It’s the time of year when children are always sick. I’m not using hyperbole; small children have multiple episodes of upper respiratory illness every year. This is very frustrating, in part because there’s ultimately so little we can do to fix it. For the majority, which are viral, antibiotics are not useful.

Fever is normal and can be controlled with acetaminophen and ibuprofen. For nasal congestion and cough, nasal suctioning is useful for infants; over-the-counter medicine may help the older kiddos. (Incidentally, after age 1, honey can actually ease cough. It’s unsafe before age 1 due to risk of botulism.)