Here We Go Again - Aaaaaachhhooooo!

I went to the grocery store Saturday - the last thing you want to hear your cashier say after he touched every item you purchased, your cart handle, and even handed a balloon to your son (so presumably touched his hand) is "I feel so awful!" GEE THANKS! I quickly slathered on the antibacterial stuff but it was too late. Sure enough, within 12 hours the signs appeared - congestion, crankiness, a little cough. By this morning - when he came out of his room, he sounded awful. Let's see, since mid-November, he's had croup and a terrible ear infection with the highest fever he's ever had - both episodes required strong antibiotics - and it looks like we might be heading for another one. When he was a baby if he got a cold, within a few days his eyes would be goopy and he'd have an ear infection, it happened so many times it was one of the reasons I just couldn't keep working. I quit my job and he stayed healthy. Then I enrolled him in a Mothers Morning Out program - so he was getting to know those pesky little germs again - but it was manageable because I was home and didn't have tons of work piling up. And one of the doctors at the practice we go to prescribed a little miracle in a bottle - Brometane DX Syrup. It cleared up the congestion, stopped the cough in its tracks, allowed my little boy to sleep (and me too) and the best part of all - it cleared it up before the goop settled into his ears and we didn't need antibiotics. So I kept it on hand until there were no more refills allowed. In the meantime the genius study came out that young children should never be given cold medicines. So what to do? According to the pediatrician - let the cold run its course - even if every single time it results in an ear infection and resulting need for antibiotics. UGH, this makes no sense to me. So, even though those medical studies scare me a bit, I took my little patient to Walgreens and we bought some Children's Tylenol Cold medicine, I gave him a dose based on his weight - not his age - and after half of his lunch was down he was ready to go take a nap - so then all the scary "what ifs" started going through my head - was it too strong, is it too much, will he be ok? I tried to just leave his door ajar so I could peek in on him, but he insisted I shut the door. I'm sure he'll be fine - I just heard a little cough (reassuring!) but darn those studies - to a born worrier like me they are just fuel on the fire. Oh boy...guess this medicine did not cause drowsiness, now he's up and it has only been 45 minutes. It is going to be a LONG day, with very little work done. Guess this medicine doesn't have that nice "drowsy" side effect :(