“What can I give my 2 year old for a cold?”

It your child truly has a cold, there is no medication that will shorten the duration. Colds are caused by viruses and the body has to fight off the virus. The best "treatments" for a cold are lots of fluids/rest/warm showers to loosen secretions/a cool mist humidifier/saline nasal sprays - if he is having a headache or muscle aches - tylenol or advil might be helpful. Honey if older than 2 years or warm cocoa are helpful for coughs.

Warn honey and lemon will do. Honey should not be given to any child less than one year of age. The American Academy of Pediatrics does not recommend any cough and cold medications in a young child since none of them provide a cure. About 10 years ago, the ‘over the counter’ cold medications were more widely used in children and abused which caused some unfortunate deaths in some young children. The manufacturers decided to label these medications for older children only and so are not liable. 

There is no effective medication to treat or cure a cold, in spite of the barrage of advertisements, anecdotes and medications pushed on parents to treat their kids.   So any management is purely "supportive" in nature. In other words, do things to help the child feel better.   This includes plenty of fluids (probably the best, but least utilized way to feel better), rest if the child will rest (most 2 year old kids won't), sleeping with the head of the pillow elevated, trying to get the child to blow the nose, salt water nose drops aka saline drops (not a 2 year old favorite thing to do).   Allow the child to seek their own level of activity.  If they want to play, let them play!  Medication is useless, don't waste your time or money.  The symptoms will last from a few days to up to 2-3 weeks.  Seek care for sudden change in symptoms, ie fever that persists for 2-3 days, change in behavior, difficulty breathing, etc.Good luck!
Dr K

You may give acetaminophen--Tylenol--based on his weight for the crankiness. Otherwise you may use Nasal saline for the congestion. We don't recommend any over the counter medication for children 2 and less because of the side effects.

Dear Parent,

You can give you 2-year old Blue Poppy Pediatrics CQ Jr., which is available at amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/Blue-Poppy-CQ-Jr-liquid/dp/B003JOD4UM/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=CQ+Jr.&qid=1586471408&sr=8-1

If cough is predominant, you can give him/her Lung Qi Jr., which is also available at amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/Blue-Poppy-Lung-Jr-liquid/dp/B00H966KBQ/ref=sr_1_1
crid=35OZ6LFYBUZKU&dchild=1&keywords=lung+qi+jr&qid=1586471480&sprefix=Lung++Jr.%2Caps%2C213&sr=8-1

Besides, water, rest, oranges rich in Vitamin C is also very good. Or 100mg airborn Vitamin C a day until the cold is gone.

All the best,

Fengli Lan

The cause of a child's "cold" is an important tool in recommending treatments. Typical over-the-counter remedies focus on "relieving symptoms" --- and those "symptoms" are the body's infection-fighting tools to help get better faster. While suppressing these symptoms, such as cough or fever, can make the parent feel reassured, this approach usually does nothing good to help the child get better faster, and may have some harmful consequences.

Drinking lots of clear liquids, warm if possible, and getting lots of rest will help. Comfort measures, such as warm baths, massage w/warm oils, diffusing essential oils in the environment and/or using chest/body rubs, can be helpful. Avoid "cough medicines" -- not only did the FDA remove all such medications from the market for younger than 2 yr olds, suppressing the cough without addressing the underlying cause of the cough can be harmful. If you child has a fever, is in pain, is unable to tolerate liquids, or is not "acting right" -- see your pediatrician.


Shelley C. Springer, MD, MBA, MSc, JD, FAAP
Pediatrician/Neonatologist
Casper Children's Center, LLC

alt email: scspringer@mindspring.com