9 plus 1 medicine you shouldn't give your baby

Salam to all,

Sorry I kinda busy lately I couldn't afford to update my blog. But this is something that *I think* is very important to share.... (Herm, I nie semua important. Ahaks)

9 medicine you shouldn't give your baby (Source from www.babycenter.com, and other few health articles)

1. Aspirin

Aspirin is not good for your baby. It can lead to Reye's syndrome. Other name of Aspirin is salicylate or acetylsalicylic acid. Some/many drugs contain aspirin, so please ask the Doctor/pharmacist every time you prescribe medicines for your baby.

2. OTC cough & cold medicine

Over the counter (OTC) drug is basically a medicine that you can buy directly from the counter/pharmacy without doctor's prescription. OTC drugs don't normally help to treat cold/cough for baby. They somehow can lead to other problems such as rashes, drowsiness, upset stomach, and as severe as fasten heartbeat. OTC drug can easily be given to kids with a wrong dosage.

3. Anti-nausea medications

This medication is not necessary to your baby because most babies can handle vomiting problem by themselves. This problem is normally for temporary only. Let the body handle it naturally...

P/s: keep on breastfeed your baby and make sure your baby get enough liquid. If this problem happens to your bigger kid (vomiting & diarrhea), you might wanna consider giving your kid ORS to counter the dehydration problem.

However, if severe symptoms happen, and baby begins to get dehydrated, please contact your baby's paed.

4. Adult medications

I don't think a wise parent would give their baby an adult's medication. For sure the dosage of the medicine is not age and size appropriate to the baby. Furthermore, the content of the medication might not be suitable for a baby.

5. Any medication prescribed for someone else or for another condition

Prescribed medications means that the drugs are designed for a specific condition only. They are not a universal drug that can treat many illnesses (there's nothing like that). Giving your baby a prescription drugs intended for someone else or other illnesses might not just be ineffective, but also could lead to other severe problems. Give her only medicine prescribed for her and her specific condition.

6. Anything expired

Expired drugs may no longer be effective and can even be harmful. You have to check the date, and also the colour of the drugs. Get rid of discoloured or crumbly medicine. Most importantly, be alert on the drug's label!

7. Extra acetaminophen

Some medicines contain acetaminophen to help ease fever and pain. Beware not to give your baby an additional separate dose of acetaminophen. Giving your baby either ibuprofen or acetaminophen or switch between both two back and forth is OK but you MUST take note on the dosage and your baby's condition. To be safe, don't give your baby this two medicines unless with a proper dosage or by the paed's recommendation.

8. Chewables

Chewable tablets i.e pills are not suitable for babies. Unless your baby has already eating solid, you can crush the tablets and mix it in your baby's food. But you have to make sure your baby takes all the food so that he can get the right dosage of the medicine.

P/S: I still think giving tablet to baby is not good.

9. Chinese herb ma huang (ephedra or ephedrine)

Herbal products may be safe to adults but not to babies. Most of herbal products (even they are derived from natural products) have adverse side effects. They might cause allergic reaction, high blood pressure and liver damage.

Herbal remedies are not a good choice for baby as the dosage might not be suitable. Wrong combination or mix medications can lead to other problems and might also be fatal. Please consult the paed's before you go on to any herbal products.

10. Don't ask for Antibiotic every time your baby is sick (tambah sendiri)

OK. point no. 10 I add it myself. You know, our culture is always if you sick, you must take medicines. The more medicines you eat, the better!

It's wrong! Most common illnesses like flu, cough, etc can be treated naturally. Our body can produce immune system to fight those illnesses. We just need to trust our body, give sometimes to recover. Same goes to our baby.

And not all illnesses can be treated with antibiotic! Those illnesses that is not caused by bacteria cannot be treated by antibiotic. Flu is one of the illness that is not cause by bacteria. It is caused by a virus named influenza. So if your baby has flu, never ask for antibiotic. In fact, don't ask for any medicine because your baby can fight it himself!

Having so much antibiotic can lead to antibiotic resistance. This means, more dosage or stronger type of antibiotic is required each time your baby really need it for the next time because the normal dosage won't kill the bacteria any more. It sounds dangerous isn't it? It IS dangerous!

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We don't have to be a doctor to know about health facts. We just have to be a wise mother who know exactly what our baby's essential needs. Do a lot of readings and it will ease ourself. At least, when our baby is sick, we know what to do. We moms are always our baby's first doctor.

12 Nov 2010

Uni Malaya