What do you use for pain relief? psst..don't use motrin, look inside to see why.

[Sherra]

A lot of people use motrin for pain relief in their child, esp after vaccinations. I heard this the other day and it really does concern me that motrin is given to children and on our shelves labeled for children seeing is that it is one thing that is linked to SJS.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6986891
http://www.sjsupport.org/press_relea...ingMotrin.html
http://www.skinassn.org/



I wanted to pass this on because they have known about this corelation for awhile now..grrrr..and I am just now hearing about it! Some of you may have known this before I posted it..but I'm trying to catch those who have not heard it before. It absolute shocks me to hear people say that "well it's rare, I'm going to give it anyway". I just don't understand that logic when there are other things to use that won't do harm to the baby. I guess the term rare doesn't mean anything to me as I know data and how it is skewed and also how the drug companies like to hide things...who knows how many cases they have paid off to avoid press just so some unexpecting parent has this happen to their child? The term rare doesn't mean rare when it finally hits your child and the data is so skewed you aren't sure what to believe.


We have to be SO careful on what to give our children. Their bodies have such a hard time dealing with these modern medicines. Medicines that weren't around a few generations ago or given with the liberal use they are given today.

Like for teething, I have an entire natural arsenal that works way better than tylenol ever did for us. I chucked out the tylenol.

So what natural products do you use to help your child through the hard times? Let's give people some options that won't endanger thier child. I know this is just from lack of knowing what to give or how to help the process along. Most parents just don't know anything but what their doctor tells them.

[leomom]

I used pulsatilla for dd's runny nose and it cleared up completely.

What natural remedies do you use for teething, other than teething tablets?

[Plummeting]

Yes, what do others use for pain relief? When DD was little, we gave tylenol maybe 4 times - she always spit it right back out, smart girl. I'm not worried about fever, but I want to know what to give her if she's uncomfortable.

Oh, and homeopathic tablets are out for us - they all contain lactose and DD has a serious cow's milk allergy. They make her vomit. She's also allergic to soy, so we can't use anything with soy in it either.

[buff]

we also have this problem with homeopathy - the lactose - my ds is seriously dairy intolerant - the homeopath we saw said it wouldn't hurt him in small doses -DUR! and homeopathy is supposed to work in minute doses - don't quite get that.

[aniT]

: I have never heard of SJS or the link to Motrin.

I've been a pediatrician for 25 years. I never recommended Children's Advil or Children's Motrin ever, not once,” says Dr. Jay Gordon, Sabrina's pediatrician.

“I would rather see Motrin and Advil as prescription medications because I think they have more side effects than acetaminophen — Tylenol-type medications,” says Gordon.

Our old ped TOLD us to use Tylonal then give Motrin two hours later if the fever didn't go down. I was also given persciption strength Motrin after DD was born for cramps. (I was offered vicodine after dd#2 was born but declined because I had never had cramps with dd#1, so when #3 was born I asked for it and was given the Mortrin.) So days after birth Dd was getting it in breast milk. I was also using it for a horrible tooth ache until I discovered Cammomile tea not only help better with the pain, but cured the infection almost overnight. I am so glad this information is given to people before they harm their children.

[amyandelle]

Wow, I had no idea!! Thanks for posting this!!

As for your question, we very very very rarly give Elle Feverall suppositories (acetaminophen). She is allergic to the flavorings in the oral meds so suppositories are the only thing we are able to use. Right now Elle is getting 4 teeth and we have been giving her Childrens Teething Relief homeopathic drops. They seem to be helping with her discomfort
Amy

Plummeting & Buff: FYI My dd is allergic to dairy, Soy and Gluten. The homeopathy drops that we are using for teething are Children's Teething Relief Made by NatraBio the only inactive ingredients are Purified Water, Glycerin, and Citric Acid. We bought them at Whole Foods. They seem to help and Elle loves the taste!!

[DesireeH]

We dont really use anything. He's never told me he's in pain (unless he whacked his foot on a toy or something.) The couple times he was sick, he was just tired with a fever (which I let him have because it means his body was working to fight off the yuckies!) He never really had teething issues.. His one cheek would get a little pink but he wasnt crying or extra fussy or anything. I did give him stuff to chew on so maybe that helped too. The frozen washcloth trick he hated so we never did that. LOL

[Starflower]

Originally Posted by amyandelle

Plummeting & Buff: FYI My dd is allergic to dairy, Soy and Gluten. The homeopathy drops that we are using for teething are Children's Teething Relief Made by NatraBio the only inactive ingredients are Purified Water, Glycerin, and Citric Acid. We bought them at Whole Foods. They seem to help and Elle loves the taste!!

Thanks for the info on non-dairy homeopathic remedies. These are hard to find sometimes.

As for the motrin thing, wow - scary. DD hates taking the stuff anyway so I'm more than happy to look for an alternative. I don't like to medicate her much anyway. Only if she's really uncomfortable to where she can't even nurse.

[Peppermint]

Thank you for posting this- I use Motrin for sore throats, which is generally my only reason for giving pain killers.

[Sherra]

I had gastric bypass 4 years ago and on my list of drugs NOT to take is Motrin aka ibuprofen. Why? Because it could eat a hole in my stomach because it is small and my acids used to break down food are diminished due to the rerouting and what not. How does this relate to kids? Babies esp do not have the stomach acids to deal with this drug. And it is being marketed to babies! Makes me ill that they are telling this to gastric bypass adults but can't seem to connect the dots to help out the babies so their parents know better. Sure once in awhile you get that golden doctor that knows his/her stuff but that is few and far between unfortunately.

