Cold season: how parents can help their children deal with a common cold

We are paging Dr. Paul to get his advice on prevention and treatment for the common cold.

It’s the time of year when colds are abundant, and the Medical Officer of Health and CEO of the Eastern Ontario Health Unit joined CTV Your Morning Ottawa to help parents dealing with sick children.

“I like to talk about it because parents have a lot of misconceptions and questions about it,” Dr. Paul Roumeliotis, A.K.A. Dr. Paul, said on Wednesday.

What is the common cold?

According to Dr. Paul, there are many misconceptions around what the common cold is and how it can be treated. The common cold is different than the flu, he says, especially in the sense that it is usually much milder.

“The flu is much more dangerous,” he said. “So, this is the common sniffles, runny nose, bit of a fever. A couple days it goes away.”

As Dr. Paul explains, the common cold can be brought on by hundreds of different viruses, which makes treatment tricky.

“There’s a multitude of viruses that cause it, and that’s why there’s no cure,” he said. “The other thing too is that because they’re viruses, antibiotics don’t work.”

How to prevent the common cold?

Prevention of the common cold is like that of other respiratory illnesses, Dr. Paul says.

Children and adults should cough and sneeze into their sleeve and stay home when sick.

Dr. Paul also recommends frequent hand washing and suggests disinfecting commonly used surfaces.

How to treat the common cold?

When children are suffering from a common cold, parents should focus on making them feel comfortable, Dr. Paul says.

“The two things that you want to make sure is that they’re sleeping well, and they’re feeding well,” he said.

Dr. Paul says parents should give their children plenty of fluids while they are sick. When children are dealing with congestion, he recommends using a saline spray to help clear it out.

Dr. Paul also says cool humidity can help children breathe easier while they’re suffering from a cold.

“Cold mist humidity actually helps them breathe better and sort of humidifies the airways so they can have a better time sleeping.”

What about medications?

Dr. Paul says he generally recommends against giving children common cold medications like decongestants and cough medicine.

“Those medications are not really supposed to be given to children less than six years of age. That’s really the most important thing,” he said. “We used to give it to younger kids, but there’s a lot of side effects.”

In some cases, like for older children who are being kept awake at night by their coughing, Dr. Paul says medication containing dextromethorphan, or cough suppressant, might be appropriate.

If a child has a fever, Dr. Paul says medicine like acetaminophen might be suitable.

So, while medication options may be limited, the good news, Dr. Paul says, is that colds usually go away in only a few days.

“If they persist longer, obviously, and have other symptoms, the child’s not able to feed themselves, that’s when people should seek medical attention,” he said.

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