Dionne: On today’s episode, we have a special guest, our very first guest, Dr. Amina Khan, a pediatrician who practices at Children’s National Hospital in Washington, DC. And specializes in the care of children with medical complexity. Amina also has four kids of her own, which makes her legit because everything she’s about to tell us, she actually practices in real life.

Maleeha: Also, Amina is my first cousin, so this is very special for me to be interviewing her for the podcast. But truth be told, I hit her up all the time, Dionne, for peds questions, especially when I’m traveling and away from my own pediatrician at home. And I think that’s something that we both do, right? Yeah, I mean, we both have a lot of people in the medical field in our family, which is a blessing. But I just phone someone up whenever I have a question that’s outside of my expertise, which is what we wanted to make accessible to you all today. Give you the answers to the most asked questions to a pediatrician during the winter season.

INTRO

Amina: Thanks for having me Dionne and Maleeha, I’m excited to be your first guest. It’s always great to get a chance to work with Maleeha.

Maleeha: Thank you. Thank you for being our guinea pig guest. So let’s dive in.

Amina: No problem.

Maleeha: Yeah, I appreciate it. Let’s dive right in with these questions. So we’re going to role play. I’ll be the parent and ask you, the pediatrician, these questions. Actually, I really don’t have to role play. I really am the parent asking you these questions. So question number one. Okay, Dr. Khan, my kid has a cold and feels miserable, and now I’m miserable. What can I do to make them feel better?

Dionne: Oh, my gosh. Maleeha, it’s such a desperate situation when you’re watching your kid act miserable and you’re low key wondering, how long is it going to take until the whole house goes down? Because you know it’s going to be a domino effect.

Maleeha: Totally. Yeah. And this year’s winter season has been extra rough with the trifecta like RSV, COVID, and flu. I’ve been noticing a lot of surgical cases being canceled because of all these persistent colds.

Amina: I know the common cold has been receiving a lot of press this winter, given the high case load of respiratory viral infections. Winter 2022 has been labeled the triple-demic for RSV, flu and COVID, all of which share similar symptoms and can manifest as cold. So it’s even more confusing for our parents and their children and very just lots of people feel miserable these days. The typical cold symptoms everybody knows are runny stuffy nose, watery eyes, a sore throat and a persistent cough. But in this case, antibiotics would not be helpful. They only treat bacterial infections.

Dionne: Whoa. Repeat that. Because I know we know this as doctors, but maybe you can elaborate on why giving antibiotics for the common cold is a problem.

Amina: The main problem is the common cold is caused by a virus. Antibiotics only work on bacteria. But keep in mind that, generally speaking, it can take seven to ten days to fully recover from a cold, sometimes even two weeks. And people forget that it’s a long time to feel Icky for sure. And the symptoms get worse before they get better, but they’re only worse for about two to four days, and then you’ll notice a gradual improvement.

Dionne: So if symptoms are not improving after a week, then should we be thinking about antibiotics?

Amina: Yeah, it’s something that could cross your mind. It doesn’t mean that you absolutely need antibiotics, but it could be a good time to have your child checked out by their pediatrician. Check for an ear infection or a sinus infection. I will say that this year has been different than years before. We are also seeing higher rates of bacterial sinusitis, which does need an antibiotic to treat. Not entirely sure as to why this is the case, but regardless, the sinusitis may arise as a consequence of a cold dragging out, or it can sometimes occur simultaneously with a viral upper respiratory infection, a double whammy. So if your kids cold is not improving or they were getting better but then developed a new fever and new or worse cold symptoms, like now they’re coughing up yellow mucus, or they notice green snot, or they’re having these pressure headaches, then bring them into the office, and the pediatrician can run tests to determine if antibiotics are warranted.

Maleeha: Okay. That’s a great point. Very good. Yeah. There’s a lot of information that you unpack there. You’re saying…one, we have to be a little bit more patient with these symptoms, especially initially. Giving them antibiotics every time, immediately when they’re sick right away, can lead to antibiotic resistance. We know that, which is a whole separate topic. But watching them suffer is really rough. Really rough.

