My baby is sick - pseudophedrine??

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I'm just starting to recover from a sinus thing, and Natalie went from normal to completely congested and then runny in about a half hour today. She was acting pretty normal, but her eyes look very sick and tired and eyes/nose were running and drainage. She was so runny she couldn't even see and woke during her nap choking on drainage, so I gave her some Benadryl. Now she's in bed and just so congested. I have to wait until about 12:30 to give her anything else, and I have 2 choices: Tylenol cold plus with pseudophedrine and Tylenol cold plus with the new decongestant (phyl-something).

I remember giving her the pseudophedrine once when she was around 8mths, and it worked really well BUT...I gave her at least one dose during the day (maybe 2, can't remember) and one at night back then and she was up all night! She felt great but couldn't sleep. I've found that it has the same effect on me if I take more than one dose during a 24hr. period.

How do your kids react to pseudophedrine? Do you think she might be okay on one dose per 24hrs? I would just stick with the "other stuff" (phyl-) during the day tomorrow and go with the pseudo at night. That's what I've done and it's helped me. I don't feel the phyl-stuff does a thing for me and she is just so congested. I guess if the pseudo keeps her up, and the phyl- doesn't work, I'd be up all night anyway. Maybe I should go with the one that has the best chances of giving her relief!

It's amazing how quickly these things happen. She's not too good at blowing her nose yet, because that would really help. My poor baby.

By Reds9298 on Tuesday, December 5, 2006 - 11:23 pm:

Also, any other good decongestants that won't keep her from sleeping? I can go out in the morning and get something else, but those are the only 2 things I have tonight. TIA

By Tink on Tuesday, December 5, 2006 - 11:43 pm:

The psuedo- wires all three of my dks and keeps them up at night, too. I usually give that to them anyways because I'd rather have them awake and comfortable, even if I miss out on sleep. We use Tylenol Cold plus most of the time but I like to add the Johnson's Baby Soothing Vapor creme. My dks love it and it really does seem to help. I've even been known to rub a little on when I'm not feeling good at night. I just put some on my ds half an hour ago so he could sleep. I make sure we have a tube of it at the first sign of a cold coming on. There's also children's Airborne that she can take to minimize the length of the cold. We swear by it!

I hope both of you are feeling better soon. {{{Hugs}}}

By Ginny~moderator on Wednesday, December 6, 2006 - 06:02 am:

I know my allergy pill - Allegra D - would keep me up all night if I took it at night. I can only take it in the morning. Many of the allergy meds do get you wired, as Tink says.

By Ginny~moderator on Wednesday, December 6, 2006 - 06:07 am:

Here's a link to the page at MedlinePlus Drug Information about this kind of medication:

MedlinePlus

Here is a part of what it says about Antiistamines, Decongestants and Anelgesics

Children—Very young children are usually more sensitive to the effects of this medicine. Increases in blood pressure, nightmares, unusual excitement, nervousness, restlessness, or irritability may be more likely to occur in children. Also, mental changes may be more likely to occur in young children taking these combination medicines.

I'd call your pediatrician and ask what is safest to use.

By Reds9298 on Wednesday, December 6, 2006 - 08:34 am:

My doctor recommends pseudo, I just know what it did to her as a baby. She actually was up every hour until about 11:30, then slept soundly after that and woke up not feeling well but still not crying. I gave her a dose of the phenyl decongestant with the Tyl cold Plus and will see how that works. I'm also going to pick up the Johnson's Vapor Creme you recommended Tink - thanks!

Giving this child medicine used to be so easy, but God forbid if it's not "purple" she wants NO part of it and turns into a bear! I don't recall seeing the Tyl Cold in purple, but it would be worth the waste of $ to buy another one if they have it!!

By Tripletmom on Wednesday, December 6, 2006 - 08:40 am:

I always just used Tylenol Cold with Katie,A vaporizer in her room with vicks liquid in it.A few pillows underneath her mattress to keep her elevated and some secaris nose gel to keep her nose moist inside.

To help teach her to blow her nose--Tell her to pretend to blow out candles with nose.That's how I taught Katie.I hope she's feeling better soon (((Natalie and Mommy)))

By Tripletmom on Wednesday, December 6, 2006 - 08:48 am:

Hey Reds,The Tylenol Cold Plus and the decongestant don't have any of the same ingredients do they? That would be double dosing her.I hope she's feeling better soon.I hate when they get sick I rather have it 10 times worse than seeing any of my babies sick.

By Reds9298 on Wednesday, December 6, 2006 - 01:59 pm:

No...the Tylenol Cold Plus has acetaminophen, a cough med, and the decongestant combined in one. The new phenyl decongestant I mentioned was made so that you don't have to present 5 pieces of ID and your criminal history at the pharmacy counter just to purchase it. You DO have to do that for anything with pseudo in it, because it just works better which is why people use it make drugs. Long story short, the phenyl doesn't work as well, but still does seem to help. The pseudo REALLY works but, as mentioned, WIRED!

I know what you mean Triplet...I just couldn't go to sleep lastnight thinking about how bad I know she feels. She's napping now though, without stirring from congestion, so that's good.She's so pathetic when she runs a fever...one cheek will get a beet red splotch on it.

By Mrsheidi on Wednesday, December 6, 2006 - 08:12 pm:

i just suctioned him a lot and put in a humidifier. i used the saline solution to clear his nose. he didn't wake up crying so it was ok.
sorry, gotta run...bath time.

By Tripletmom on Thursday, December 7, 2006 - 08:42 pm:

Reds-

How is Natalie feeling today?

By Reds9298 on Thursday, December 7, 2006 - 09:40 pm:

I'm surprised but much better today! Mine is still hanging on, so I expected her to get worse. Thankfully that hasn't been the case. She had no meds today, and although she's still stopped up, she can breathe on her own and didn't run a fever today. I'm pleasantly surprised and relieved! She hasn't complained at all of a sore throat, and that was the worst for me this past week.
Thanks for asking.

By Tripletmom on Thursday, December 7, 2006 - 09:45 pm:

(((REDS)))) I'm glad she's feeling better. I hope your feeling better soon.With having it now though,Christmas will be a ton of fun!! I was sick almost every year at Christmas as a kid,it wasn't much fun.

By Dawnk777 on Thursday, December 7, 2006 - 11:22 pm:

I'm glad you're both feeling a little better. I'm a little stuffed up and have a touch of laryngitis, otherwise known as "sexy voice!" LOL! Not.