to wonder why people give so much medicine to their kids?

[RagamuffinAndFidget]

I am totally open to being told IABU here, am just looking for opinions really.

DS3 (7mo) has a cough and a cold. I posted a 'go the fuck to sleep' type status on Facebook earlier and had lots of comments from friends telling me to give Calpol/Nurofen. For a cold? Really? Also some comments suggesting Vicks on his feet, which seems more sensible..

Do people really give Calpol every time their child has the sniffles? Is there actually a point to it, or is it just the done thing to dose a child up every time they cry now? Don't get me wrong, I do give my children medicine if they have a very high temperature or are in pain, but I try not to give it often, and I wouldn't give it for a cough/lack of sleep.

Is it just me?

"and the best way to recover is sleep, which requires the relief of the symptoms eg medicine."
First bit you have said is obviously correct, second bit is not; because medicine is a very temporary fix for symptoms and is not the only nor healthiest way to relieve symptoms.. if you think colds are bad, try proper keep in bed for weeks flu... The negative side of Decongestants is well known, am always amazed that people knock by Lemsip and Sudafed in great quantities..

So, no I can't provide evidence that constant calpol in low dosage is harmful, but common sense suggests to me that it isn't good for you either.

Common sense being it's unnatural right?

To answer your OP, I don't know anyone who gives medication to their children when they don't need it. I've only ever seen people moaning about it on online message boards.

What the fuck does knowing your body even mean?

"What the fuck does knowing your body even mean?"

Well, in my case, it means knowing whether a headache is the beginning of a migraine, which needs zapping with everything SmithKleinGlaxo can produce, a too much close work headache which needs a change of activity, a being shut in an airless room headache which needs a walk outside..........

"Because paracetamol doesn't cure viral infections either, you know!"

Penetrating observation

People take paracetamol because it helps with the symptoms of a cold, not because it cures the cold.

"IE, when my 9m old is awake at 3am screaming and clutching her jaw, I'm not going to try a breath of fresh air and a drop of water"

No. Neither am I. As I very clearly said in my post!

Bertrand so just recognising symptoms? How does that go against taking medicine?

I don't give Ds calpol often but if he is showing signs of being in pain then I will, I would rather do that than let him suffer when I can do something to control it for him.

When it's your body it is much easier to judge whether it's an "I need a bit more water" headache or an "I need tablets" one but for someone else, especially someone with limited ability to verbalise it is harder to tell so if in doubt I would always give pain Releif.

Ds often needs high dose ventolin so I will give him some calpol then as it generally causes a headache for him so I can't stop the ventolin but I can reduce the headache!

""Because paracetamol doesn't cure viral infections either, you know!"

Penetrating observation hmm

People take paracetamol because it helps with the symptoms of a cold, not because it cures the cold."

Well, I wasn't sure you did know-your mockery of any approach to a cold other than paracetamol suggested you didn't. Paracetamol will relieve the symptoms of a cold if those symptoms happen to be a high fever or pain. Which they sometimes are. But usually aren't. Which is why things like Lemsip are better because they have decongestants and (I think) antihistamines. Which can do something about the more usual symptoms of a cold. But if you suffer pain and high fevers, then fill your boots. Most people don't.

"medicine is a very temporary fix for symptoms"

... which is all we need because symptoms are temporary, too.

"Bertrand so just recognising symptoms? How does that go against taking medicine?"

It doesn't. It just goes for not heading straight for medicine when something else might do.

If my child usually sleeps well but has a cold and is awake, clearly not themselves, I would strongly suspect that they are in pain. If they can't be settled, I'd give medicine. I only see this sort of angst and quoting studies on MN. Mine had colds as babies/toddlers every few months, so the amount they had was negligible in the grand scheme of their lives.

Yeah, cat did a great job of selectively quoting me earlier when I said that I found it horrid to see children asking for Calpol before they go to bed ie not because they're sick. She conveniently decided to leave out the italic bit. Some parents just have them in the habit of taking it before bed or if they feel a bit tired/grumpy and they 'like the taste'.

It doesn't. It just goes for not heading straight for medicine when something else might do. but what's the issue if you take paracetamol instead of going for a walk? What's wrong with it?

bumbley so that's the only time you dislike kids asking for it?

In the OPs case, her baby had a stuffy nose which was making feeding off to sleep difficult. I'm not sure what people think paracetamol is supposed to do for a stuffy nose. Maybe we should give it 'just in case' it magically starts clearing blocked noses?

Because the baby might be in pain with a cold

Or he could just have a stuffy nose preventing him feeding to sleep which paracetamol will do nothing to help. This isn't really that hard to understand. I'm starting to think you're on a bit of a wind up.

I don't think so. Snuffly noses are, to a greater or less degree a swelling of the nasal passage. Sometimes that can be very painful (sinus infection) sometimes if doesnt really hurt at all (regular runny nose) what people are saying is with a baby you really don't know which one applies, so you administer calpol to relieve any pain there may be. Paracetamol works on pain receptors to tell your body there is no pain- if there indeed is no pain they obviously don't work. But on the odd occasion, there really isn't a downside to this cautious approach- unless you do it frequently - the downside of doing nothing is that your child is in pain with a condition that is easily treatable.

But as I said before, most people are sensible and realise this. Most people aren't one extreme or the other. Most people can make accurate assessments of whether their child is in pain, and for
The 1 time it's unclear might chose to administer calpol "just in case". That's really not a big deal and not comparable to people who administer medication regularly for no particular reason.

Or...some people try to soothe the baby/relieve congestion in other ways because they might not need paracetamol . Some people seem to have a problem with that and think people are 'leaving their child to suffer' because they don't reach for the Calpol first thing.

You do realize that it is a viral infection, I hope. What is a breath of fresh air or a cup of water supposed to do?

Do you realise that the 2 most important things for a cold are good hydration and rest??

bumbley yes but I'd rather give pain releif and it not be needed than not give it and it be needed