance, your child's age and weight may determine that some medications would be dangerous. Read the label carefully to check the dosage instructions for this information. Unless using a homeopathic medication like Brillia Health, the Food and Drug Administration does not recommend using many over-the-counter cold medicines made with synthetic chemicals for children younger than four, and for ages four to six only under a doctor's instruction.1
In addition, follow these tips when choosing medications for cold and flu symptoms:
- Know the ingredients to avoid. Children may have an unwanted hyperactivity reaction to phenylephrine and pseudoephedrine, common ingredients in some over-the-counter decongestants like DayQuil/NyQuil and Theraflu. Hydrocodone and codeine, often used in prescription cough syrups, should not be given to children younger than 12 according to the Food and Drug Administration, because of their association with slowed or difficult breathing, misuse, overdose, or even death.
- Understand what type of medication to use for your child's symptoms. Expectorants provide relief from chest congestion while cough suppressants or antitussive medications can help ease a cough that keeps your child awake at night. Acetaminophen and ibuprofen reduce fevers and offer pain relief. Antihistamines assist with allergy-related runny and stuffy noses. You can also choose a multi-symptom formula.
- Correct dosage depends on age and weight, but also health status and other factors. It is always beneficial to keep your doctors informed of side effects, and he or she can talk to you about any particular ones to watch for.2
- Although the FDA recommendation does not apply to all non-prescription medications, you can talk to your child's doctor before giving your child over-the-counter cold and flu medications; however, this is not necessary if they are using Brillia Health because the medication does not contain any harsh, synthetic chemicals linked to dangerous side effects.
- Look beyond the traditional cold/ flu/ cough medicines at the drugstore. There are many other options that can provide the same, if not better, results without these harsh chemicals, such as Brillia Health.
It’s important to remember that antibiotics do not treat the common cold. However, your child's doctor may prescribe this type of medication for an infection such as strep throat.
Cold Medicine & Drowsiness
Most traditional cold medications you find at the drugstore use antihistamines that can cause drowsiness, as well as other undesirable symptoms like dry mouth, coughing, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, blurred vision, and abdominal pain.3 Some antihistamines are also not safe for people with liver or kidney disease. Additionally, popular antihistamine medications like loratadine (Claritin), cetirizine (Zyrtec) and diphenhydramine (Benadryl) should never be taken together as they can produce harmful interactions beyond their harsh side effects.
However, there are other options that can help control the body’s histamine response without these harsh chemicals and thus avoid these side effects. Brillia Health, for example, has an active ingredient that targets histamines in the body, and once bound, reduces their ability to cause inflammation, thereby relieving symptoms like nose congestion at the source without inducing drowsiness. Because Brillia Health is composed of antibodies, it does not interact with any other aspect of molecules in the body, rendering it free of any harmful side effects.
Unlike antihistamines, many decongestants have the opposite effect to drowsiness and lead kids to feel jittery while also potentially causing insomnia. So while cold medications with phenylephrine and pseudoephedrine may relieve congestion by targeting blood vessels in the nose, they may also cause sleeplessness in some kids, which hinders their immune system even more. This is another reason to consider gentle options like Brillia Health, because the medication doesn’t cause hyperactivity either.4
Be Prepared
When To Give Kids Cold Medicine
The best time of day to administer cold medicine depends on your child’s symptoms. You may notice labels indicating that some pain and fever medications provide relief around the clock, so they can be given any time of day. Decongestants using ingredients associated with hyperactivity are best taken in the morning. Medications associated with drowsiness, such as popular antihistamines, should usually be given to your child at night.5 However, if you choose a homeopathic medication like Brillia Health, you do not need to worry about what time of day to administer the medication because there are no harsh side effects that will interfere with your child’s sleep or wakefulness. Brillia Health medications can be taken as needed without the risk of unwanted side effects.
Brillia Health Cold-Flu Recovery is safe for children as young as one and Brillia Health Cough Control is recommended for three years and older. Because these medications are child-friendly, easy-dissolve tablets, your child does not need to know how to swallow pills or take syrups that have sugars and other harsh chemicals. Moreover, Brillia Health Cold-Flu Recovery reduces fluid build up, as well as the chance of secondary infections like bronchitis.
Cold and flu symptoms can stick around for seven to 10 days, which is why it’s important to aid their symptoms with medications like Brillia Health. One of the most unique aspects of Brillia Health Cold-Flu Recovery is that it’s clinically proven to shorten the duration of the cold or flu. So your child feels better while their body heals itself, and they are sick for fewer days. Talk to your child's doctor if symptoms persist or if you find that the symptoms are getting worse.
Homeopathic vs Regular Cold Medicine
Brillia Health homeopathic cold remedies help relieve uncomfortable symptoms of cold and flu without the side effects or harsh chemicals associated with traditional cold medicine. The active ingredients in our products include antibodies that reduce histamine activity, an immune response that causes congestion, runny nose, sneezing, and sore, itchy throat. Another antibody, CD4, helps strengthen immune cells and boost their ability to fight cold and flu infection. Additionally, Brillia Health products reduce the length of the cold flu or cough, which is not true for other over-the-counter medications.
Homeopathic remedies are also free of ingredients that may have unwanted effects, such as sugar, flavoring and other unnecessary additives. Brillia Health products are free of common allergens including soy, nuts and gluten.
Clinical studies have proven that Brillia Health products reduce the length of the cold, flu, or cough, which is not true for other OTC medications. In fact, studies show that there is no evidence that OTC cold and flu medicines actually suppress or stop symptoms like coughing when compared to placebo.
In addition to homeopathic remedies, you can also try these natural measures to assist with cold and flu discomfort:
- Give your child plenty of hydration with water, tea, broths, or juice.
- Run a hot bath or shower so the steam can open your child's sinus passages.
- Make sure your child gets plenty of rest. During sleep, the immune system releases protective proteins called cytokines that need to increase when the body is fighting an infection or inflammation.
- Ask your pediatrician about supplements like zinc, vitamin C, vitamin D, and vitamin E to boost your child's immune system and potentially reduce the duration of their illness.
- Give your child a tablespoon of honey, which can soothe the throat and reduce coughing due to its antioxidant, antimicrobial, and anti-inflammatory properties.
If you're looking for a new way to soothe your child's cold and flu symptoms, consider Brillia Health. And find more resources on boosting your child’s immune health at the Brillia Health blog.
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