Source.

Honey beats OTC meds for coughs

If your child has a cold, sweeten up the bedtime routine with a dose of honey. (But only if he or she is over 12 months of age.)

A mouthful of buckwheat honey can provide better relief of nighttime cough and sleep difficulty than dextromethorphan (DM), a cough suppressment found in many over-the-counter cold medications, according to Penn State College of Medicine researchers.

Honey was also shown to be better than doing nothing at all, which is about all parents are left with now that an FDA advisory board recently recommended that over-the-counter cough and cold medicines should not be used in children under age six because of their lack of effectiveness and potential for side effects. (Meanwhile, it's better to do nothing, than to take detromethorphan).

Honey has been used for centuries in some cultures to treat upper respiratory infection symptoms like cough, it can soothe on contact and it also has established antioxidant and antimicrobial effects, which could explain its contributions to wound healing.

The study was published in this month's Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.

And something else to be made aware of....
if you do use honey...it should be 'local' honey. Store purchased honey doesn't have the same healing effects. Tis true!!!.

another cough suppressant is...Vicks vapor rub on the bottom of your childs feet...then put their socks on.

When I was growing up, we'd get honey ... mixed with a spoonful of whiskey and lemon juice for a bad cough.