OTC Kids Cold Medication in Japan

    Japanese childcare in general seems predicated on parents with the ability to cancel all plans for any day of the week that something might occur to, around or for their children. Thanks to the excellent healthcare system, most families naturally opt to take their children to the hospital or clinic for any little problem whatsoever. Why not when all it costs is time?

    One difference that this creates in product availability is over-the-counter cold and sinus medication for children. When everything from seeing a doctor to getting a prescription filled is financially covered by the government, why wouldn't you opt for taking an afternoon off to take care of your kid? This is the reasoning I used to explain why I couldn't even find cough syrup on the shelves of my local drug store a few years ago.

    Times have changed and so have people. The fact is that some of us working parents don't have that option of taking the time off to race to the doctor's office for a case of the sniffles. Others might be inclined to avoid hospitals in towns with high covid rates, meaning fewer trips to the doctor for less serious ailments.

    I would never take myself to the doctor for something as minor as backed-up sinuses. A few weeks ago, as summer vacation wore down, I realized that my kid was having a heck of a time blowing her nose in the morning and her clogged sinuses weren't improving on their own.


Look at all those options!

    In an American move, we went to the drug store to check and I was overjoyed with what I found. In the last five years, Japanese kids over-the-counter cold meds have exploded and now I have access to kid-safe versions of half a dozen different options including some that I have been known to take the adult versions of when sick.



    Further down, I also found Vick's Vaporub, one of the few imported American things and for quite a price. I don't remember what the cost of this was in the states, but I am pretty sure $20 worth of vaporub is probably more than 150 grams of the stuff. I didn't care. I gave them my money and was happy to do so.

    It took a little longer for the drugs to take effect and they were a lot more expensive than the free drugs from the doctor, but within a week her sinuses were unblocked and we didn't have to spend all morning hanging out with sick people to get help.

    During a pandemic especially, this is a win.