My Daughter's First Fever and The Meds I Won't Be Giving Her

My 2 year old daughter came down with a sudden fever the other night.  It was the first time she has ever had a fever.  I will admit it I was a little caught off guard since she hadn't had one in 2 1/2 years so I contacted my neighbor who has a 3 year old to ask how she handles them.  

She was was very thoughtful and brought some children's ibuprofen liquids over.  I decided however to let my daughter's body fight it out without medication, unless the fever got dangerous.  I gave her a lukewarm bath and then checked her throughout the night to make sure it did not get higher than the 102.8 she had going.  Thankfully, she woke up in the morning feeling better and the fever left on it's own.

I was getting ready to take the medicine back to my neighbor when I decided to read the bottles to see what was in them.  I was shocked!  Both of them had High Fructose Corn Syrup and Red Dye #40 and Polysorbate 80.

I avoid all dyes in our food, especially Red Dye #40.  It has been linked to hyperactivity in children all the way to being a known carcinogen.  When I looked up Polysorbate 80, the possible side effects listed where anaphylactic shock and scientists say that polysorbate 80 causes infertility in mammals. Baby female rats were injected with the substance and experienced accelerated maturation, hormonal changes, decreased weight of the uterus and ovaries, and degenerative follicles.  Also High Fructose Corn Syrup's possible side effects are weight gain and obesity, increased risk of developing Type-2 Diabetes, elevated triglyceride and HDL (cholesterol) levels, long term liver damage, oh yea and it contains alarmingly high levels of mercury!!

This is a medication to be given to a child while their body's immune system is under attack?  So while their bodies are already vulnerable the ingredients in the medication supposed to help them can actually do way more harm then good.  I don't think so!!!!  Not my daughter.

I did research and even the dye-free options still contain High Fructose Corn Syrup and Polysorbate 80.  Some of the even still had dyes listed!!

As shocking as it is there was not a safe non-toxic alternative I could find.  There are some holistic methods that I read about, but for the most part it is the old school route for me.  Lukewarm baths and socks soaked in cold water.  The socks need to be able to cover the ankles and wrung out.

It caught me off guard this time but I will now know what I will and won't do in the future!

Till next blog....