Help please! is anyone else out there worried about giving cold medicine to children?

Sure: Every single medicine has risks and benefits. If the risk does not outweigh the benefit, you should not use the medicine. As far as cold meds, they have a lot of side effects, especially in kids. The benefits are limited, as no medicine is going to cure a cold. It just might reduce symptom a bit. So using alternative treatments like warm fluids, humidity and saline rinse much better way to go.