INDIANAPOLIS — Over-the-counter cold medicine and fever-reducing medications for children are becoming harder to find.
Parents are finding store shelves at area pharmacies like CVS and Walgreens bare as respiratory viruses, like RSV and flu, continue to surge.
"It's very alarming," said Amanda Reynolds.
Reynolds brought her daughter to her pediatrician's office Monday to get a flu vaccine.
"Everyone's kiddos are sick with the viral infections. We're not out the clear yet," said Reynolds.
With a shortage of children's medications, pediatrician Dr. Eric Yancy tells parents there are other options.
"There was one study a few years ago that looked at Vicks (VapoRub) on the chest and a little bit of honey, a teaspoon of honey in children, like not under a couple years of age, that that was as effective as the supposed cough preparations," said Yancy.
Yancy said to never give a child adult medication.
"There are different rates of metabolism in children and adults, so you can't just say, well if this is for adults let me give half of it to the child, because they may metabolize it at a completely different rate," said Yancy.
Yancy said sedatives can also become toxic.
"Especially in babies. We can't just give babies things that will sedate them because that may affect their breathing patterns," he said.
Yancy said he doesn't recommend a lot of the over-the-counter medication for children under the age of 4.
Reynolds said she'll do her best to keep her kids safe this winter.
"We're just going to keep our hands clean and keep the vitamin C going and keep the kid's immune system boosted," she said.