Amina: Yeah, I know. Unfortunately, we can’t cure colds, but you can still do things to make your child feel better. To my patients families, I suggest following something called the three S’s. It’s just a simple mnemonic I’ve come up with to help families out.

Dionne: I like that.

Amina: I know. Three S’s. So the three S’s are for sip, steam, and soothe. Sip. So hydration is essential. You want to avoid your child from getting dehydrated while they are sick. However, your child may not be able to drink several ounces of water at one time. They’re not going to glug down a bottle of water, so instead encourage them to take frequent sips throughout the day. It can be tough to remember. So one thing I’ll recommend my patients is to keep a bottle of water and while they’re watching an episode of TV, they drink a few sips every few minutes.

Dionne: You know what? I definitely do that sometimes. I just, like you said, fill a bottle of water. When the kids are in front of their TV or playing with their tablet, and it definitely works because otherwise getting them to drink like a whole thing of water at one time, they just resist that. They never like to do that. So I think that’s a great tip.

Amina: Exactly. The next s is steam. So inhaling steam can help alleviate nasal congestion and clear drainage from the nose and sinuses. An easy way to do this is to allow a small bathroom to fill up with steam by having the hot shower run. Then have your child breathe in the steam while hanging out in the bathroom, but not in the shower.

Maleeha: Good point. That’s a really good point.

Amina: For about 15 minutes, and then I recommend doing this before bedtime and then clean the nose. It’ll help reduce cough triggered by post nasal drip at night, and then hopefully the kid can get some sleep and then the parent can get some sleep.

Dionne: Emphasis on the parent.

Maleeha: Yes, the parent needs to sleep too, but post nasal drip, just to clarify, is that runny snotty stuff that drips down the back of your throat when you sleep at night and just causes that irritation and cough throughout the night, and especially when you wake up in the morning, you end up feeling really junky and sore. That’s a very medical, technical term, junkie, but that’s what it is.

Amina: But it gets the point across. Yeah. The other thing you can try instead of steaming, especially if you’re just worried about having your kid near a hot shower, is a humidifier. It could serve a similar purpose. My only caveat to that is to avoid using it for children with a history of asthma.

Dionne: Okay, so why should we avoid that in asthma? I know you should give them an inhaler, but is there a specific reason why you want to avoid the humidifier in asthmatics?

Amina: Children with asthma should absolutely use their inhaler when they have cold symptoms. It can help prevent an asthma attack. While a humidifier might help a congested child breathe a little more easily, it can actually trigger coughing spells for children with asthma. So no bueno. We absolutely do not recommend humidifiers and kids with asthma.

Dionne: I actually did not know that. So that’s a really good tip. Really good tip. A lot of kids have asthma right now, and I’m all about the humidifier, too. So I’m taking it out of my son’s room.

Maleeha: That’s such a great point. My kids are a little bit older and I’ve even made them I don’t know if this is just something Indian people do, but sometimes my mother in law will have a hot pot of steaming water. She will put like, clothes in it and stuff a little aromatherapy, and she’ll have them tip over and put their obviously their face just above the warm water and put a towel over their head just for the same idea, just to steam it and then gravity do its thing and help them drain out. Also for me, it’s like a little facial pores are open the airways, but same concept. Stand there and watch them. I stand there, though, and make sure I’m standing right by them while they’re doing it.

Amina: Yeah, no, that’s also another way to do it. And less water usage as well.

Dionne: Financially responsible

Maleeha: Climate change.

Amina: And then the final s is soothe. We all know when you have a cold, you feel crummy. The body aches can get especially agitating, especially in kids, because they don’t know what is going on and why they feel this way. So anti-fever, anti -inflammatory medications like ibuprofen or acetaminophen can soothe the body. I can’t tell you how much I emphasize this. Every pediatrician does. Give it to your child every four to 6 hours as needed for fever and or just body aches or fussiness. I’ve met a lot of parents who are very hesitant about doing this, but it can help and again, allow the kid to rest and recover and allow the parent to also get some rest.

