Child Cold and Congestion

My 3 year old got sick over the weekend. He woke up Saturday morning with a really mucousy cough. By the end of the day he had a fever and runny nose. He's had a flu shot so I'm assuming it's the cold his father had a few weeks ago. If he's not better in the next day or two, I'm going to take him to the doctor just to be safe.
To treat the fever, I'm giving him Motrin Children's Pain Reliever/Fever Reducer for Ages 2 to 11 when he gets up in the morning and before bedtime. I'm giving him Tylenol Children's Pain Reliever/fever Reducer, for Ages 2 to 11, Stage 2 before his morning snack and before his afternoon snack.
For his cold symptoms, I'm giving him Hyland's Sniffles & Sneezes 4 Kids tablets before breakfast, before lunch and before dinner. I'm not real sure yet if these are helping him much, but they have received good reviews and are supposed to cut the duration of a cold in half. Hyland's Teething Tablets work great for teething, so I guess these are worth a try. They are very small tablets. You take 2 every 15 minutes until symptoms are relieved and then 2 every 4 hours. At first I just gave him 2 and then 2 more an hour later and then 2 every 4 hours. 2 every 15 minutes seems like a lot. They are homeopathic tablets, so no ibuprofen, no acetaminophen and not allergy causing.
I also turn his humidifier up on high and rub Vicks Vaporub Ointment on his chest, back and feet and then put socks on him. According to this site, Chester's Home Remedies, putting Vicks on his feet and then socks will help with his cough.
When sick, it's important to keep hydrated, so lots of fluid. Pudding, smoothies, popsicles and making jello with double the amount of water are also good.
Here's the smoothie I made him. It was delicious:

1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 tbs honey
squirt of lemon juice
scoop of vanilla ice cream
1 banana
handful frozen peaches
handful frozen strawberries
handful crushed ice

I'm also giving him a little pickled garlic, orange juice, and apple juice with a squirt of lemon juice and honey, spoonfuls of honey several times a day. Honey is a good home remedy for coughs.
Here's a good link on the common cold. Apparently a cold can be contagious for up to 3 weeks. Yikes!



Order Hylands Sniffles n Sneezes Tablets for kids, 125 Quick-Dissolving Tablets

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