Has Anyone Ever Had a 2Yr Old Be Unresponsive While Taking Children's Claritin?

Updated on February 06, 2016
S.H. asks from Boyds, MD
17 answers

My 2yr old son has been taking Claritin for 3days now and I got a call from the daycare this morning saying he went limp and unresponsive. They couldn't wake him up so they had to take him outside for a few minutes before he would wake up. Once he finally woke up he was dizzy and could barely stand. They said he was fine when I talked to him that he had just ate lunch and was getting ready for a nap but it kind of has me worried.

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D.B.

answers from Boston on

One more vote for calling the pediatrician immediately, getting a full written incident report from the daycare (including how many doses of Claritin they gave him on site, if any), and looking for another provider. 911 should have been called, and no way he should have been fed if he was dizzy, lethargic, and unable to stand!!! And, may I gently suggested, once notified, I really think you should absolutely have gone to pick him up and take him to the pediatrician for an emergency visit if he hadn't already been taken to the ER by the paramedics. I don't understand the lack of action at all. If he hasn't been seen for a full work-up, insist on it from the pediatrician.

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J.H.

answers from Des Moines on

Ok, this is wrong on so many levels. 911 should have been called, and even if that is how they handled it, you should be running out of work and taking that child to a doctor! There is no way I would leave my son in their care for the day, or maybe ever. Limp and unresponsive? That should be taken seriously.

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D..

answers from Miami on

Okay - what's up here? A daycare has a limp and unresponsive child and doesn't call an ambulance??? Either this is a bogus question or you should be firing your daycare. And you need to get WAY more serious about your child's health if you are just "kind of worried."

I am chiding you on purpose because you need a wake up call. If you choose to ignore me because you don't like my tone, then it's on you because you aren't taking responsibility for your child's health. Any time your child is unresponsive, can't stand up, etc, etc, you call the doctor immediately.

You might be sitting here saying to yourself "Well, this woman never went through this." Wrong. I DID. I gave my son an OTC medication that was approved by my child's doctor, but this same thing happened to him. Yes, he was at daycare. The first thing they did was call me. I put them on hold and called the doctor. I went back and forth between the doctor and the daycare asking the doctor's questions that were intended to decide if the daycare needed to call an ambulance. Once the doctor determined that he was not in life-threatening danger, he had me go pick him up and bring him straight to the doctor's office where the doctor checked him out thoroughly.

THAT'S what you do. You don't "kind of worry".

We determined that my son couldn't take that medication because it had an adverse cumulative affect on him. This was a collaborative effort between me, the daycare and the doctor. And we also were VERY careful to make sure that no one had overdosed him. Figuring out which one was VERY important.

You need to be way more vigilant than you are, if this indeed happened.

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T.S.

answers from San Francisco on

I would REALLY advise you to call your doctor about this but apparently some people on this site think it's "snarky" to recommend seeking professional medical advice when it comes to the health and well being of children.
Is it "snarky" to also advise you to rethink your daycare situation? I know that if I had an unresponsive 2 year old in my care there is no way I'd wait a "few minutes" to see if he woke up before calling 9-1-1.

10 moms found this helpful

T.F.

answers from Dallas on

Are you saying that he was unconscious? The day care did not seek immediate attention? The day care seems him ok now?

I'd find a new day care and take my child to the Dr. It is NOT normal to lose consciousness.

He possibly had a seizure of some sort.

You won't know what happened until you take him to be checked out, like as soon as the day care mentioned it!! I would have dropped everything and had my child at a Dr!

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C.W.

answers from Santa Barbara on

I think my dogs would have known to call 911 and then go to the child's side! Go there now!!!!

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H.W.

answers from Portland on

Something seems strange-- if it was a febrile seizure-- in fact, any time a child is unconscious, 911 should be called.

Please take your child to urgent care or your doctor today. I can't believe they didn't call you immediately and I can't believe you are letting him nap at day care instead of taking him to a doctor immediately. Asking for anecdotal information is not an appropriate response to an emergency.

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M.R.

answers from Washington DC on

The daycare had an unconscious child and did NOT call 911?

I hope you're not reading this because you're already sitting in the hospital with your son getting the immediate medical check he needs. Today, not next week when the doctor can fit you in.

Tomorrow he would not go back to that daycare and I'd report them to whatever agency in your state licenses daycares. Not calling 911 was incredibly irresponsible. He may appear fine to them, but they don't know whether if he goes down for a nap he'll wake up again. He could be having an allergic reaction to the medication and those can be life-threatening.

Hospital for son, and new daycare ASAP, but I'd never send him back to that one for even a day. "They couldn't wake him up" and they WASTED time carrying him outside and phoning you? Be furious with them and tell them so, and never send him back. If a public school did this instead of a private daycare, heads would roll.

