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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

to give my children Medised occasionally?

80 replies

Diziet · 27/09/2010 13:46

Yes, I know it's labelled '6 years +' these days. But I used to get it when my eldest son (who is now 5) was a baby and he would have it when he had a cold. When both my boys got Chickenpox back in February they had it then (my youngest was 2 at the time, he is now 3). I KNOW the medicine itself hasn't changed, as I kept the old packaging to check. AAArgh!! Am I an Evil Mummy who should turn herself in??

OP posts:

Poogles · 27/09/2010 15:55

YANBU but you do need to be careful, especially if using ANY other medicines.

Gave it to my son when he was small & then his brother despite the age changes. TBH we use medicine so rarely for them that we have to check the expiry label every time!

FrameyMcFrame · 27/09/2010 15:58

what is 'Medised'?
I have been a parent for 9 years and have never heard tell of this stuff!

parkj83 · 27/09/2010 16:03

YANBU - I used this for DS when he was 9mo, and had terrible trouble sleeping because of blocked up nose, and I have started stockpiling a bottle in the cupboard because I just know when DC2 is born and will need some DS will get a cold, the flipping pharmacy won't sell it to me just in case I accidentaly give it to DC2

It's down to common sense at the end of the day FFS. I was recommended it by a lovely old pharmasist who used it on all his kids and grandkids. He just said not to give with any other product containing paracetamol. Simple enough.

RunningOutOfIdeas · 27/09/2010 16:07

Sloany, the antihistamine is not actually being used as an 'antihistamine' IFSWIM. It is a side effect of older antihistamines that means that they dry up snot, and give you a dry mouth.

cupcakesandbunting · 27/09/2010 16:12

I gave DS who is 3 2.5ml last night and tha is only because the poor lamb kept waking up crying because his nose was so full of snot :( Vicks/Olbas oil just doesn't seem to work with anyone in this house. Medised is a stand-by for when all else has failed, which is not often. My bottle is so old (but in date) that it still has "from 2 years" on the label!

My friend's wife who works in a pharmacy told me that my GP would probably prescribe Medised for a chronic blocked nose anyway, so I don't feel particularly unsafe giving him half a dose. Unless any MNers know something that I don't, in which case I'm all ears!

FrameyMcFrame · 27/09/2010 16:17

Just googled medised and it can cause hallucinations in children under 6

cupcakesandbunting · 27/09/2010 16:22

Hmmm, maybe that's why DS was going on about robots with guns under his bed

SweetBeadieRussell · 27/09/2010 16:31

this thread has burst my bubble. i woke up this morning, without dd2 attached to me, and thought 'oh my god, she nearly slept through!;' I didn't connect that fact with having given her 2.5 ml of piriton (for a genuine allergic reaction i might add) at about 6pm last night. darn.

Claz1001 · 27/09/2010 16:31

Apparently antihistamines do work for congestion on colds as well as allergies. I give it to my 3 year old when she is bunged up, at nighttime. The sleepy side effect is not such a bad thing! When my DD was a baby it was recommended for 3 months+ so I just keep to the dosage for her age (or rather, the dosage they used to suggest for her age before it became 6+). So in my opinion YRNBU at all!! Unless I am too.

It's a bit like the guidelines for alcohol when pregnant, easier to advise none at all as some people do not know what one measure is. The reason, as I understand it, for making Medised 6+ was because parents were giving much larger doses than recommended.

GetOrfMoiLand · 27/09/2010 16:43

Framey - that would explain dd shrieking her head off about the ladies in the blue vans (we were at home, in bed)

cupcakesandbunting · 27/09/2010 16:47

Sorry but ladies in blue vans is too, too funny...

GetOrfMoiLand · 27/09/2010 16:52

It was odd - it was like dd was on speed.

I was lying down with her in bed, trying to get her to go to bloody sleep after hours of her carrying on, and she was shrioeking 'NO mummy, no sleep, they keep going round in the blue vans, look at all the old ladies'

(although wasn't funny at the time)

DanceInTheDark · 27/09/2010 16:56

I am at the number of people all saying they medicate their kids for no reason !

Yes its a fucking nightmare having your child wide awake and screaming all night (i have a 2.6 YO who has slept thru only a handful of times)

WHat appears to be the same ingredients as the previously packaged medicine, may actually have different quantities which are potentially harmful for young children.

cupcakesandbunting · 27/09/2010 16:58

Has anyone said they medicate for no reason?

getOrf do you think she's seen a ring and ride bus full of old biddies? She could have been thinking of that

Librashavinganotherbiscuit · 27/09/2010 17:00

I would be interested in the reasons not to use medised. (I have never used medised on DC and would never use a medicine that said not to give it to a certain age group unless advised otherwise by a doc)

GetOrfMoiLand · 27/09/2010 17:01

God knows what she was thinking!

It was the first and last time she ever had medised, just stuck to calpol when she had a temperature after that.

megapixels · 27/09/2010 17:10

What do you use Medised for? Like Framey I've never had to use it (and my eldest is 8) and I've only ever heard of it on parenting forums and it seems to be A Terribly Bad Thing.

FrameyMcFrame · 27/09/2010 18:17

and and at GetOrf's hallucinating Dd!

bamboobutton · 27/09/2010 18:33

dh went out to buy some earlier and the bottle he came back with had 'from 3 months' on it.

if it has been banned for what, sixish years now for under sixes why is the packaging still being made with very young ages on them still?

i've also had boxes with '2 years plus' and i have never seen a box with 6yrs plus on it.

choufleur · 27/09/2010 18:41

It made Ds sick when he was little. he'd have it and then a few minutes later projectile vomit. Took a couple of experiences to realise it was the medised.

I wouldn't give him now - even though he's older (but still not older enough for the new guidelines - we did stick with the guidelines when he had it previously).

When he had chicken pox we just used piriton, calpol and calprofen.

Seona1973 · 27/09/2010 19:04

the guidance was only changed in February 2009 so the manufacturers havent managed to catch up with changing the boxes - the old stock is still being sold and only new stock will have the new guidance on it.

a link given earlier gives the info:

Press release: Better medicines for children?s coughs and colds

AvrilHeytch · 27/09/2010 20:11

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

xstitch · 27/09/2010 20:26

Sorry yabu. As well as hallucinations diphenhydramine (the other ingredient in medised) has been found to be implicated in cot death and sleep apnoea in children.

For children with chicken pox I would recommend plain paracetamol and piriton (chlorphenamine) if the child was old enough.

For nasal congestion I would recommend using things like karvol/ menthol products and perhaps saline nasal drops.

Yes it is awful when your child is ill but some medication is just not worth the risk.

AvrilHeytch · 27/09/2010 20:35

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

xstitch · 27/09/2010 20:42

There have been some reports where the coronor has felt that diphenhydramine has been an issue.

I wasn't suggesting using piriton regularly. It was for chicken pox which would be short term. If it was needed longer term for an allergy the the child should really be assessed and monitored by a doctor. No medication is entirely without risk.

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