WWYD....DD is poorly HV advised medised but DD is only 10.5mo.

[DustyTv]

DD is full of cold and she is not well with it at all. I cant get her to eat or drink so I rang my HV for some advice this morning and she said to give DD medised.

I have read now that you cannot give medised to DC under 2 years of age, apparently it has changed recently from 3mo upwards.

DD is 10.5 mo. WWYD? would you listen to the HV or go with what it says on the box?

[FabioAsGoodAsItGets]

Don't listen to your HV.

Print the above out and stick it somewhere near the phone. And the telly. And the fridge.

Actually, just tattoo it on the baby.

Give dd a cold wet flannel to suck if you're worried she's not drinking enough. Don't worry if she's off her food for a day or two. Calpol and Snufflebabe are what you want.

[DustyTv]

lol at tattoo it on the baby

I was a little ary about ringing her and actually taking her advice, but I couldn't get a hold of my mum and my internet was down so I couldn't get on here this morning.

Thanks.

[exasperatedmummy]

In all honesty, i don't think the medised will do any harm, providing that is ALL you give her. I think the problems were due to mixing with other families of decongestants. My DD is three so we have missed this latest development. I have used it in the past - from abut six month old i think. However, if i had a box in front of me that said, use from two years and over, i wouldnt use it on a ten month old. I would be inclined to mention your worries to your HV re the medised as she SHOULD be up to speed with the lastest advice. Thing is though, don't really need the decongestant so just give her calpol and use a Karvol drop on a tissue, raise the head of the cot. Brilliant idea with regards to the flannel, ive not thought of that one.

[NorthernLurker]

Used in accordance with guidelines for dosage - because it contains paracetamol - medised isn't going to do any harm. What does concern me though is that your hv advised this when you can't get you child to eat or drink! Surely she should have been more concerned with getting fluids into the child first? My top tip for that btw is to sit with a medicine syringe or spoon and a cup of water and jeust spoon it in 5ml at a time. That way you know exactly how much they've had and mine would always open their mouth for a sppon of water even when they didn't want anhthing else. If they've been sicky it doesn't set them off again because the individual quantity is so small so it doesn't irritate the stomach in the way a big gulp of water can. You can get a surprisngly large amount of water into them by this route as well.

[Twiglett]

give her calpol or nurofen (or both if fever needs bringing down constantly or in pain)

wet flannel good idea

offer little and often drinks

suction bulb her nose .. it can be scary to drink if you can't breathe through your nose

[DustyTv]

Thanks everyone, I was a bit when my HV said this and I challenged her about it but she just dismissed me and said she would be fine. DD has a GP's appointment tomorrow because of her cough so I will see what he has to say about it.

[PortAndLemon]

I hold two contradictory views on this...

Firstly, the age limit on Medised wasn't introduced because it's intrinsically harmful under 2. It was introduced because allegedly some parents weren't getting the dose right and/or were combining it with other medication. So from that point of view your HV's advice is fine.

BUT the recommendations are now not to use in under-2s, you couldn't buy it in a pharmacy if you said it was for a 10.5 month old, and your HV should be aware of that. If she wants you to give your 10.5 month old Medised she shouldn't be doing it without getting a prescription.

[fizzbuzz]

.......and Medisd turns my dd into horrible grizzling, whining, tantrumming monster the next day

[exasperatedmummy]

funny you should say that fizzbuzz. Medised used to help DD sleep with a cold on the first night, but if i gave it a second night she would often wake up in a bit of a state.

[coochybottom]

I think Medised is brill stuff!!Helps my kids through the night when they have a cold really well.

[chipmonkey]

Do you have Dozol in the UK? Just wondering because I don't think we have Medised here in Ireland and they sound similar.

[DustyTv]

Thanks everyone, DD seems much better this morning, not as snotty as yesterday but she still has a really bad cough. It sounds like a hacking cough that some heavy smokers get so I am still gonna keep her GP's appointment to see him about the cough.

She wouldn't eat her dinner last night but she did have some fruit and some water out of a normal beaker and she took nearly a full bottle before going to bed

[cockles]

Regardless of the medised, if your child is ill, don't ask the HV - go to the dr.

[DustyTv]

I've learnt my lsson now cockles lol

I usually come on MN for advice but my internet wasn't working yesterday (bloody virgin) and I couldn't get a hold of my mum to ask her and my nanna would have probably told me to bath DD in garlic or some such other old wives tale

[bleurgh]

have you got a nuk bulb sucky thing to suck the snot out of her nose

[beeper]

Trust you childs body, if it does not want food dont give it. Digesting food uses alot of energy that the body needs for fighting the bug. Its drink thats important, very dilute apple juice, or water.

[DustyTv]

yep 5 have one of those nose sucker things and I do do it when it gets really bad, but DD hates it and gets ever so distressed when I use it.

She has eaten a bit more today and I have been able to get her to have some more fluid out of a beaker.

I took her to the GP, what a waste of time, I am really never listening to my HV again. GP just asked if I wanted some anti b's for her, I asked if she needed anti b's and he said no, so I said well no then I don't want any for her if she doesn't need them

[LackaDAISYcal]

Weleda do a decongestant nasal spray that is suitable for babies from three months. It did wonders for DD and I with our really bad colds last week (I'm pregnant so couldn't take anything either)

you should let your HV know that the advice she is giving out is outdated, although discussing it with my GP, she said that it is mainly to stop parents overdosing their DCs and using it regularly to dose them up to sleep. she thinks that using it judiciously as and when required isn't dangerous per se.

[Cranberry]

I gave my 16month old medised last night and will do again tonight. My eldest son who's 7 always had medised when he had a cold. They've only put the warnings on the bottles now as some mother's were given it to the babies nearly every night to help them sleep. My eldest DS had really bad hayfever and urticaria in the first few years and had anti-histamin everyday then had calpol when he was poorly which to me is no different.

I think one spoonful will give he and you a really good nights sleep. My little one had lived on milk and yougharts for the last few days, bless him.

Not much fun when little one's are poorly

[coochybottom]

YEP-Medised ROCKS! Was told about it by some other mothers at my local twins club and swear by it for a good night when they are poorly.

[bleurgh]

if your baby has a cold she will get rid of it much more quickly without a temperature suppressant

whether you want to do it that way is entirely up to you

[coochybottom]

It is the antihistamine/sedative effect which helps them breathe through the night which I use it for. I suffer really badly at night when I have a cold so dont want them to feel the same discomfort.

[bleurgh]

I didn't know anti-histamine was a decongestant. Is that really true? Genuine question.

[Aitch]

for blocked-up noses i loved medised with dd1 (before the box changed) and will use it again with dd2 because i'm not an idiot and won't overdose her.

[coochybottom]

bleurgh see here www.medised.co.uk/for_children/what_is_medised.asp