Smell That Menthol!
Written: Oct 07 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: works well, great alternative to oral medicines, helps baby breathe easier
Cons: smell and mess
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| rmgood's Full Review: Johnson's Baby Soothing Vapor Cream |
You remember mom's old remedy for a cold, don't you? No sooner than that first cough escaped chapped lips, mom came running with the Vick's Vapor Rub. And you could smell that jar coming from miles away! Now admit it, no matter how much you hated smelling like a hospital, it worked, didn't it? The end result was it made you feel better. Johnson's new Baby Soothing Vapor Cream is very much the same (with a slightly younger cold sufferer in mind).
Fortunately for us parents of the new millenium, Johnson's wised up and improved on the packaging that Vick's is so famous for. Gone is the heavy glass jars that you have to dip your fingers into so cream seeps under your fingernails (as well as just about everywhere else). Replacing those jars are nice, easy-to-use plastic containers. Flip up the lid and squeeze out some cream! A definite advantage for this product.
As a first time parent, I am very cautious about administering medicines to my baby. How much is too much? How often is too often? If its not working can I give more or a different kind and how long do I wait? What types of medicines are dangerous to mix? And on and on the questions and the doubts go. (Yes I do drive my pediatrician to the brink of sanity on many occasions!) Johnson's Baby Soothing Vapor Cream (wow, that's a mouthful!) caught my attention as a possible alternative to this nagging problem.
As soon as you flip open that lid, the smell hits you! All those memories of Vick's Rub and chicken noodle soup come pouring back like it was yesterday. (Oh wait a minute -it was yesterday. I guess that's how the baby got sick in the first place!) Anyway, your sweet smelling baby is instantly turned into well, something else. Not that the smell is bad, necessarily, but it is strong. In fact, not only will your baby smell this way, but so will your bathroom, the baby's bedroom and any other part of your home within ten feet of your child. So does that smell ever go away? The good news is yes, by the next morning that smell will be no more than a lingering memory (unless of course you forgot to close the bottle!)
But much more importantly than the smell or the packaging, does the product work???
Oh yeah! The cream spreads on the baby's chest a little thick, but it soaks in well and relatively quickly (at least when compared to Vick's). I personally only use this product at bedtime and my daughter has had wonderful results with it. Oral medicines, like Tylenol Cold or Dimatap, will help your baby sleep by knocking them out, which is a good thing because rest is the biggest part of recovery. However, Johnson's cream will help your baby sleep better by allowing them to breathe easier, which in the long run will improve their night's rest and help them heal faster.
Use of this product is most beneficial for a stuffy nose and/or cough. I would not suggest this product for more serious illnesses or ones that don't clog up the breathing passages.
On the down side, this product is messy (even with the improved packaging). It is a cream that rubs on the baby's chest. So if its fall/winter or even summer with the air conditioner on, you will probably need to cover the baby during the night. So of course the cream spreads to clothes, blankets, sheets, stuffed animals, you, and whoever or whatever else the baby hugs. Fortunately, it isn't slimy or gooey, and it does absorb easily on these surfaces so as to prevent even further spreading, but it does smell. Fortunately, the smell disappears within a day and it easily washes out of everything.
My Recommendation:
Despite the smell and the mess, I still use this product for head colds and would recommend it to other parents. However, if your child has or develops a fever, I would suggest contacting your doctor and using something designed more for pain relief and fever reduction.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
rmgood
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Member: Raquel
Location: Minnesota
Reviews written: 89
Trusted by: 85 members
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