We are trying to improve the way general practitioners and primary care nurses deal with coughs, colds and other common infections in children. Research evidence has shown that antibiotics help very little for most of these infections, yet they continue to be widely used, and their overuse is fueling a concerning rise in antibiotic resistance. Parents find these illnesses worrying and many complain that their concerns are not adequately addressed when they constult. We aim to address this problem through the development of a booklet for use in primary care consultations. The booklet, developed with help from parents and clinicians, will act as an information resource for the parent and a prompt to improve communication within the consultation. Clinicians will receive training in how to use it effectively. We will evaluate use of this booklet in a randomised trial. Some clinicians will be asked to use the booklet when seeing children with a respiratory tract infection, and others will continue their usual practice. Parents will then be contacted by telephone to identify whether or not the child has re-attended or received antibiotics, and to assess other outcomes. This will allow us to determine whether use of the booklet is effective and safe.