OK to give Dimetapp to 7.5 monthold??

Hi everyone,

Well, my whole house is sick: me, DH, and the girls. One of my girls (they are 7.5months) has a congested sounding cough. Both of them have the nasal congestion. So, my question is: is it okay to give Dimetapp to a 7.5 month old. One of my friends said she heard that it was not good at all to give to children under 2. That there was some study done or something. But I called their pedi and they said it was okay to give 1/4 a teaspoon every 4-6 hours.

Has anyone heard about dimetapp not being good to give to kids under 2???
Also, any other suggestions to help them I would appreciate. I am running a cool mist humidifier. and I can't really elevate the head of the bed b/c they are all over the place when they sleep.

Thanks!!

 

Hi everyone,

Well, my whole house is sick: me, DH, and the girls. One of my girls (they are 7.5months) has a congested sounding cough. Both of them have the nasal congestion. So, my question is: is it okay to give Dimetapp to a 7.5 month old. One of my friends said she heard that it was not good at all to give to children under 2. That there was some study done or something. But I called their pedi and they said it was okay to give 1/4 a teaspoon every 4-6 hours.

Has anyone heard about dimetapp not being good to give to kids under 2???
Also, any other suggestions to help them I would appreciate. I am running a cool mist humidifier. and I can't really elevate the head of the bed b/c they are all over the place when they sleep.

Thanks!!

 

When our boys got sick, the ped told us to use Dimetapp too. It worked well. As long as the ped gives you the proper dose for the child's size, then it should be ok.

 

I try to only give meds for night sleeping. Check out drsears for more info on baby meds.

HTH and the LOs are feeling better soon.

 

I have only given pediacare, but obviously not for coughs. If she sounds congested you may want to take her to the ped. I took DH last week for cough and congestion and came home with 2 prescriptions. You don't want it to turn into bronchitis or RSV.

 

my cousin just called me to tell me that dimetapp is going to be recalled because of some ingredient that starts with a p
that has recently been linked to bleeding in the brain!
I am trying to find some official info on this

 

Make sure you get the proper dosage. I think that there is a lot of concern surrounding kids under 2 and cold meds. I have always given mine some, but that was before the hubub. Just be careful!!

 

The CDC recently published a study saying that cold meds do no good on children under 2. Here is a quote:
"Cold and cough medications, especially medications containing pseudoephedrine [a nasal decongestant], have never been shown to have any beneficial effect on children less than 2 years of age, yet they clearly can have significant harmful effects," said Dr. Michael Marcus, director of pediatric pulmonology, allergy and immunology at the Maimonides Infants & Children's Hospital in New York City.

And an article from cnn.com:
CNN article

A lot of peds will still say to use them, and many moms say that they work. I tried them once or twice and thought they did nothing. The "danger" aspect is (I believe) related to antihistamines specifically.