What should be considered when using the product with babies and children? | Vicks VapoRub® cold ointment

What should be considered when using the product with babies and children?

The Vicks VapoRub® cold ointment can also be used for babies and children, but only from the age of two years. Before this age, the effect of the ingredients is too aggressive for the respiratory tract of the little ones and the cold symptoms would rather be irritated than improved. With children at the age of two to four years can be distributed two to three times daily 1⁄2 to a teaspoon of the cold ointment on the chest and the back.

However, the ointment should never be applied to the neck, face or nose of children. Children between six and twelve years of age can have one or two teaspoonfuls of ointment rubbed onto their backs and breasts every day. Again, as soon as side effects occur, the ointment should be washed off immediately and a pediatrician consulted.

Should small children accidentally swallow some Vicks VapoRub® cold ointment, they should also see a pediatrician immediately, because the essential oils can cause severe stomach pain. Children under six years of age should not inhale the cold ointment. If they are older than six years, one or two teaspoons of the ointment can be dissolved in a bowl of hot water and the child can inhale the steam. The warm, by no means hot, steam also helps to dissolve the mucus. Of course adults can also inhale Vicks VapoRub®.

Vicks VapoRub® cold ointment in pregnancy

There are no studies that show that Vicks VapoRub® cold ointment is a health risk during pregnancy. Nevertheless, a doctor should be consulted before use, because depending on individual health, there may be contraindications for the use of Vicks VapoRub®. Under no circumstances should Vick VapoRub® Cold Ointment be used during the breastfeeding period.

The baby could swallow small amounts of the ointment while breastfeeding. The consequences would be stomach ache and in the worst case a glottal spasm.In addition, the vapors that the baby could inhale would be very aggressive to the baby’s airways and could cause irritation.