Children's cold medicine that WORKS?

[I.Dup.]

I'm doing natural treatments as well so recommendations on that is fine, but I'm really looking for something strong that will dry them up and keep the sneezing/coughing at bay. It doesn't have to be natural and it doesn't have to have healing properties, simply alleviating symptoms is fine. What have you found that actually WORKS to stop sniffling/runny nose/cough in kids?

[Hwin]

Depending on the season and the cause, I've had luck with Zyrtec, Benadryl, and Hyland's cold medicine.

[Mabeline]

A doctor once told me that the med called guaifenisene (sp?) works the best. The name brand is Mucinex. I think it is in other brands too. HTH

[Ewe Mama]

Mucinex is the only thing I have found to help clear up that congested, hack up a hair ball cough that my dc always get this time of year.

[BlueTaelon]

Honey will help the cough, this stuff rocks for severe coughing/congestion

[I.Dup.]

Does Mucinex help with runny nose and constant sneezing also? This is definitely virus, not allergy related.

[SBMama]

Honey is great for most coughs. I think Zarbee's works even better, but it tastes awful! Benedryl works well for sneezing and to dry up runny noses.

[Ewe Mama]

Does Mucinex help with runny nose and constant sneezing also? This is definitely virus, not allergy related.

 

 

I think they have different formulas. One is expectorant only, but there are a couple others, I believe. I would love to be more specific, but my kiddos finished up the last bottle last week and I haven't been out to restock. I know there are other meds now containing the same ingredient (store brands). Check with the pharmacist. A knowledgeable one can point you in the right direction.

 

We only use it for colds/viruses that won't clear up with more natural remedies.

[*********]

We use Sudafed for nasal congestion. The kind you have to get from behind the pharmacy counter, NOT the kind out on the shelves; they have completely different active ingredients. The active ingredient in the Sudafed we use is pseudoephedrine. You can get a children's liquid form, but it can be hard to find; not all pharmacies stock it. I've always been able to get it at CVS though. For pill form, most pharmacies carry their own generic brand, which is cheaper. But the name brand Sudafed is the only children's liquid pseudoephedrine I've ever found.

 

Can you tell we suffer with sinus issues a lot in my family? :p It does work well, but it can also make you tired. It makes my boys pretty sleepy at least.

 

ETA: I really prefer medicines that treat one thing/have one main use. By which I mean, I prefer to take my sinus medication, cough medication, headache medication, etc as seperate pills. I don't much care for combo meds. I mean, sometimes my boys need JUST a cough med, somtimes they need JUST a sinus med. And if they need both, I can give them both. I find this cuts down on taking unnecessary meds.

[Cera]

Dimetapp is the only thing that works for my kids.

[Hen]

yeah, I had my time-worn favorites, Dimetapp was one of them, but then it seemed like everything changed. Right now the only thing that seems to work well is Triaminic children's night time , it has both antihistimine and decongestent. I usually take it for myself, since I can't figure out what adult stuff works anymore. For the adults, we also will do Sudefed 30mg from behind the counter and benedryl.

[Joker]

The thing that works best here are those Triaminic Thin Strips. I only use them when the nighttime coughing is bad, but they work really well. I did use them once while on vacation and older dd had a cough and runny nose. They helped a lot.

[Shellydon]

Benadryl.

[BlueTaelon]

We use Sudafed for nasal congestion. The kind you have to get from behind the pharmacy counter, NOT the kind out on the shelves; they have completely different active ingredients. The active ingredient in the Sudafed we use is pseudoephedrine. You can get a children's liquid form, but it can be hard to find; not all pharmacies stock it. I've always been able to get it at CVS though. For pill form, most pharmacies carry their own generic brand, which is cheaper. But the name brand Sudafed is the only children's liquid pseudoephedrine I've ever found.

 

Can you tell we suffer with sinus issues a lot in my family? :p It does work well, but it can also make you tired. It makes my boys pretty sleepy at least.

 

ETA: I really prefer medicines that treat one thing/have one main use. By which I mean, I prefer to take my sinus medication, cough medication, headache medication, etc as seperate pills. I don't much care for combo meds. I mean, sometimes my boys need JUST a cough med, somtimes they need JUST a sinus med. And if they need both, I can give them both. I find this cuts down on taking unnecessary meds.

 

 

 

We only use the real stuff too, the PE version just doesn't work for us. Anyway the generic for liquid Sudafed that we use is Silfedrine Liquid made by Silarx, its the only thing the local pharmacy carries. I haven't bought any this year but I think it was like $8 for an 8oz bottle. We get pseudoephedrine at walmart, the stuff has literally doubled in price in the last year, I picked some up last month when I was sick and asked about it and the pharmacist confirmed that yes, it really did double in price:(

[dbmamaz]

i use different meds for different symptoms. I used 'real' sudaphed for years, but finally it bothered my (and dh's) anxiety too much, so now we use the over-the-counter stuff. My boys have colds right now. My older one is using a generic guafesin and decongestant combo and a pill of that tussin cough stuff, and some natural brand lozenges. My younger is using those thin strip things, but they have different versions - this one is cough and cold, i think. I love me some nyquil, and will often give it to the boys at bedtime too.

 

you really just have to read the labels or ask a pharmacist. There are only so many chemicals used in cold meds and each one does a differnt thing. then each brand combines the different meds together for different formulas.