Cough and Cold Treatments for Children:

Despite the plethora of over-the-counter cough and cold medications designed to relieve a variety of symptoms of the common cold-primarily nasal congestion, rhinorrhea, and coughno treatment has been shown to have any beneficial effect in children, and some may carry a substantial risk of adverse effects. Even routine symptomatic therapies such as antipyretics and humidified air may be counterproductive. Parental education is the best medicine. Parents need to understand the duration and expected symptoms of the common cold. Advise them about specific changes in symptoms (eg, rapid or labored breathing) or duration (eg, a cold lasting 10 days or more without improvement) that would warrant a re-evaluation by their child's physician. Parents also need to be educated about the lack of proven efficacy and the potential adverse effects of available cold remedies. Saline nose drops and adequate fluids as well as antipyretics for bothersome fever may provide limited symptomatic relief, but time is still the only known cure.