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Original poster

Confused about calpol

40 replies

MarmaladeAndToast · 26/05/2023 00:14

Very tired and brain dead single parent here. Thursday has been a very long day.

I have a nine year old DS with really rotten tonsillitis and she has had fevers today.

The bottle says not to give calpol more than 4 times in 24 hours.

I gave it to her

  1. At 0400 Thurs morning
  2. At 1015 Thurs morning
  3. At 1415 Thurs
  4. At 2100 Thurs

Does this mean I give the next one at 0405? Or am I not thinking straight?

She has the kind of temperature where I will need to set an alarm to give her meds to make sure it is controlled.

OP posts:
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Suan666 · 26/05/2023 14:13

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This has been deleted by MNHQ for breaking our Talk Guidelines. Previously banned poster.

shazshaz · 26/05/2023 14:09

I find with my daughter it's better to keep the pain under control rather than playing catch up when she wakes up. I usually rouse her just enough to give the Calpol and she drops off to sleep easy enough. And yes OP no more Calpol until 4am.

Original poster
MarmaladeAndToast · 26/05/2023 13:30

With severe tonsillitis (which my child gets often), I find got the first 24 hours I need to frontload the meds a bit to make the child more comfortable. So it might be every 4 hours to begin with and tapering down to ensure I don’t go over the daily limit. Child’s teeth is chattering and they are going into rigor and waking up crying. That’s not my view of sleeping comfortably. The calpol enables them to sleep comfortably.

When I said 38.1, that was after the meds! And that wasn’t a stable temp throughout the day. I think it’s reasonable to give the meds throughout the night.

Surprisingly the pharmacist was emphatic that parents should be setting their alarms and timing medicine in the night.

OP posts:
ittakes2 · 26/05/2023 07:41

My son used to get over 40 temp regularly and because he was dream fed as a baby he was used to taking liquids in the night. I would tell him before he went to sleep I was going to wake him up to give him meds. So I would rouse him and say mum is just giving your medicine and syringe it in slowly - and he would return to sleep. He didn't wake up properly and never remembered it in the morning as he was still half a sleep when it happened. However, I don't think I would do it for a temp of 38 but you know your child.

Popsicle42 · 26/05/2023 07:05

I would always give mine calpol every 4 hours, with ibuprofen in between. If they woke up in the night and it was longer than 4 hours since their last dose, I would give them a dose then. I would never wake them up for calpol - I always figured if they were sleeping they weren’t too uncomfortable. It would roughly work out at 4 doses per 24 hours, but I didn’t ever stick to that rigidly.

thewonderfulthingabouttigger · 26/05/2023 03:42

DD had this at Christmas and the antibiotics helped in under 24 hours! Hopefully they work fast for you too.

Toddlerteaplease · 26/05/2023 03:39

Paediatric nurse, we give it 6 hourly as you run out of doses otherwise. Can have ibuprofen six hourly as well.

Namechangedforthis25 · 26/05/2023 01:11

DD4 just had this - antibiotics helped within 36 hours - needed them for 10 days

Fever went up to 40.3 but went down either with calpol or nurofen. Nhs website says can give nurofen if one dose of calpol doesn’t work - it didn’t on the third day. Dd vomited due to throat irritation

but we didn’t wake her up to control fever - just have final dose before bed and gave it in morning. Sleep is vital for healing

Clymene · 26/05/2023 01:09

What is her temp without meds?,

You don't need to wake her

Pushpull · 26/05/2023 01:06

When my brain is frazzled because children are ill and I'm tired I find it's much easier to stick to 6 hrs for Calpol 8 hours for Nurofen because then you're automatically not overdosing the 24 hour limit.

AnObserverInThisDarkWorld · 26/05/2023 01:02

Again. If she's asleep then she's not uncomfortable. Sleeping is a great way for the body to heal. Don't disturb it unnecessarily.

I had an awful throat infection before that eventually landed me in hospital. I was so uncomfortable I couldn't sleep, taking medication during the night to try and get me through so I know what it can be like.

Original poster
MarmaladeAndToast · 26/05/2023 00:52

It’s the freezing feeling too when your body starts to heat up and you start to shiver and your teeth chatter. Child has been like that today. It is such a horrible feeling and that can usually be managed by calpol.

OP posts:
Original poster
MarmaladeAndToast · 26/05/2023 00:46

Thanks @Shoemadlady child was unfortunately not having the throat spray. I have produced lots of drinks and ice pops all day so hopefully that helped a little.

OP posts:
Shoemadlady · 26/05/2023 00:41

You're giving meds to keep temp down of course but you need to manage pain more than anything. It's awful so keep a small overlap of meds. Try Difflam spray too which will take the edge off and can be sprayed directly into throat on top of calpol and ibuprofen

Original poster
MarmaladeAndToast · 26/05/2023 00:41

Shoemadlady · 26/05/2023 00:39

Some posters saying that's too often have clearly never had chronic tonsillitis. It's agony. Don't forget to keep her topped up but make sure she's in antibiotics too and they will take at least 48 hrs to work

Agreed. It’s really nasty and unpleasant. Not just a slight sickness.

OP posts:
LittleBearPad · 26/05/2023 00:41

Shoemadlady · 26/05/2023 00:39

Some posters saying that's too often have clearly never had chronic tonsillitis. It's agony. Don't forget to keep her topped up but make sure she's in antibiotics too and they will take at least 48 hrs to work

If she’s asleep it’s not agony!

Shoemadlady · 26/05/2023 00:39

Some posters saying that's too often have clearly never had chronic tonsillitis. It's agony. Don't forget to keep her topped up but make sure she's in antibiotics too and they will take at least 48 hrs to work

NGCO · 26/05/2023 00:39

I don't know why yous would give her it if she's asleep. If she's a wee bit hot, take her covers off, open a window put a wee fan in her room. No need to jump straight to meds as her temps not that high

Original poster
MarmaladeAndToast · 26/05/2023 00:38

It has actually been raging most of the day.

OP posts:
Shoemadlady · 26/05/2023 00:38

Give it every four hours or interchange with child ibuprofen, so then calpol, then four hours later ibuprofen, 4 hours later calpol etc etc

LittleBearPad · 26/05/2023 00:35

MarmaladeAndToast · 26/05/2023 00:31

Staff have always told me to alternate meds to keep children’s temperatures down. She is certainly not comfortable with a raging temperature.

If she’s fast asleep then she’s not uncomfortable. Don’t dose her when she’s asleep. She could choke and if not it’s unpleasant.

38.1 isn’t that high anyway. It’s hardly raging.

SockQueen · 26/05/2023 00:32

Also, leaving her to sleep means YOU sleep better and feel more human and able to look after her!

Original poster
MarmaladeAndToast · 26/05/2023 00:31

Staff have always told me to alternate meds to keep children’s temperatures down. She is certainly not comfortable with a raging temperature.

OP posts:
Glitterstars · 26/05/2023 00:30

Treat the child not the fever I was told. A fever is a natural reaction to infection. Only need to give calpol if in discomfort so if asleep you can just leave her to sleep if she wakes and is uncomfortable with the fever give her calpol or Nurofen x

SimplyFed · 26/05/2023 00:29

drstranger · 26/05/2023 00:25

Nurofen is better for fevers I've found

I agree. For Ds nurofen seems to work better.

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