16 wk old with cough/cold - won't take calpol. Panicky new mum?

[chocolateteabag]

My 16 week old ds had his 3 jabs on thursday. He had a mucousy productive cough from Mon/Tue which I thought was due to teething and he seemed otherwise happy. Since the jabs his cough has clearly started to hurt him and he's alot more snotty.
I;ve put saline drops in which help but he won't now take either calpol or baby nurofen(orange flavour fooled him for one dose)He gets really upset and vomits.

He's now asleep on me and calm but slightly high temp (99.9F) He is bf,

Am Ipanicking - do I need to get calpol or similar into him or just sit it out?

[larrygrylls]

You poor thing. That is a v low grade fever and he certainly does not need medicating.

Try it in expressed milk if you want to give it another go. How are you trying to give it to him? I would not have thought a 16 week old would be able to make himself sick anyway.

[WomblingWriggles]

The best way to give medicine at that age is to squirt it into the side and back of their mouth using a syringe. They find it almost impossible to spit it out again like that.
Don't know about the temperature, I can only work in degrees C.
I would always say though, if in doubt, give calpol.

[larrygrylls]

99.9=37.7 approx.

I was assuming that squirting it in was what the OP had done already..

[chocolateteabag]

Thankyou both - I'll try in some expressed milk.

I had been using a syringe and previously he opened his mouth like a baby bird on sight of it. This time mouth clamped down or if open he just let it drain out of his mouth or started choking/coughing which has then led to being sick.

slept a little more and although he is still grotty have had somes smiles so not all bad.

[chocolateteabag]

Good to know that 99 is low grade - I am clueless on temperatures. Using an undere arm one - guess one that goes in the ear is a wise investment?

[larrygrylls]

I am not sure. I invested £40 in an ear one and our son screamed so much that I reverted to the underarm one. There is also a (reasonable) school of thought that the degree of fever is irrelevant. Only medicate if they both feel hot and are clearly uncomfortable. Fevers are, apparently, only dangerous in themselves over 41 (105.8) , although over about 40 (104) they can point to an underlying dangerous bacterial condition and need investigating. The general advice, though, is treat the child and not the fever as a fever can be quite useful in combatting infection if it is not causing too much upset. Personally, I always medicate a high(ish) fever, though, as then my son will eat, which aids recovery.

[chocolateteabag]

He's just had a short bf and is now trying to chew the muslin and looking alot brighter.
Thanks Larrgyrlls - what you've said makes sense and amazing how the morning also brings much more calm and less panicking. At 3am I was ready to go out today and buy the contents of Boots to sort ds out
Now definitely need

[Adair]

Olbas oil is fab for tiny babies (mine is 5 wees and snuffly). There is a children's one for 3 mth up - though hv said fine for younger.

Vapour rub?

Can't do saline drops. just drop them everywhere

It's horrible when they won't feed, isn't it? Hope you're ok.

[Adair]

weeks! many more wees...

[sneezecakesmum]

Agree with what larry says. Also general cooling, light clothing, cool room. If you have a chronic med refuser it may be worth investing in some rectal paracetamol suppositories for those (inevitable) times when the fever is high and he is unwell with it.

[lucybrad]

i dont agree about the temperature. A rapidly rising temperature can cause febrile convulsions. It is definately worth using calpol to lower a temperature over 38 degrees in a child so young. And definately worth investing in an accurate quick thermometer like the thermoscan by braun, so you can keep track of how high it is rising. It will make them feel a lot more comfortable to have the calpol (think lemsip - makes adults feel better and is made mostly of the same stuff as calpol ie paracetamol).

[chocolateteabag]

Just to update - ds got a bit better this morning but then back to upset and sicky this afternoon. Wouldn't bf and threw up what I did manage to get nto him. second NHS direct Nurse heard him crying over the phone and sent us to the out of hours GP.
He has a cold virus and sore throat as expected but GP also prescribed paracetamol suppositories. His temp was pretty normal (36.7C) but GP said paracetamol will help his throat and lots of coughing may be making him feel pretty awful too.
Very relieved to have had him checked over esp as he had a rash when we opened his babygro to listen to chest (was a viral rash which disappeared under pressure but if i had seen this at home I'd have probably had kittens)

Thanks for all your replies

[Al1son]

You can buy dummies with a small syringe attached the you can use to give medicines. It was the only way to get Calpol down my DD1 who would end up screaming and inhaling it if we tried any other way.

[larrygrylls]

Hi Chocolate,

Glad to hear that you feel better. Just keep an eye on things and go to A&E if anything really worries you. I have found GPs remarkably unreliable when it comes to babies. For instance, I have no idea how paracetamol will help a throat, other than mild analgesia!

Keep an eye on the breathing and hydration status. Generally if they are crying and feeding, nothing is too serious. If they start being very lethargic or making strange grunting noises (strained breathing), take them to A&E.

The thing to remember is that babies get sick very quickly but they also recover very quickly and there is very little in the way of normal infections that cannot be successfully managed in a hospital, so don't fret about it (although hard not to)!

[ErnestTheBavarian]

I always used paracetomol suppositories for mine when they were under 1 year old. Are they available in the UK? They are also faster working than taking orally, and avoid the distressing gagging/puking thing.

(tbh I doubt I'd give med under 38, 37.7 is barely a temp is it?) anyway, I strongly recommend the suppositories, pop it in, no worry about gagging, refusal, puking it up if they are also puky poorly, or if the spit out not knowing if they have had any at all, only half a dose etc. here in Germany or Switzerland they're the norm and available over the counter same as a bottle of calpol, dunno about in UK though

[mousymouse]

yes, paracetamol suppositories are available in the UK. you can get them over the counter, but many pharmacies dont stock them, so they need to be ordered.
I use them when the children were so ill they wouldnt take anything by mouth or when very little.

[sneezecakesmum]

Think we should start a campaign for more availability of paracetamol suppositories
THEY ARE BRILLIANT!

[chocolateteabag]

The OOH GP said he used them over calpol with his kids when they were small for same reasons Earnest says.
Have given my ds 3 (spaced out of course) and has definitely helped him. Now holding off for yhe moment and seeing how he fares as could obv be a placebo effect for me!

Having used them - def prefer to giving calpol orally as you can be sure of the dose. DS didn't notice them go in at all (vs calpol screaming/gagging fit)

[mousymouse]

glad to hear that chocolate

[fairimum]

we have added the calpol to a couple of oz of formula - as advised by HV