Maleeha: That’s a great point. And I know that I actually am a religious re-doser like a clockwork on the four to six hour mark Amina. And I don’t know, maybe I got that tip from you a long time ago because it definitely just the irritation. Like irritability goes down and they’re so much more pleasant and that I’m more pleasant. It’s a good thing. Okay. When you’re like, in day five of this mess. But to recap, let’s just recap what we talked about. Most colds are caused by viruses. They take about a week to get over, and you don’t need antibiotics. Focus on the three S’s. Sip, steam and soothe to get your kiddo through the week. I really like that. Now, what if they have a fever? Amina. What level of fever is dangerous? Because it seems like there’s always that spectrum. There’s like the little warm and then there’s the, like, too hot to touch burning up.

Amina: Yeah, great question. That comes up a lot. Generally, in otherwise healthy children, fever alone is not dangerous. And there isn’t a level of fever that pediatricians would consider dangerous. Children with certain underlying medical conditions, like cancer, are, however, given different information. They are told to notify their doctor for any occurrence of fever.

Maleeha: That makes sense. Yeah.

Dionne: So fever is a sign of our body’s immune system actively fighting an infection. So in a way, a fever is actually a good thing. It’s a good sign that our body is fighting back.

Amina: Exactly. We should not be afraid of fever. Fever can provide a clue as to what infection the body is fighting based on how high it is, when it occurs, in relation to other symptoms, or how long the fever lasts in terms of hours or days. So that helps us as doctors when we’re seeing a patient.

Dionne: So it’s not just the number on the thermometer that’s important. There are other things that you can observe that can provide some clues that are important to relate to your doctors.

Amina: Yes. The doctor will look at the full picture and note fever plus. How does a child appear and what other symptoms do they have? As an FYI, fever is defined as 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit, which is also 38 degrees Celsius for children from zero to two years of age. And then for kids above two years of age, we consider fever to be 101 degrees Fahrenheit or 38.3 degrees Celsius.

Maleeha: Bottom line, when do I need to call the pediatrician?

Amina: So, great question. Call your pediatrician if you have an infant that’s zero to three months of age with a temperature of 104 degrees Fahrenheit or higher. This is the one age group where pediatricians take fever alone seriously. For all other ages with no chronic conditions, no other underlying medical conditions. Call if your child has a temperature of 101 degrees Fahrenheit or higher and it’s not coming down with using fever reducing medications like Tylenol or Motrin or your child’s been having fever at home, you’ve been taking care of them, and they’ve been having fever every day for at least five days. After five days of fever, the doctor wants to see them to figure out if there’s something else going on and they might run some additional tests. The other reason to call your pediatrician if your child has a fever but also doesn’t look well, you know, so it’s fever plus they’re extra fussy and crying, especially if it’s a young child or a toddler or they have a fever and they look pale and weak, and they’re just not eating or drinking. Another example is fever plus they’re breathing very fast, or they’re working really hard to breathe. Like, you can see their ribs going in and out or their nostrils flaring. All that are concerning for some more serious infection and requires a physician to look at them.

Dionne: Good point. So we just have to use our judgment. My kid just doesn’t look right, sound right, not eating or drinking at all. My big concern, and I’m sure Maleeha you share it too is dehydration, because that can just be a vicious cycle of not drinking and just feeling worse and worse from the ongoing dehydration.

