Placebos for Kids
At least once a day one of my children will come to me and ask for a bandaid for a tiny red dot on a leg, a teeny scratch on a toe or a boo boo that is non existent to the naked eye. I give them the band aid and kiss the “boo boo”. The band aid makes them feel better and for $1.99 for a box of 20, I have found a way I don’t have to listen to them hem and haw about a freckle they swear is a cut. It is a harmless way of making my children feel all better. A recent NY times article examines giving children placebos and if there is any harm to it.
A woman and her husband have even founded a placebo company, Efficacy Brands. They will make chewable, cherry-flavored dextrose tablets, Obecalp, for placebo spelled backward. They go on sale on June 1 at the Efficacy Brands Web site. “This is designed to have the texture and taste of actual medicine so it will trick kids into thinking that they’re taking something,? Ms. Buettner said. “Then their brain takes over, and they say, ‘Oh, I feel better.’ ?
Sure I think that some foolery comes with parenting, but this might be a too-easy go to. What if you mistake your child’s earache or stomach ache with them just crying wolf and give them a placebo? You could make your child more ill or have them suffer needlessly. While I do think we over medicate ourselves as well as our kids, there must be an alternative then lying to our kids about their medication.
What do you think about giving children a placebo? Would you do it?
sick kids, medicine for kids, parenting, parenting children, kids, placebos for kids
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