The FDA has been researching the safety and effectiveness of children’s over the counter cough and cold medicines for years. In their on going studies, they have revised their recommendations several times. It might be hard for a parent to keep up with the recommended guidelines. In 2008, the FDA came out with a recommendation that no over the counter cold medicines be given to children under the age of 2. The reasoning is that the cold medicines treat the symptoms only, and then only marginally. The potential side effects of some of the medications can be life threatening for a child, offsetting any possible good that they may do. As recently as 2013, the FDA revised their findings, recommending that no over the counter cold and cough medications be given to children under the age of 4. And, some pediatricians recommend that their parents not give any their children any over the counter medications under the age of 6.
The medications that are in questions are common medications used to treat coughs and colds. Cough suppressants (dextromethorphan), Cough expectorants (guaifenesin), decongestants (pseudoephedrine and phenylephrin) and certain antihistimes (diphenhydramine). These are the most common medications used to treat colds and can be found in many over the counter medications. Some medications are combination medications and may have several of these ingredients.
There are many reasons that the experts are not recommending over the counter medications be given to children under the age of 4. One of the main reasons is that it can be easy to overdose a small child unintentionally. Parents may give the child two different types of medications (cold and cough for example) without realizing they have the same active ingredients, double dosing the child. Parents may wake up in the middle of the night to soothe a sick child and accidentally measure the dose incorrectly. A child left unsupervised may drink a bottle of cough medicine. Taking too much cough medication can produce serious side effects.
The benefit of giving children over the counter cough medications does not outweigh the risks. There has little evidence that these medications really help the symptoms, and so much more evidence that they can cause a serious or dangerous situation. It is best to follow the guidelines of the FDA and your pediatrician, and do not give children under the age of 4 any over the counter medications. If your child is up all night coughing, a teaspoon of honey and a cool mist humidifier will do much more the over the counter medications.