Maleeha: Yeah, definitely. I mean, that even happens to me as an adult forget about a child. Once you get behind the eight ball with fluids, you’re feeling worse because of the sick, or you’re worse because you just don’t have enough volume. You’re feeling sick from the dehydration. And I was going to say, I know this is old school, but I definitely still do this, which is I will take a washcloth and kind of ring it in cold water or a hand towel and put it on my kid’s forehead just to help soothe that high temp, bring down the temperature. It’s not a medication. It’s something you can do any time, like when they’re watching TV or when they’re trying to go to sleep and they’re just kind of feeling a little uncomfortable. But as far as medicines go, the next question that I have is which over the counter cough and cold medications do you recommend for children, aside from the ones we talked about? Tylenol? Motrin?

Amina: Yeah, I get this question, like, all of the time, and for me, the short answer is for cold symptoms. None. I don’t recommend any over the counter cough and cold medications. I’ll go into it a little bit more, if that’s okay.

Maleeha: Yeah, great.

Amina: All right, so here’s my long answer. So as we all know, there’s this broad selection of over the counter medications in all of these pharmacies, but these medications can be dangerous and even deadly for young kids. And at the same time, there have been a ton of research studies done on these medications to see if they help, and most of these studies show that they are ineffective in children as well.

Dionne: Okay, deadly.

Maleeha: I know, I was like, pause. Deadly. Deadly. Yeah.

Amina: No, I’m serious. No, they can definitely be dangerous. Most children’s cough and cold medications are a cocktail of ingredients. They include a mixture of acetaminophen, which is Tylenol, plus a cough suppressant like dextromethorphan plus phenylephrine. There’s just a whole bunch of different types of ingredients. And individually, these ingredients can help. But together, if the parent is doing just liberal and frequent dosing in order to help their kid feel better, the cocktail can become deadly and it can increase the risk of sudden death.

Maleeha: Oh, wow. That makes sense. I mean, it makes perfect sense. It’s a little scary how you can pick something up off an aisle and if you don’t know what you’re doing or you’re dosing or so many times. Even for me, it’s like, I have to check with my husband. Did you dose them? Did I dose them? What’s the timing of the dose? And you can see how you could overdose a child inadvertently?

Amina: Absolutely. Yeah. So this is why the FDA, which is the government agency that oversees medications in this country, they don’t recommend over the counter cough and cold medications for children less than two years of age. And then the American Academy of Pediatrics raised that up, and they don’t recommend these medications for children less than six years of age. Definitely for the young children. We don’t recommend any over the counter medications for cold symptoms. Most pediatricians practice with the idea of not providing cough and cold, over the counter medications for kids less than ten years of age. After that, when they’re, like, older school age, feel a little bit more comfortable about recommending the medications for them.

Maleeha: Okay, so that means ten and below, say no. That’s easy to remember. Okay, I just made it up.

Dionne: I like that.

Amina: That’s really great. Nice.

Maleeha: I just say no to everything. Ten and below. No. Ok, I’m snarky mom right now. Okay, so if we’re only down to straight acetaminophen and ibuprofen, let’s be real, there’s been a serious run on both. I have seen the aisles at the drugstore at Target, and it’s straight up apocalyptic, like COVID style. If someone can’t find a bottle of children’s acetaminophen or ibuprofen, which was the case for a while, what do you guys recommend?

Amina: Yeah, girl. I think it’s still the case. It’s really hard to find a bottle of liquid Motrin right now. That stuff is straight up gold at the moment. But there are other formulations and they work too. So I know this sounds kind of weird, but Tylenol suppository is very effective. Parents don’t like to use it, but it can work. So the suppository form chewable tablets, which you can give to kids who are like two or three years of age, they can also take that, and then you can also get capsules. All those formulations work. Just know your child’s recommended dose for Tylenol or Motrin, and in order to find that out, just call your pediatrician’s office and they will be happy to share that with you. Okay. If you’re using these other formulations, just remember the one chewable tablet of Tylenol is equal to liquid Tylenol. That just kind of helps you with that dosing as well. And then, I think, another interesting thing that a lot of people don’t know about capsules, and I learned only after becoming a pediatrician, you can actually open the capsules and then the powder that’s inside, you can just dump it into apple sauce or chocolate sauce or pudding or even ice cream and mix it in and then give medication that way.

