Homemade Decongestants and/or Cough Suppressants?

[Constance]

My wife was thinking of adding crushed aspirin to the lemonade mixture and maybe the cough syrup, can't hurt?

Never give aspirin to children who have the flu. It can cause deadly Reye's Syndrome.

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If a child has a high fever that can't be reduced with tylenol (acetaminophen), the best way to cool them down is in a tub of tepid water. (Shouldn't feel cold or hot to your arm.) They will shiver and probably cry, but it will knock the fever down in a hurry. It only takes a few minutes, then take child out of the tub, wrap in a big fluffy towel, and hug liberally. This also works for adults.

 

[Fisher's Mom]

yikes! thanks guys for the info, could have been a disaster there for us. But this means I could put some acetaminophen in if I wanted to? Or in your opinions is it best to just stay away from adding anything entirely?
Maybe there is something that naturally reduces fever or pain that can be added?
I feel another Google search coming on, LOL.

Acetaminophen or ibuprofen are the 2 meds generally considered safe for children to reduce fever and relieve pain. Dosages are calculated according to body weight and are on the medication bottle. I wasn't sure if you were asking if you should put some in a big pitcher of lemonade (not a good idea), or just going to mix up each person's dose in their cup of lemonade, which would be the way to do it. And yes, if my kids are feeling awful with aches and pains, I will treat them with acetaminophen or ibuprofen. But if they just have fevers and it isn't making them feel bad, I don't treat fevers automatically. Of course, none of mine have seizure disorders or anything like that. If you are worried or unsure, a phone call to your pediatrician's office will give you more info. Usually, the nurse will be happy to advise you on how to treat at home rather than bring kids with viral infections into the office. With these colds and flu that have been going around, doctor's offices are swamped!

 

[Maverick2272]

Yes, I was thinking of individual dosages. My kids are otherwise healthy, and usually I don't treat fevers right away but rather wait it out and if it gets worse or they start to complain more then I do. I think I have had only one occasion to take a child to the emergency room for a fever and it was getting pretty high.
So yea, just thinking if their aches and pains get too much adding a child dosage to the mixture. I know they could just take the pills and the hot drink but hey why not kill two birds with one stone.
Oh, and the wife says she knows not to give the kids aspirin already, I just thought it was only when they were sick. Even so the only one that has taken any aspirin in the past was the oldest and she is 10. Right now I think the only aspirin we have in the house anyway is mine, everything else is either acetaminophen or ibuprofen.
Anyway, thought this would be a good post to keep exchanging home remedies, tis the season for it LOL.

 

[csalt]

So sorry to hear about your winter miseries and do hope all of you feel better very soon.
If the sick persons are not actually in their bedrooms but resting downstairs, give the rooms a blast of fresh air, that helps too.