After a few months of deciding on how to handle toddlers and pre-schoolers when it comes to administering cold medications, the FDA finally reached a decision this week. The federal agency tasked with protecting the U.S. public from unsafe drug products has said those under two years of age should not have any cough or cold medications. Period.

Products like Robitussin, Pediasure and Triamninic will not have to find homes elsewhere or contain warnings on their packages that would scare any parent, such as: don't use this product for those under two "because serious and potentially life-threatening side effects can occur." Yeah, that would get my attention pretty quick as a parent. You?

But that's not all -- the FDA is set to make a decision by this spring on whether some of these same products are appropriate for use by older children, even up to six years of age and beyond. As expected, the large drug companies that make these products state that they are used 3.8 billion times a year in and are indeed safe for those under two years of age.

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Think that OTC drug you bought for a few dollars recently will help you with nasal decongestion? Not according to the FDA, which said this week that studies of the ingredient phenylephrine have proven it to be ineffective in battling all those sniffles.

The FDA, in uncharacteristic public clarity, claimed that phenylephrine products are small, poorly designed and decades-old in terms of effectiveness for nasal congestion problems. In other words, they can't hold a candle to the ravages of the current nasal clogging that millions of us see each year. Why are these products sold and marketed like they are, then?

There is a reason. After the U.S. Congress enacted a law last year that made major OTC drugmakers Pfizer, Procter & Gamble and more change from the ingredient pseudo-ephedrine stock products containing that ingredient behind pharmacy shelves (as it can be used to manufacture the drug methamphetamine). Phenylephrine was the replacement, but now it's being discovered as basically useless. Nice.

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Are standard sinus infections really assisted by all those prescription antibiotic medications that seem to line many feet of a standard pharmacy shelf?

Nope, according to a new study out of Britain. In a somewhat scathing review of many prescription antibiotic products, the study concluded that these really don't help sinus conditions as advertised and as prescribed.

How were these results determined? Those with sinus infections saw them cleared up within a few weeks regardless of if each observed patient took a standard antibiotic (like amoxicillin) or a fake antibiotic product.

Is the body's own immune system efficient enough to get rid of a sinus infection? That's the thought coming out of reading this study.

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After this past week's mess with cough syrup and cold medications geared towards young kids, the FDA took the advice of a two-day panel (which concluded yesterday) and said that no cold medications (cough remedies) should be marketed or administered to children under the age of six from now on.

A group of pediatricians said that cold and cough medicines given to infants and toddlers work no better than dummy pills. If so, then parents have been wasting tons of money on remedies with no function while putting their young kids at risk from an accidental overdose.

The 'accidental overdose' is what has killed a few small kids after having ingested too much cold medicine, and was the impetus for determining if these products should even be marketed towards children.

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Whenever I take my kids to the pediatrician for a cough, I already know what she's going to say: "The best expectorant is water." She preaches plenty of fluids, humidifying their bedrooms, and lots of rest (she obviously is kidding about the rest, right? Do small children ever rest?) She always claims that cold medicines don't do much for kids, and there was always the risk that it would make them feel edgy.

After reading this article, I'm grateful for her advice. Cold medicines are being blamed for bad reactions in 1500 babies and toddlers over a two year period, requiring visits to emergency rooms. Some of the children had up to 14 times the appropriate amount of pseudoephedrine, the active ingredient in decongestants. Citing this, federal officials Thursday warned parents to think twice before administering cold medicines to young children. The problem seems to revolve around the fact that there aren't approved dosage amounts for young toddlers and babies. Because of this, it's easy to overdose. In addition, many cold medications contain more than one type of medication and parents may be double dosing.

According to the article, the medication carries far more risks than the infection itself, especially for children under 5. If you make sure your child has plenty of access to clear fluids, put a cool-mist humidifier in their bedroom, and give them lots of TLC, they'll be through their cold and cough in no time. Is your child sneezing? Click here for a few more ideas on how to soothe common cold symptoms in children.

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