Maleeha: Yeah, I mean, when you’re feeling desperate, you need to do anything you can to get that medication in. If it means becoming an apothecary and just like, opening up capsules and dumping them into ice cream, do it. Do it.

Amina: It works.

Maleeha:  As long as it’s the right dose, guys. As long as it’s the right dose. Everything is dose dependent. That’s the key.

Amina: You’ll also find several homeopathic medications at your local pharmacy, and they include a mixture of natural ingredients like elderberry or ivy leaf bark or lavender. I don’t know, there’s a whole bunch of different stuff out there. The most popular brands of these medications are Zarbies and Hylands. Have you guys heard of them?

Dionne: My kids are five and below. So those two brands literally fill up my medicine cabinet. I use them all the time. I’m not going to lie. All the time.

Maleeha: I’ve seen them. I’ve never used them.

Amina: Yeah. So the general impression is that they are not helpful with controlling cold symptoms. The upside is they’re not harmful either. Dionne. So if you’re desperate and you want to give something, that’s what they’re there for.

Maleeha: It’s like a full on placebo effect is what you’re saying. It’s like if the mom’s desperate, if the parent desperate, go ahead and give it, but it’s not going to work.

Amina: Exactly. However, there have been loads of studies showing that regular old honey can be as effective or even slightly more effective than these over the counter cough and cold medications. So my recommendation is save your money and use honey.

Maleeha: Oh, that was good, too. That was really good. Wow. We’re doing it today.

Dionne: We’re coming up with gems. Guys, this needs to come on the website.

Amina: It is. An eight ounce bottle of Zarbies cough syrup costs $12, versus a similar size. Bottle of honey is about half of that, which costs $6. And I can’t tell you how many patients I’ve seen who they’re on medicaid. Their parents can, you know, they’re the parents are scraping the bottom of the bin in order to purchase these medications because they want their kids to get better. And I just constantly asking them to just save their money. Do not bother. Try to use something like honey or these, you know, home remedies that we’ve been discussing.

Dionne: Absolutely. And you know what? Honey is something I use all the time, so it’s good to know that the age old remedy still works and there’s some science behind it. Plus, kids love honey. It’s sweet, so it’s easy to give. So recap here. Acetaminophen and ibuprofen are the go to over the counter drugs and honey works wonders. Avoid all other medications and suppressants because they have a whole mix of ingredients that can be deadly. Did you hear that guy? Yes. Deadly.

Maleeha: That’s the cocktail medications over the counter, and the homeopathic stuff is just an overpriced placebo. Got it. Honey.

Dionne: Not to throw the stuff away. My husband always told me that, and I didn’t listen. I’m the doctor, right?

Maleeha: Yeah. I don’t know if it’s because you’re a doctor. I think you run that house.

Dionne: Yeah, that’s true. That’s true.

Maleeha: Okay, next question. My child’s cough won’t go away. It just lingers. Is that normal? And what can I do about it?

Amina: Yeah, cough is definitely one of the more aggravating and disruptive cold symptoms. And these days, you definitely get the side eye, given our concern for COVID. Yes. So I can understand why parents are more weary when their child keeps on coughing. So people assume that once a cold resolves, all symptoms will magically disappear. Unfortunately, that is not the case. The cough can typically linger for another one to two weeks. And I’m not exaggerating, especially these days. We’ve been seeing people or kids come in who’ve resolved from a cold a week ago, and they’re still having a dry cough. This cough is known as a post viral cough. What can we do about it? I mean, we recommend a cough suppressant, like honey.

Maleeha: Honey! Honey, again for the wind. I’m telling you, the coughing is real because if I see anybody cough, I have, like, a little mask in my purse and I’m like, ready to push it on them. I’m like, oh, it’s very frustrating, but it’s good to know honey comes back again in this conversation.

