After Taking Too Much Cold Medicine: How to Care for Your Child

Taking too much cold medicine can lead to serious health problems. The health care team might have given your child a medicine to help remove the cold medicine from the body. The team made sure your child was OK and treated any problems. Your child is now well enough to go home. It is very important to make sure your child uses all medicines safely.

• Do not give cold medicines to your child unless the doctor says it's OK, especially to kids under 6 years old.

• To help prevent medicine overdose:

  • Keep all medicines in a locked cabinet, out of the reach of children.

  • Avoid keeping old or no longer needed medicines in your home.

  • Keep track of how much medicine is in each bottle or container.

  • Put medicines away after giving a dose or taking one yourself.

  • Make sure the lids to all medicines are tightly closed.

  • Never tell kids that medicine "tastes like candy."

  • Always keep medicines in their original containers.

If your child took cold medicine on purpose:

• Talk to your child about drug abuse. Explain that cold medicine can be very dangerous when taken in large amounts.

• Watch for cold remedies and unlabeled pills or powders in your teen's room.

• Make a follow-up appointment with a counselor or therapist if recommended by the doctor.

• You have questions about cold medicines and want to make sure they are safe for your child.

Your child has signs of a possible cold medicine overdose, such as:

• stomach cramps, constipation, nausea, or vomiting

• drowsiness, dizziness, clumsiness, confusion, irritability, or unusual behavior

• muscle pain or weakness

• high fever and sweating

• dark pee (color of cola or tea) or trouble peeing

• slow or shallow breathing

• feeling of a pounding heartbeat

• blurred vision or large pupils

• headache

Call 911 if you think your child is having seizures (body movements that look uncontrolled).

What is in cold medicine? Cold medicines can have a number of different ingredients, such as:

• pain relievers

• decongestants (dry up a congested nose or chest)

• expectorants (loosen mucus, making it easier to cough up)

• cough suppressants (relieve cough symptoms)

Many medicines contain combinations of these ingredients. It's important to take medicines that treat only the symptoms that are bothersome. 

Should kids take cold medicine? Colds go away on their own. So doctors recommend not giving cold medicines to children, as they haven't been shown to work in kids, and can cause side effects.

How can a child get too much cold medicine? An adult might accidentally give the wrong dose or use different brands of cold medicine at the same time, not realizing they contain the same ingredients. A young child might find the medicine and take it out of curiosity. Because some cold medicines can cause a pleasant feeling, older kids and teens might take too much on purpose, trying to get high. 

What should I do if my child accidentally gets too much medicine again? Call the poison control center right away for advice (1-800-222-1222). Keep the number posted in your home (for example, on the refrigerator) and add it to your cellphone contacts.