Cold & flu season

[Kyung]

So I don't know if it's the Santa Ana winds or what. My daughter has had a cough and a runny nose. Clear. I've been sending her to daycare. And for those of you who say, how dare you send her to daycare w/a cold, well, how do you think she gets it in the first place.

I personally feel that most daycare establishments are a hotbed of germs and viruses where probably the next supervirus will be board. The CDC should set up hot spots at daycares. (slight exaggeration)
But anyhoo, I digress.

I'm still very bummed that they chose to pull cold medicines for kids. I know they don't make the cold any shorter, but it helps with the symptoms.

So what are you using for your little one's colds? Any good home remedies out there?

So here's to religious handwashing and no kissing. (so hard)

[Shelly Scott]

Mucinex for kids. But beware: both the liquid and the powder taste awful (I tried it after my daughter almost retched and had the same reaction - yikes!)
It controls the "fluid" really well without drowsiness.

Also, my pediatrician always told me to be glad when my daughter caught something in preschool because that was one more virus she'd have future immunity against when she entered grade school. It was the children that didn't go to pre-school who were sick for a good part of kindergarten. How wild is that?

[Stacy Tegner]

My daughter was home today w/ a cold/sore throat/ fever ~ I still use Motrin cold for kids. You just have to buy it from the pharmacy now and show your license:) They like the taste, though:)

[Jennifer]

I give my daughter grape-flavored Dimetapp. It's the only medicine I can get her to take without chasing her. She hates Robitusin DM, but it works when she has a cough. She's home now with a stomach virus. You're right about the daycare, but she's in 1st grade. Four or five other kids have the same thing.

[Shelly Scott]

What kills me is that I've been sick off and on since early December, yet my daughter has only been feeling "relatively" poorly for one weekend day, and slept really late one day this week. Other than that, she's been fine. Finally had to call in a request for a k-pack (sp?) which seems to have done the trick, but still have the lingering cough, which we all know is death in a depo setting.

[Jena Macato]

My two littlest suffer from asthma and severe allergies. On top of all the allergy meds they take and using the nebulizer daily, I run a humidifer at night in each of their rooms. Running the heater in the winter really dries out the air and makes them cough more. And it also relieves the congestion so they can sleep better and I can sleep better. My daughter has a Hello Kitty humidifier and it has a nightlight on it :).

Have you ever used a sinus rinse? That helps get all the gunk out of the nose and also helps to keep the nasal passages from getting clogged and infected. They have one for kids (Preschool age and up). It was hard to get my son to use it at first, but now he's a pro. He likes to do it now because he says he actually feels the relief of pressure. (He suffers from severe sinus infections.)

If you've never heard of a sinus rinse, it consists of a small plastic squirt-type bottle, you fill it with luke-warm water and a saline solution provided in the kit. You lean over the sink, put the tip in one nostril and squeeze gently so that the solution empties into your nostril and flows out of the opposite nostril. -- Yes, it's pretty gross. Then repeat in the other nostril with remaining solution. You can get it at most major pharmacy chains. The one I use is called: NeilMed's Sinus Rinse, Pediatric Kit. I got it from Long's.

[Shelly Scott]

Oh, what do they call those - medi pots? I know that's not quite right, but you can get them at places like Henry's, Mother's Market, etc. My doctor even suggested it. They also clean out any potential germs that can lead to a cold. Yedi pot? no....

[Stacy Tegner]

Netti pot!! And I LOVE mine. Got mine at Whole Foods.

[Shelly Scott]

That's it! Well, at least I got the sound of it right...hehe

[Shelly Scott]

Make sure she's drinking enough fluids, as chapped lips are a sign. With kids, once they're chapped, they have a hard time not licking them, which makes it worse. I always avoided anything with taste (think Bonnie Bell) with my daughter cuz she'd lick it and make them worse.

I really love Alba's coconut lip balm - very creamy and all natural, or any in the Bert's Bees line. ChapStick always seems so waxy to me.

But when it gets really bad, I always go for Carmax in the little pot - put on right before bed, and it seems to clear up almost 100%

[Shelly Scott]

keep in mind iron may cause constipation, so add in fiber-rich foods.

I add chopped baby spinach to scrambled eggs, twice-baked potatoes, etc.

Here's a great list of iron-rich foods:
http://www.weightlossforall.com/iron-rich-food.htm

I also saw on another list that 1/2 cup of edamame givesyou 50%iron DNV