Amina: Yeah, I mean, honey, it’s natural. It’s rich in antioxidants, and it soothes the throat and then which helps suppress the cough. It also helps reduce mucus secretion, so it kind of helps with that post nasal drip.

Maleeha: Oh, nice. So I got to ask you, this is going to sound silly, but is there some special kind of honey? Because I go to the grocery store and that aisle will sometimes trip me up. There are so many different types of advertised honey that people push on you, like Manuka, raw, local, comb, only filtered honey local. I don’t know. There’s so many. And I’m like, holding all three different ones. I’m like, I want the one that’s in the bear bottle that I can squeeze. Tell us which one.

Amina: Yes, the honey aisle is definitely overwhelming. I can say that. Studies that have been done on honey, the specific honey that they used was something called buckwheat honey, and they found that it can be as effective as a cough as dextromethorphan, which is the ingredient found in most over the counter cough suppressant medications. It’s also less expensive than honey. Like Manuka. Yeah, I think manuka gets a lot of press buckwheat honey. I will say, however, it’s not as sweet as Manuka or clover, so maybe that’s why it’s not as popular. But really, any honey should be fine. Anything that can help soothe the throat, help your child feel a little bit better, works. There are also honey lollipops. I forgot to mention that.

Maleeha: Oh, wow. I’ve seen that as sprouts.

Amina: So that’s something else we’ll recommend for younger kids instead of, like, cough drops because they’re too young to take those. One thing to kind of remember, though, just a big caveat, do not give honey to infants less than one year of age. All right? So any babies less than a year of old should not get any honey. It increases the risk for something called infant botulism, which is a serious illness. It can cause paralysis and potentially even death. So, yeah, no honey for the baby.

Maleeha: Now let’s repeat that. No honey period. Lollipop in any form. Bolus dose, I don’t know, frozen? I don’t know what you can give honey in, but some marketing team is going to come up with it. Nothing below the age of one, period. Okay. Keep going. Sorry.

Amina: Nice. And then I’m just going to go back to children with asthma because that’s a very common pediatric condition. And kids with asthma are going to cough, and the cough can turn into wheezing and then lead to an asthma attack. So honey can help. Yes, but they should absolutely use their inhalers, like flovent or albuterol or whatever inhaler they’ve been prescribed by their pediatrician, they need to use their inhalers. That will help reduce the duration and frequency of a post viral cough for them.

Dionne: As a mom with a child with asthma, I echo that. Absolutely, yeah.

Maleeha: Do you ever use Dionne, do you ever use I have a lot of friends who use like, a duo-neb treatment, like a nebulizer. We’re all about the nebulizer. When he’s having that post viral cough, it’s just easier for him to also take it in. It goes deeper, at least for me, because he’s five, and so he’s still learning how to use the spacer and all that jazz.

Amina: So, yeah, whatever will make it easier.

Maleeha: Right. Because it can be tricky with inhalers, how to use them properly. One other specific question I have is what about antihistamines like Claritin, Zyrtec, and Benadryl? Can those help in these situations?

Amina: Yeah. So allergy medications like Zyrtec and Claritin and Benadryl have not been shown to be effective in reducing cough due to a cold. They can work if you’re having a cough because of your allergies, but if it’s straight up a cold, then they’re not going to be as helpful.

Dionne: Okay, so the last one, and it’s a doozy what to do when your child has a sore throat and a cough, the symptoms are overlapping, and you’re worried that it’s not just viral. They could have strep throat, which would require antibiotics to treat. What do we do then?

Amina: So, yeah, that’s a doozy of a question. Strep throat is probably one of the most common parental concerns. Understandably, it’s not fun. As pediatricians, we manage it regularly. So let’s take a step back and talk about strep. First, I’m going to jump into the world of microbiology. Is that okay? Maleeha, Dionne, are you okay with that?

Maleeha: That’s fantastic.

Dionne: A little PTSD for me, but okay, let’s get academic, let’s get science-y No, I love it. I love it. Let’s do it.

