To suspect my nanny is drugging my child?

[Bambooshoot]

I have a nanny for my son who is now eighteen months old, she has been with us since he was ten months old. I recently noticed that the level of the emergency bottle of Calpol had gone down dramatically and I know we have not given him any. I put a mark on the bottle to see if it would go down any further, and sure enough, it has. She is the only other person in the house. Is it possible for Calpol to evaporate over time, or is she giving it to him and not telling me/writing it in the book? If so, would IBU to sack her on the spot for endangering his health, in that we could have come home from work and given him another dose without realising? I suppose she could be taking it herself, at a stretch - I just think this is a pretty serious allegation and I don't want to upset the relationship by suggesting she is giving it to him if it can just dry up anyway?

Wtf? JUST calpol??

I'd ask her

Calpol is NOT a really, really weak paracetemol

It's exactly the same as any other paracetamol product in a liquid formulation. And it's every bit as dangerous as any other paracetamol product if the doses given are excessive.
Of course you need to find out who has been taking it and why.

FFS, I thought it was going to be about how she parks the kid in its buggy whilst she's out toking a spliff. Now that would be cool!

Maybe she has given it more than four hours before you return and so no overdose risk and maybe she didn't write it in the book because she didn't feel like justifying a small dose if a common painkiller she's given to a child in her care. Due to teething, a cold etc etc.

It could be really dangerous, I can't believe those ridiculing it! .

I doubt she's 'drugging' your child with calpol, but it's still pretty serious if she is giving it too often to a young child.. I've previously had toothache and ended up in an ambulance to a&e after having too much 'just calpol'

Calpol is a really really low level of paracetamol in a suspension. 125/5ml. It's the same molecule (obviously) so of course doses should not be excessive but to get to excessive with such a low mg/ml is quite hard.

Of course Calpol won't evaporate if it's kept in a bottle with the lid on.

It doesn't sound good, I'd be concerned about this, but I'd ask her what's going on before jumping to conclusions and sacking her.

It's a child safeguarding issue.

Calpol is NOT a really, really weak paracetemol

Calpol is, however, a weak paracetamol solution. Infant calpol has 120mg/5ml if I remember correctly. A "normal" paracetamol pill has 500mg. An adult takes 1-2 of those for a headache. So an adult taking Calpol would need 20-40ml. That means a 100ml bottle only contains 2.5-5 adult doses. If the nanny had three headaches, the bottle would be quite empty.

X post with Underchipsandpeas

'Drugging' is a really emotive word. When I read the title I thought you suspected that she was giving your child sedatives to make them sleep.

Nevertheless, you've made it clear that you expect her to consult you before administering medicine, and you have reason to believe that she isn't doing this. You need to have a conversation.

I take calpol all the time as I am a twat when it comes to taking tablets.

I'm to sure why you are questioning what to do, just ask her?

I would 100% get this sorted, so imagine say at 7pm some evening he was sick you checked his book to see if calpol had been given (seen it hadn't) -and then figured it was ok to give him some but actually wasn't as he had some only a short time ago with the nanny!! I know that's a hypothetical situation but there's been a few times I've got my dd home from nursery and needed calpol due to teeth etc and I check in her book and just phone the nursery to double check she hasn't had any doses (we also have to sign a medicine sheet to acknowledge that we know when the last medicine was on pick up if any that day)but even still I try to cover all angles!

Gosh it's all going on in the lives of new posters on MN tonight.
Crazy

If she is giving your child calpol without your knowledge then absolutely I agree, that is unacceptable. You should 100% know exactly what medication your child is having, and she should be asking permission first. What if you came home and gave him calpol 2 hours after he had already had some but you didn't know???

Underchips what an idiotic thing to say. Perhaps ( without googling or checking a bottle) you'd like to list the recommended dosages/volumes/side effects and contra indications for liquid Paracetemol in infants? The ignorance about the harmful side effects of paracetemol never ceases to amaze me.

Also if he hasn't even been ill why is she even giving him any?

Why would she? Maybe so he naps and she can put her feet up.

Calpol doesn't cause drowsiness. It only aids sleeping if something like teething pain is disrupting sleep.
Unless you overdose of course.

Glad I'm not the only grown adult who takes calpol.

OP I'd ask her and probably sack her if she has been doing that. You expressly told her no medicine without consulting you. She clearly can't follow simple instructions.

If the Nanny is being paid top dollar and wanted to drug the child surely she would have enough money to buy her own supply of Calpol.
One of mine took Calpol as opposed to pills until they were an adult. Didn't like pills.

I think I made up expressly there because it doesn't seem right at all.

Ah, I knew someone would think I lived under a bridge! I don't, honestly. And I would have posted this in the parenting forums but wanted a quick sanity check to see if Calpol evaporates or not, before I effectively accuse someone who is working for me of doing something very wrong, since I know you ladies can be brutal when needed! I am very grateful for all the replies and this is a genuine issue.

Lelloteddy we dose mg/kg usually do off the top of my head 60mg/kg every 4-6 hours. Obviously less IV but I'd have to check. I was making the point in my post (clearly rather badly) that it's not like the nanny is bunging the child a couple of "jellies" to ease bedtime...