I have had people ask me what I use for teething. This is what I use:

1) Camilia
http://www.lifesvigor.com/prod/1491/index.htm

When I feel her head sorta start to get hot, I typically use this.

2) Hyland's teething tablets

Luv them!


3) Comfort Shen
Is given by oriental medicine doc. It tastes absolutely yucky but it does work most of the time. I usually use this as a last resort though because of the yucky taste.

4) I have an ice cube tray I fill up with chamomile tea and I put a cube mushed up in the baby safe feeder and let her chomp on it. This helps a lot..some people dip a baby washcloth with chamomile tea and put it in the freezer. I use a GOOD chamomile tea from Trader Joe's..it's so worth it. People always said how this worked but I didn't really give it a try until I got this tea to help me sleep. It works for me so that is when I decided to give it to baby in this way when she is teething.

By the time I try my arsenal, the crisis is over and I'm so happy that I didn't have to resort to tylenol. Tylenol went down the drain. She was never really interested in the cold teethers... but number 4 works like a charm.

I recently got some gumomile from www.herbsforkids.com . It sorta helps numb the gums using natural safe substances. If your baby is old enough, you may want to give her/him a frozen waffle and just watch them closely. Some people swear by this.

[tayndrewsmama]

Originally Posted by aniT

Our old ped TOLD us to use Tylonal then give Motrin two hours later if the fever didn't go down.

We were too. When ds was six months old, he was really sick for over a week and we were told that if we had to, to give him Tylenol and Motrin (alternating) every four hours.

Thanks for posting this info.

[mamakay]

Originally Posted by DesireeH

We dont really use anything. He's never told me he's in pain (unless he whacked his foot on a toy or something.) The couple times he was sick, he was just tired with a fever (which I let him have because it means his body was working to fight off the yuckies!) He never really had teething issues.. His one cheek would get a little pink but he wasnt crying or extra fussy or anything. I did give him stuff to chew on so maybe that helped too. The frozen washcloth trick he hated so we never did that. LOL

Yup. Me, too.
I know whenever I've been really, really sick, the majority of the discomfort has been the cold chills and body aches. That's the worst...it really sucks.
So, I get in a hot bath and warm up and my aches go away and then I sleep.
I know this probably increases fever, but I just see it as my own version of homeopathy.

Lol...this is like the third time I've mentioned this on this forum. I apologize if I'm becoming a hot bath evangelical.
I really do believe in the stuff, though.
Did I mention that the steam helps clear out you sinuses?

[mamakay]

"The risk of being struck by lightning is about one per five million, so this is in the same range as the risk of being struck by lightning," says Dr. David Kaufman

I don't play in lightning storms, either.

[Peppermint]

Does anyone have something for exteme sore throats other than tylenol.?

[earthmama369]

Regarding lactose intolerance and teething remedies, a friend of mine swears by Boiron's homeopathic chamillia (sp?) -- it comes in little tubes in liquid form and is vegan.

nak

[amnesiac]

Well I actually do use tylenol or motrin in certain situations. Not generally for fever or during illness but for pain, yes. And for teething and sore throat pain I have used topical anesthetics too. Of course my preference is to try non-pharmacologic approaches first but sometimes they just don't always work for me.

I often use lemon balm as a calmer-downer which seems to make pain symptoms less. It makes a nice bath or tea with catnip & mint. My kids also always liked to chew on a cold, wet washcloth when they were teething.

[Plummeting]

But what about pain not related to teething? DD never had any problems w/ teething pain - at least not that we could tell. I would give her frozen blueberries and teethers to bite on when I knew she was cutting teeth, but it never seemed to matter either way.

I'd really like to know what anyone does if their baby just seems to feel miserable - like how we feel when we come down with the flu or something. It seems to me that this is a catch 22. Whenever I've been really, really sick and been so sore I could hardly move, a tylenol has been a savior and if she ever seemed to be in pain, that's when I'd want to give it to her. But then the catch is that if she's sick enough that her she's having bad body aches, that's probably when her immune system needs to be at its best - not burdened down with tylenol. At this point, that's all theoretical because she's never been that sick, but I'd like to be prepared in case it ever happens.

The hot bath idea seems to be the same principle as homeopathy to me - a little bit of something that causes the same symptoms is supposed to cure the symptoms, right? I just don't know if a toddler would want to get in a hot bath....

[sohj]

Originally Posted by Peppermint

Does anyone have something for exteme sore throats other than tylenol.?

I've never used stuff like that for sore throats. I never would have assumed that it would have worked for that.

I gargle with a tea made of Balm of Gilead buds. And I use a throat spray from HerbPharm: Propolis-Echinacea Throat Spray. Some use a spray called Singers' Saving Grace, I think.

Or, for the little one, I give him liquorice root tea to drink. It is naturally very sweet so kids generally drink it without a fuss.

Gargling with salt water is also good for throat pain.

[Peppermint]

So, the licorice root tea takes away the pain and is safe for little ones? My kids don't ever gets Strep, but seem to be really susceptable to Coxsakie and it makes these awful sores in their throats where they can't drink anything w/o pain. The tylenol or motrin works great on the pain, but of course, I would much rather use something else.

[Breathless Wonder]

For sore throats we use throat coat tea.