The 9 year old is home sick today. He has a bad sore throat and a cold with a mild fever. When we were at the doctor's this morning both the nurse and the doctor scolded me when I told them that we'd given him children's aspirin.
No aspirin! they admonished me. Ibuprofen only.
But it's children's aspirin. It says so on the bottle. It's chewable. It's orange flavored. It's for kids.
No aspirin. Not now. Not ever. Never. Motrin! Or Advil. Tylenol, in a pinch. But no aspirin!
When did that rule change?
As it happens, we usually have Motrin on hand. But we ran out and hadn't restocked. We didn't think one dose of children's aspirin would be a bad thing to give a child who has a headache and a sore throat.
We're failures as parents.
How are we supposed to keep up on this anyway?
Oh well. At least he doesn't have strep. That's no comfort to him. He still feels rotten.
But the thing he feels rottenest about is that while he's sick and feeling rotten he can't be outside, riding his brand new scooter.
Aspirin can cause Reyes syndrome. And don't ever ignore strep symptoms, because if you miss it, it can lead to Scarlett fever! Isn't it a wonder that we ever lived through it all?
Posted by: blue girl | Friday, April 01, 2005 at 05:05 PM
It's true. Somewhere along the line they did some studies and discovered that aspirin is not good for children. Reyes syndrome, as Blue Girl notes.
We popped 'em like candy as kids. Remember Aspirgum? Didn't they give that out at Halloween?
But the connection is for real. Now low dosage, orange-flavored chewable aspirin is for grumpy guys like me who, on the advice of their physicians, are trying to ward off heart problems. Some brands still call it "children's" aspirin. Think they're trying to tell us something?
Posted by: mac macgillicuddy | Friday, April 01, 2005 at 07:55 PM
The less mand-made chemicals the better is what I tend to hear on these things...
Just goes to show how little we understand at times (was Aspirin not the wonder drug once?) and that the posibilites on nutrition as described in Sleeper may yet turn out to be correct...
Posted by: denisdekat | Friday, April 01, 2005 at 11:48 PM
Someone already mentioned Reyes Syndrome. Make sure he gets lots of water. That will keep him from getting dehydrated, and it'll make him feel better.
Miso and matzo soup are great when you're sick, plus they taste good.
Posted by: Trish Wilson | Saturday, April 02, 2005 at 08:44 AM
Miso soup followed by coconut popsicles. My two kids swear by this combo for a cold and sore throat.
Posted by: Mary | Saturday, April 02, 2005 at 05:59 PM
Thanks for all the good advice, folks.
The doctor put him on an anti-biotic and we stocked up on Motrin. He's been good about taking both and is feeling much better. In fact, he felt so much better yesterday that he sneaked outside in the rain to ride his scooter.
Posted by: Lance | Sunday, April 03, 2005 at 04:59 PM
Yeah, but how soon will it be before doctors are yelling "Motrin....NEVER!!" You never know these days when it come to drugs.
Posted by: Corey Ward | Wednesday, March 14, 2007 at 12:08 PM
Why didn't I find this page until AFTER I gave my 8 year old baby aspirin for her fever? Egads... the more you surf the net, the scarier it gets. I feel just like you; the absolute worst parent. As if it wasn't bad enough that my daughter had strep and I didn't take her in, no symptoms, no fever no nothing and now, we are on our 3 bout of strep in 2 months.
Why do they even call it BABY aspirin if we can give it to our babies?
Posted by: Cathy Faccin | Friday, March 30, 2007 at 10:34 PM
How many millions and millions of american kids (and others) from the 40's, 50's, and 60's were given aspirin--and exactly how many cases of Reyes Syndrome did we have in those thirty years? I'd like to see the stats on that. I'd guess it's about the same ratio of chance as getting hit by lightning, which is significantly greater than get in a plane crash... if we were to grab onto every statistical danger some bought and paid for scientist put out we'd just hang out in the fetal position and veg... acetaminifen and ibuprofen will have their day when the next hyped painkiller funds its scientists to find their achilles heel, until then I'll use aspirin...
Posted by: james | Wednesday, September 03, 2008 at 04:52 PM
I still have my kids chew on baby willow bark. :)
You know, I had some gum the other day that tasted just like baby aspirin. It made me kind of nostalgic... so do people commenting on old posts.
Posted by: Jennifer | Wednesday, September 03, 2008 at 06:47 PM