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Welcome to Raising Califorina where you will be taken behind the scenes to peek at the lives of a Southern California family. You will have access to never before seen footage and exclusive interviews that will give you insight on what it is like to be a kid in California!


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No Cold Medicines For Children Under 12

When Tennessee was a baby/toddler, his pediatrician advised me to give him all kinds of over the counter cold/cough/flu medication even if he just had a runny nose. In my heart, I knew that he was just soooooooooooooo little and he shouldn't be taking medication unless that it was absolutely necessary...like a life or death situation. So, there were many times that I chose not to and a few times that I chose to give it to him anyway. One particular incident that comes to my mind was when we moved to Los Angeles from Nashville. I was concerned that Tennessee would cry the entire time since he was only 14 months old then. His pediatrician said "Just give him some Benedryl. That will make it so that he sleeps most of the way on the plane." I did that. Didn't work. He has a natural immunity to Benedryl...as a matter of fact, he seemed MORE wide awake and exciteable than normal. I am glad that I was smart enough to know not to just give him more until it works...but unfortunately MANY parents aren't that smart.

Furthermore, the FDA made a very LOUD public statement last Fall about the dangers of giving cold/flu medications to babies/toddlers/children. They stated that these medications were unsafe for little ones PERIOD. Apparently, parents didn't listen and continued to give these medications to their chldren because the FDA felt as though they needed to make the same URGENT STATEMENT as before. If the FDA's warning isn't strong enough for parents and caregivers to pay attention to then they should watch and listen to stories of parents who have lost their children to cold
medications.

Like I said before, the FDA made this public statement LAST Fall. So why did I see THIS when I went to Rite Aid, Target and CVS LAST WEEK???


Does the FDA really have our children's best interest at heart or kickbacks from pharmaceutical companies? Dr. Lurie from the Health Research Group of Public Citizen believes that cold/cough remedies should be banned for all children under the age of 12. Read why HERE. And get this! According to the Associated Press, the "FDA never formally allowed infant-targeted cold remedies in the first place; Ganley said they evolved through a legal loophole". Nice.

Make sure that all of the parents, grandparents, babysitters, nannies and all other possible caregivers that you know, understand that they should NOT to give these products to children under the age of 6...and even better let them know not to give them to children under thea age of 12 as well.

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