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  1. #1
    DrSally's Avatar
    DrSally is offline Pink Diamond level (15,000+ posts)
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    Default Would you give your 3 yo mucinex?

    I swear, DS gets sick every time he comes in contact with his cousins. My sister is a grade school teacher and her kids are in daycare, so they're exposed to a lot of illnesses. Anyway, they always seem sick and DS will catch whatever they have even if it's just a 15 min visit. He wasn't sick at all for the first 2.5 years of his life when we lived out of state (and we had playdates every week). We love being by family, but this is one side effect that I could do without.

    Anyway, he has a real gunky cough and even coughed up some green gobs of mucus, which he immediately swallowed (gross!). I can tell he needs to cough some stuff up, but his cough isn't that forceful. Given the ban on cold medicines for under 4yo, would you give mucinex (plain, no cough suppressent). I asked the pharmacist at Walmart and she said the ban was mostly b/c parents were getting dosing wrong and she gives it to her son. She didn't seem like the brightest person, so I'm not going to just take her advice. Any BTDT?
    Sally

    My Joyful DS
    My Lovely DD

    Please excuse the typos. Getting used to a virtual keyboard

  2. #2
    mamicka is offline Emerald level (3000+ posts)
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    I would if I thought it might help. I've given it to my 4yo with the blessing of my ped father. I didn't find it to be all that helpful, btw.

    Sorry your DS isn't feeling well. My 5 yo has been coughing for weeks & it isn't fun.

  3. #3
    MaiseyDog is offline Platinum level (1000+ posts)
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    What the other phrmacist told you was correct. A large reason for the ban was due to the risk for kids to be inappropriately dosed on cold meds. The other reason was that cough and cold meds have never been proven effective in kids. The FDA took the stance that since these products have never been shown to be benificial and since there is somewhat considerable risk of side effects, it was better to not recommend their use in kids. That being said I do give my kids cold meds and I don't see any problem with giving Musinex from a safety stand point. However, I was taught in Pharmacy School that Musinex and other expectorant product don't actually work well. In fact, I've ready a couple of studies that have shown that water does a better job of loosening phlegm, the job of an expectorant. Persoanally I would just push lots of fluid to help loosen the congestion, but the use of Musinex would not concern me.

    Edit: had to fix my typos from trying to type on my blackberry
    Last edited by MaiseyDog; 11-02-2008 at 11:40 PM.
    Margaret

    DD1- 2/14/05
    DD2- 9/24/07

  4. #4
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    I give it to my son, and have since he was 1...
    Margaret and
    (DS 2/06) and (DD 3/08)

  5. #5
    SpaceGal is offline Sapphire level (2000+ posts)
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    I do give it to my three year old and it helps him a lot with getting rid of the phlegm. I don't take any other cold medicine myself and find that even as a grown up Mucinex works really well for loosening the phlegm. Of course with Mucinex you also need to take a lot of fluids. With my kids I stick with Tylenol and Mucinex really....for them it helps.

    My sis-in-law (who is a doctor and her husband who is a cardiologist) also swear by Mucinex telling me if there's mucouz involved Mucinex is the way to go.

    The Walmart pharmacist was probably correct about some parents not dosing correctly...so as long as you are careful and not giving too much medication a little wouldn't hurt...if you feel it's not working...then no need to keep giving it to him.
    Last edited by SpaceGal; 11-02-2008 at 06:35 PM.

  6. #6
    spanannie is offline Sapphire level (2000+ posts)
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    Yes I would. If I was better about giving Mucinex when DD had gunky nose/cough, we'd probably prevent some ear infections. Somehow, I always forget to do it, when she starts having cold symptoms, and then we end up with another infection. GL!
    Annie ~
    Mom three Junebugs: 9, 7 and 3

  7. #7
    DrSally's Avatar
    DrSally is offline Pink Diamond level (15,000+ posts)
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    Thank you for your responses! I didn't think that mucinex had any side effects to be concerned with at the correct dose. FYI, some of the boxes still have dosing info for 2 and older. Unfortunately, DS has not been drinking (or eating) alot with this cold, and I've been offering all the time. He likes to have a cup of water in his crib, so I've happily been letting him, hoping he gets his fluids that way. I may try some mucinex tomorrow if he's still really gunky. I used it once myself and didn't notice much of a difference. It's good to know that water has an equal effect though. I will definitely be trying to push it more.
    Sally

    My Joyful DS
    My Lovely DD

    Please excuse the typos. Getting used to a virtual keyboard

  8. #8
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    Yes. I give Carmen Mucinex all the time to help her cough up mucus. It really, really helps.

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