Home remedies instead of drugs give children little pills

Medications that are relatively harmless in adults can often be of concern to children. Therefore, parents should always be careful when administering ordinary painkillers or cold remedies. Simple home remedies often work better anyway.

Do not just give children half the dose
In principle, children react differently to medicines than adults and therefore need, among other things, a different dosage. However, according to experts, the partially applied rule "half the dose in children" has long been outdated. In particular, in children who already suffer from allergies, over-the-counter pills and Co. can cause intolerances. As the news agency dpa reports, recommends the German skin and allergy relief (DHA) in their parents magazine "skin & allergy" (Issue 2/2015), for smaller "ailments" as good as it is to dispense with chemical agents.

Natural home remedies help
For example, in the case of colds and colds, experts recommend simple remedies such as red light, inhalation of water vapor, adequate hydration and, for older children, breast augmentation. According to the DHA, "Nasal drops are not harmless cold remedies and should therefore be used only in the evening so that the child can sleep better". As a home remedy for fever, for example, calf wrap offer. Increased temperature is often associated with loss of appetite, but patients should not completely abstain from eating. A light vegetable broth can give some strength. According to DHA, antipyretic agents only make sense from 38.5 degrees Celsius. When children have cramping pain, heat helps. However, if the little ones have inflammation-related pain, then cold is better.

Rate medication with pediatrician
However, if the "aches and pains" become a disease, it is certainly safer to consult with the pediatrician about the possible medication and not to administer drugs themselves. Even remedies that adults use quite frequently, such as acetylsalicylic acid (ASA), may even be harmful to children. This has to do with the fact that many drugs were not tested for children, as experts repeatedly complain. For example, over 50 percent of medicines used in children would not previously be tested in this age group. As early as 2007, the EU had issued a pharmaceutical ordinance obliging pharmaceutical companies to test every new drug in studies with children. Ethical concerns as well as economic aspects are responsible for the lack of pediatric pharmacopoeia. Such tests are not lucrative for the pharmaceutical industry, as children and adolescents are on the one hand only a small market and on the other hand, pediatric examinations are usually very expensive. (Ad)