Did Verizon buy some other company out, or was it a name change? I've never had them, yet I got a $14 check from them out of some class-action suit. It's not much, but, hey, money!

You'll have them in the future and they'll give you bad service, and for tax reasons it will be cheaper for them to send money back through time to you....

So true, Suzi.

Oh, Vortex. Silly woman. Whiskey's for teething!

I usually read the thing 23x and then ask DH: "this is right, isn't it?"

Ha - this is totally me. I try hard to buy just 1-2 brands to reduce the dropper options. Then, I'm on the Dr. Sears site (which lists dosages and weights and describes the bottles and so on) to make sure. Of course, it's different now that Ellie's 24 lbs and not 10.

This is the slowest day ever. Yeah, I've done *nothing* but still the day is dragging.

Jess - was the Tylenol prescribed? I thought it had all been taken off the shelves which is why I'm asking.

Oh, not Tylenol Cold, just plain old acetomeniphen.

I'm not a big believer in OTC cold meds generally - I just don't think they do any good (except for the PM ones if your cough is so bad you can't sleep). But I'm a big believer in pain relief.

There was a study recently that showed that honey was as effective a cough remedy as any OTC cough syrup out there. (I'll do a quick Google for the link in a sec.)

[eta: Here's an article about it: [link]

And here's the actual study: [link] ]

[eta2: And before anyone jumps on me, I know you can't give honey to babies under 12 months.]

My mom used to make a sore-throat/cough remedy out of whiskey, lemonade concentrate (not mixed with water) and honey. Worked for me.

My mom used to make a sore-throat/cough remedy out of whiskey, lemonade concentrate (not mixed with water) and honey. Worked for me.

Yup. And actually, even without the whiskey if that's not something you're comfortable with (or if you've taken any Tylenol), just the hot lemonade works pretty well.

I'm not a big believer in OTC cold meds generally - I just don't think they do any good

This was totally the case for Ellie - seemed so worthless. I used to give her decongestant (not sure if that is still available or not) when she got colds after about 6 months because my MD SIL said it would help avoid ear infections. I don't know if it did although Ellie has only had one since her first one at 5 months.

Speaking of sick kids, Ellie has a runny nose. No big deal, really, except that we are getting on a plane and it's currently -2 at our destination and I just know that the minute we land, it will turn into a sinus infection/ear infection/something.

Thanks Jessica - and I hope you all can get some rest tonight -

The trouble is, as Cashmere pointed out, some things work for some kids and not for others. This 'fix' is one-size-fits-all. I'm so glad for you that you were able to get the medicine for the earache fast.

The rest is white fonted for rant-factor For us, not having any way to ease her pain and allow her to breathe through the mucus, coughing (secondary because she was swallowing so much mucus), ear infection (which really pings me because my sister lost part of her hearing to childhood ear infections - and a delay in meds is even more concerning), and more mucus, plus fever, was absolutely a horrible couple of nights earlier this year.

As many are doing, we tried to follow the new guidelines. We want to be good parents, according to whatever the standard is this year. We tried honey, steam, all of it. When we finally got through to someone on the 24-hour pediatrics hotline hours later, and told her what was happening, they were wonderfully supportive in the fact that there are lots of different experiences out there and that we should in fact give her the tylenol cold if we had it - which we did, we just weren't feeling like it was safe to use it given all of the media coverage. they were amazed that we hadn't used it.

People can get after me for not continuing with the natural cures. She's got allergies, a penchant for massive colds, and sinus issues. When she gets sick, it is a huge event. I'm going to try to continue to give her what works for her.

I swear, the combination of "sick" with "my kid" makes it just so horrible.

Sox, you totally have to go with what works when you have a miserably sick kid. And the guidelines really are just that -- guidelines. The OTC meds aren't harmful UNLESS they're given in the wrong dosage, and that's true of any medication.

I try never to give the kids anything unless they're really miserable, or definitely infected, including antibiotics. But when you've got a kid who can't breathe and can't sleep, I'm willing to make sure I dose her properly so she's more comfortable.

That said, natural cures are awesome! We've simply never used many of them because ... well, my mom never did, so I didn't know what they were. And with Jake, now 16, baby- and toddlerhood was pre-Internet for us.