Vicks VapoRub Harmful To Infants
Categories: Babies, Health & safety, Home remedies
OK, this is kind of creepy. I am part of a parent exchange group that regularly emails ideas, etc. on the web. A recent conversation thread has centered on Vicks VapoRub, which we all decided was harmful to use on our children. Now, a new report is saying exactly the same thing -- misuse of the product could be harmful to infants. Why? Well, in my online group the thread started with some sort of urban legend forward. We checked in out on Snopes.com (thank goodness for Snopes!) and it looks like it is fake, sort of, except that people really do use Vicks VapoRub to treat various ailments. The recommendation we read was to rub it on the kid's feet, where it gets absorbed into the body and then cures the child's cough.
Doctors have warned parents against using products containing menthol -- an ingredient in the VapoRub -- on their children. A new case study has linked using such products to breathing problems in young children. Now, truth be told, the effects are generally seen when the product is misused. That said, I think we all know, in a world where children are purposefully being overmedicated with cough medicine in order to calm them down, that it would be foolish to assume folks are going to use the products the proper way and not cause harm to their children.
The report, which appeared in the journal Chest, centers around a case study of an eighteen-month-old girl with a respiratory illness who was recovering favorably until she suddenly developed severe difficulty breathing. she was rushed to the emergency room where her grandparents were questioned and it was determined the only out of the ordinary thing was their use of Vicks VapoRub under her nose that day. The VapoRub caused an increase in mucous which blocked the child's airway. In defense of Vicks, the product specifically and clearly says not to use it on children under the age of two and to not put it under the nose. Jeez.
Although it is widely believed that Vicks clears airways, the product never made the claim that it was intended to do so. Doctors interviewed for the article commented they do not recommend Vicks to their patients even though it is widely-used by the general public for a variety of reasons. Dr. Diane Pappas of the University of Virginia's Pediatric Division agrees the product should not be used on children under the age of two and feels it might even get lumped in with the other cold and cough medications under similar scrutiny that will probably end up with a warning label to not use them on children at all.
Pediatrician Dr. Ira Rubin of the Naperville Pediatric Associates in Illinois gives some advice I couldn't agree with more: "Infants should not be exposed to chemicals and drugs unless absolutely necessary." Look, folks, you have a pediatrician for a reason. If your child isn't feeling well and you want to give him or her something, give the doctors a call first and get their recommendation. I'm sure Vicks is fine for the general public to use -- when used properly -- just not for babies.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Melissa 1-13-2009 @ 3:52PM
They make a Baby Vicks Vapo-rub (however, mine expired because I never actually used it lol). I think it doesn't contain the menthol, it has lavender or something, that is safe for infants. And it does say, on both products, you do not put on the nose. So, yeah, JEEZ....
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Karen 1-13-2009 @ 6:03PM
Vicks Baby Rub. Ingredients: petrolatum, fragrance, aloe extract, eucalyptus oil, lavender oil, rosemary oil. I got some because baby girl has a cold and I can't give her any real remedies. She seems to really like it, and it hasn't caused any bad reactions. It's really a parental placebo, though -- makes me feel like I'm doing something for her when really I'm just dabbing on baby perfume. The eucalyptus is soothing, anyway...
CLM 1-13-2009 @ 7:38PM
Of course, the report never mentions that there is a baby version of Vapo Rub on the shelves RIGHT NEXT TO the adult version. I don't know who is more stupid, the parents or the people who did this study.
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Michele W 1-13-2009 @ 10:10PM
I am a firm believer in the vics vapo, even the baby kind. My son is now 7 years old and I always have a bottle of the vics greaseless lotion on hand. My son has asthma and when he gets even the littlest cold it is horrible and I only use it at night when we are going to bed, I rub a little on his chest and it relaxes him in no time and he is fast off to sleep. Without he is nonstop coughing and hacking. What my son says he likes is that his chest is soar from coughing and how the vics gets a little warm it helps so much. I did use the baby stuff when he was little but not a lot simply because they dont want you using anything unless it is a must but my doc did say to use it here and there. I never put it on his nose and as said before it tells you not to. Any thing is harmful to your child when these parents over medicate thier kids just so they get some peace. I have to say the best one I heard though was that when they were looking into the caylee stuff early on that they said about the cloroform being used on her and someone said that they knew parents that used that to settle thier kids all the time. I dont know how these people still have kids and where they come up with the ideas. I would of never thought " oh ok I need to get some cloroform cause my son id so hyper". And this is not nothing new because my grandmother was saying when she had my mom in 1959 That her sister in law already had a bunch of kids and told her to use some kind of drug stuff on my mom because she had trouble sleeping through the night. Now my gram being 17 and her sister in law was alot older and had a couple of kids so my gram thought she knew what she was doing and listened to her and my mom almost died that night. My gram can not remember for the life of her what the stuff was but after that never wanted to use anything on any of her kids again if even the doc said ok cause she was so scared. So for many many years parents must of done stuff to quote calm their kids. I say if you cant handle having a wound up kid then you shouldnt of had kids at all. I never have known a kid to just sit there and be good.
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Don 1-14-2009 @ 7:50AM
Do you think that your title is a little misleading? Shouldn't it read "Hey read the labels, you idiot!"
This is only one case of misuse that lead to a single little girl being hospitalized, I use the Vicks baby rub on my son only when he has a cold and is clearly having trouble sleeping.
So over the course of his 18 month life I've used it three times, and we asked the doctor if it was appropriate to use. Not only that we read the damn instructions as well.
Your title could scare someone away from using a safe and effective cough prevention aid.
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