What do you do if your child comes down with the flu, or just a common cold? In fact, do you know the difference between a cold and the flu? More importantly, should you keep them at home or send them to school or day care?

Most day carers have a policy you can follow when it comes to attendance and sickness. Many schools leave it up to the parents to decide. That's not much help if you don't know what to do.

Although I am reluctant to promote any brand when it comes to cough and cold medications, I am always happy to pass on anything that may help other parents. In this case, Triaminic, an American supplier of cough and cold medications, have published a fact sheet titled: "Sick Day Guidelines: Making the Right Call When Your Child Has a Cold."

This fact sheet is produced in conjunction with the National Association of School Nurses (NASN) so you know it is fact based and not a commercial push for their own products.

Coughs and cold can be a worrying time for parents - they can also be very distressing for both the parent and the child. You can never have too much information - in fact, the US has recently modified its dosage guidelines for children, especially those under four. Do you know what the new dosage guidelines are?

I will give them one commercial plug however. If you visit their homepage there is a down loadable coupon to save you a little off the sales price. What I want to know is when are we going to get cough medicine as a soluble strip here in Australia - if you don't know what they are, check out their pages. They look like a neat idea to me.