I took my 1 1/2 year old to the doctor for a terrible cough....?

Question

I had to take her to urgent care and the doctor I saw perscribed her cough medicine with codene in it. She has had a terrible cough for a week. I then called her regular doctor and asked her about the cough medicine with codene and she said she normally does not perscribe that to young children. My daughter weighs 20 pounds and is 1 1/2 years. My doctor said it is okay to give it to her but told me other things I could try first. I am just wondering has anyone ever given a young child this kind of medicine and if so did it work and was your child okay? They perscribed 1ml and said an adult would have to take 5ml so it is a very low dose.

Answer 1

One of the problems associated with prescribing medications to children is that they have never been clinically tested on children (ethics). So dosing is often just a best guess. Children's systems metabolize substances differently than adults so this further compounds the problem. Just recently it was decided that the drug they prescribe for children with reflux was probably being prescribed in doses too low to actually be beneficial. Codeine is a fairly common drug that has been around a long time so the dosing is probably fairly well established for children at this point. For your daughter's cold to have been bad enough to go see a doc it sounds like medication may be needed to help make her more comfortable. Since two doctors and a pharmacist have signed off on the dose it probably won't harm her to take it (though it may not be as beneficial as hoped).

Answer 2

Most doctors have begun perscribing medicines that will keep our children knocked out. The theory is that if they don't cry, then mothers won't come running back to the office two days later. The problem is that the medicines keep them feeling drugged. If you have ever had to be drugged for anything you should know it is NOT a good feeling, and it does NOT help you heal faster. Cough medicines have now been found to be useless for anything but the comfort of the parents. Get a humidifier and some cough strips from Wal-Mart for the sore throat a cough causes. Then let your child build up its immune system. I hope this helps you. It sure has put things into perspective for me.

Answer 3

The codeine will help soothe her pains from the severe cough. Keep in mind that your normal doctor didn't examine your daughter, the emergency doctor did. Most over the counter cough medicines do nothing at all, and if you thought her cough was severe enough to take her in, then I would stick with what the ER gave you.

Answer 4

Find some magical home remedies
for children cough

Answer 5

Since your daughter is so young, I would not use the codeine. Try something else first. You wouldn't want her to get dependent on the stuff.

Answer 6

did you take your baby to its pediatrician? it could be something beyond a mere cough, such as an infection in the lungs or something.

Answer 7

Talk to your chemist - this is what I do when I have concerns about prescribed medicines.