Cough Medicine

When we get sick with a nasty cold, one of the first things we want to do is take cough medicine I dont often get colds, but when I do, that is indeed the first thing that I take out of the cupboard. When my little girl gets sick, I also give her cough medicine, but I make sure there is more time than recommended between doses. There are a few reasons I do this, and I may be out of my mind, but I think there is something to be said for allowing the body to fight off a cold on its own.

When you take cough medicine the urge to cough goes away. Im not exactly sure how it works, but it does. I have had a few coughs there were resistant to cough medicine, but for the most part it does what it is supposed to do. We cough for a reason though, and that is to get rid of the stuff that is building up in our lungs. Its good to cough, though there is no reason to do it constantly for a week when you have gotten a cold.

When it comes time to give my daughter cough medicine I have a few rules that I follow. I always give it to her before bed so that she can sleep through the night. When you are sick, sleep is essential. I dont want her coughing all night and staying awake. I know she will just feel worse in the morning. When she gets up in the morning though, I wait a few hours before I give her more cough medicine. This allows her a little time to cough so that she can get some of that stuff out of her lungs. I dont let it go on too long, but I think its important that she allows her body to fight the cold a bit on its own.

I also dont want her to think that cough medicine is something that you take when you get the smallest of sniffles. I dont like to medicate myself all the time, and I dont want her to do the same thing. Its easy to allow yourself to use meds to get over things, but it might help your immune system if you let it work for you. Not only that, cough medicine can make you a little loopy. There are times when you need to be sharp, and coughing is a better alternative to being sloppy and dim minded.