Amina: So strep is caused by bacteria called Streptococcus pyogenes. It’s also known as Group A strep. Now, this bacteria, I don’t think many people know, is commonly found in the throat or on skin. Okay. So we already kind of exposed this bacteria, and sometimes if there’s a break in the skin or like a little scratch in the back of your throat, it will then lead to an infection. But the vast majority of Group A strep infections are mild illnesses like strep throat. Or you guys may have heard of something called impetigo, which is like a really mild skin infection. Now, however, this winter there has been an uptick in invasive group a strep infection. So more serious infections, which have led to, like, complicated muscle infections, bone infections, and sinus infections that have even extended to the eye. I mean, it’s really serious. Wow. So pediatricians are on high alert when a kid comes out with a chief complaint for sore throat. So that sounds much more serious this year.

Maleeha: How does strep throat classically present?

Amina: Yeah. So then strep will typically present with a sore throat that’s painful with swallowing. The tonsils are red, and they’re swollen. Sometimes there’ll be white patches on the tonsils and the lymph nodes in your neck. They’ll be swollen and tender to touch, and the kid just looks miserable, like they don’t want to swallow. They’re drooling. They have bad breath. They might have fever, headache, or just a poor appetite. So if a combination of these symptoms are seen, then the recommendation is to test for strep throat. But going back to the original question, if my child has a sore throat plus cough, should I be concerned about strep throat? The answer is usually no. Cough is not associated with strep throat. Let me repeat that. Cough is not associated with strep throat.

Dionne: That is a good one. That’s great. Yeah. I did not know a great way to differentiate. I like that.

Amina: Yeah, because we’ll see a lot of parents come in with their kids with a sore throat and cough, and then they immediately request a strep test. So if a child presents with sore throat plus cough, then it’s more likely to be a viral upper respiratory infection, and testing for strep throat may not be indicated. Okay. It just depends on how the kid looks.

Maleeha: Yeah, I mean, that’s so helpful because I usually do get cough plus sore throat, and I tend to be conservative where I’m like, let’s just ride that out. But again, guys, just to be clear, these are guidelines. They give us a general idea, and if you’re really concerned, bottom line of your kid, or they’re looking odd or you’re just not comfortable, bring them into your pediatrician’s office.

Dionne: Absolutely.

Amina: You know your kid better than anyone else. So if something isn’t feeling right, bring your kid to their doctor to be seen.

Maleeha: Perfect advice. Well, that was super, super helpful. Thank you for rounding up all that information and culling through it and sharing it with us today. We hope you all learned something new. We got a lot of gems in this episode, like buckwheat honey, and there is a huge marketing team behind me, apparently.

Dionne: Dr. Amina, I learned so much from you today, so I’m so grateful for you being on our show. I wrote down a bunch of notes that I’m going to use right away for my kids because we’ve all been sick this week.

Maleeha: Yeah, I can hear it. You’re congested. Yeah, I’m so nasally. So, yeah, I will be getting my buckwheat, that’s for sure.

Amina: Let me know what you think in terms of how it tastes.

Dionne: I will.

Maleeha: Yeah, put it on your buckwheat pancake.

Amina: Thank you so much for having me, guys. This is really great.

Maleeha: Oh, good, because it might become more regular. Yeah, absolutely. For more IVY Drip, check out our website at theivydrip.co and email us with your stories, comments and questions at info at info@theivydrip.co. We’d love to hear from you all. And don’t forget to subscribe to our podcast. Put in a good review. Spread the love. If some tips work for you or if you have extra ones, definitely email us and let us know. Now, we like to end with a random tip of the day. Amina, I’m going to let you have the floor and leave the tip of the day for us.

Amina: All right, so, tip of the day. Try a sugar free popsicle if your kid has a sore throat and is being fussy about drinking fluids. Popsicles are cold, and they can be soothing as well as hydrating.

Dionne: You know what? We give popsicles to our pediatric patients after tonsillectomies in the packet, so totally agree with this all the time.