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T.M.

answers from Tampa on

No way...this simply doesn't make sense. If the daycare really did as you stated, then you need a new daycare. This warranted a call to 911. If this really happened this way, you should pick him up immediately and take him to a doctor.

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M.F.

answers from Phoenix on

Your child went limp and unresponsive and NO ONE CALLED 911 OR TOOK HIM TO THE DOCTOR?!?!?!?

Get your kid to a doctor/urgent care/ER immediately. He could have had a seisure, may have had a head trauma and has a concussion, may have experienced some other trauma that no one has told you about, it really doesn't matter.
Find a new daycare that takes the health and safety of a child in their care seriously, has educated staff who have proper qualifications, and have set procudures in place for the health and safety of the children. Take a first aid/CPR class to educate yourself on what is a danger sign and what is the proper response concerning ill or injured children.

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E.B.

answers from Honolulu on

Something seems off here (not necessarily with you, but with the daycare). Is this a professional daycare, like a business that is only for the care of infants and toddlers, or is this a daycare in someone's home, where a mom earns some money by taking in a limited number of kids to watch during the day? Did he take the Claritin at home or at the daycare (or both)?

Is the daycare licensed?

I cannot imagine, under any circumstances, caring for a 2 year old who goes limp, is unresponsive, and couldn't be woken up, and then not immediately calling 911. Who takes a baby or toddler outside to wake them up after a medical episode? Sure, when you have sleepy toddlers who want to lie down and just watch tv, you might say "let's go outside and get some fresh air and wiggle a little!" But that's never the response when a toddler has gone limp and unresponsive, or a child has experienced a possible head injury.

Right now, it seems like this is a bigger problem than the Claritin. What are their emergency procedures? Who made the decision to try and revive an unconscious child by taking him outside?

I would get this child to a doctor immediately, and bring the Claritin bottle with you, and make a note of how much he took and whether he was given any Claritin at the daycare, and I'd get a new daycare place. Today.

And this may need to be reported, to whomever licenses daycare in your area. That was a serious mistake that they made. If it's a national chain, call the headquarters. Ask the doctor or nurse for advice.

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E.T.

answers from Rochester on

Number 1 stop giving him the Claratin. What happened at daycare is NOT a normal reaction to a correct dosage of Claritin. Is Claritin even approved for kids that age? Many over the counter meds are not ok for a two year old. He may have had a slight overdose. He may have had an allergic reaction to it. Allergic reactions don't necessarily happen right away. My son has been on an antibiotic. On day 7 of the prescription he broke out in head-to-toe itchy hives.

Number 2 take him to see a doctor as soon as possible. He needs to be checked out!

Number 3 find a different day care ASAP and consider filing a complaint with the local licensing board for day cares. They should have called an ambulance!! I know the daycare my kids went to called the ambulance more than once for kids who were unresponsive. One daycare provider was on the phone to parents while another was on the phone with medical personnel while another was waiting to call 911. I was there and saw how they handled the situation. There was no question that parents and medical personnel needed to be contacted ASAP.

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D.N.

answers from Chicago on

One of my girls had taken Claritin when she was little. I think Children's Claritin was pretty new at the time. We had no problems with that. Anything is possible of course. I would actually be more concerned how they handled this. Limp and unresponsive means emergency, not take outside and see if he wakes up. Definitely make a call in to the doctor's office and let them know what happened. Might need to take him for a quick check. For my kids, if they felt a little nauseous, then maybe see how things go but dizzy and nauseous or unable to stand was a doc's call.

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G.♣.

answers from Springfield on

I would call your doctor right now and tell him/her what happened. This is something you want to get a doctor's advice on.

My first thought was why didn't they call 911, but if he was breathing, I can see waiting a few minutes to see if he would respond. Still, I wouldn't just say, "Oh, good, he's ok," and leave it at that. I would call the doctor.

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T.D.

answers from Springfield on

step one, take the child to the ER. step two find out why the daycare thought it was ok to do nothing but treat the child as if it were sleeping. they should of called for an ambulance. step 3 get a new daycare. they haven't got a clue as to how to handle a sick child that needs medical attention. (makes me shutter to think of the what ifs... what if the child never woke and died because of lack of emergency medical assistance... and since a dr has not checked the child since the unresponsive time it could happen again and be worse the second time)

PLEASE TAKE YOUR CHILD TO A DR IMMEDIATELY.

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S.T.

answers from Washington DC on

any daycare that would let this happen and not call an ambulance immediately would be sued out of business.
any parent who who would respond by being 'kind of worried' needs a kick in the pants.
i hope this is fake.
khairete
S.

1 mom found this helpful
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N.B.

answers from Oklahoma City on

Claritin can make a child sleepy. If your child is having allergies I suggest you talk to a pharmacist and see what meds work well for that. Sometimes docs don't have any idea since they aren't the medication experts like a pharmacist is.

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