Can babies take zinc supplements during a cold?

Baby cold is a relatively common disease. If the baby usually takes zinc-containing medicines, he should stop taking them during the cold period, because the baby's digestive ability will decrease after the cold, which is not conducive to the absorption of zinc during this period. Wait until your baby’s cold is completely cured before supplementing it. Choose different methods of supplementation according to the different symptoms of the child, and be sure to follow the doctor's advice.

Can babies take zinc supplements during a cold?

It is not recommended to take zinc supplements during a cold. Because colds and fevers are respiratory diseases, when people are in the cold and fever stage, the body's immunity and absorption function are very low, and zinc supplementation at this time will not be well absorbed and effective. It is recommended to continue zinc supplementation after the fever has healed. Zinc deficiency is a chronic nutritional disease and can be treated later than acute diseases such as colds and fevers.

Symptoms of zinc deficiency in babies

If you have three or more of the following ten common symptoms, you may be suffering from zinc deficiency.

1. Loss of appetite: The daily food intake suddenly decreases, and symptoms such as picky eating, anorexia, and pica appear.

2. Unusual food: The baby starts to eat strange things, such as nails, wood, soil, stones and other foreign objects.

3. Slow development: 3~6cm shorter than children of the same age and 2~3kg lighter.

4. Poor immunity: frequent colds and fevers, or respiratory infections such as tonsillitis and pneumonia.

5. Abnormalities of nails and tongue: white spots appear on the nails and hangnails grow on the fingers. Or there may be irregular red and white patterns on the tongue, commonly known as geographic tongue.

6. Slow reaction: lack of concentration and poor memory.

7. Decreased vision: Zinc-deficient patients will experience significant vision loss and suffer from diseases such as astigmatism and myopia, especially at night, when their vision is even more worrying.

8. The skin's self-healing ability is reduced: wounds are not easy to heal and skin diseases are more likely to occur.

9. Developmental delay: Zinc deficiency can lead to delayed development of secondary sexual characteristics during puberty. Male symptoms usually include small testicles, short penis, low testosterone levels, and sexual dysfunction; female sexual characteristics include delayed breast development, delayed menarche, etc.

10. Increased number of oral ulcers: They often recur and cannot be cured.