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?

Florrieboo she said in the OP that she put a line on the bottle. She later said:

It is a 140ml bottle of 140mg/5ml sugar free suspension, it is pink and I would say since I noticed it had been disappearing the level dropped by 2.5cm before I took it away

Which explains why she said 2.5cms instead of ml. She was measuring the amount the line went down. So, you could always measure a bottle (of which I don't have) and based on that determine the amount of ml actually missing

How can paracetamol knock a child or anyone out though?

I dont know, I just know that it did have that effect on 2 of my 6 children.

SausageSoda Sun 13-Nov-16 23:00:27
That's interesting Magic. Didn't know that it contained ingredients banned in other countries. My HV/GP actively encourage the use of if after vaccinations.
I've given my 4 month old DD maybe 5-6 doses of calpol in the past 2 months. Not sure what i'll going forward.

Seriously? One random article on the interwebz and now you're doubting your trained for years GP?

Just googled "parent drug baby calpol sleep". Lo and behold there are articles and discussions on how some people have used and do use it to get babies/small children to sleep. Including one from independent.ie saying all parents would be tempted to give a crying baby calpol at 3am.

Medised was used by some parents just to get babies and small children to sleep and banned when my dd was a baby. I'd never heard of it until
much was made in the media of the abuse of the drug when it was pulled from the shelves 2008/9.

It really was a big thing and discussed amongst parents a lot. I heard parents were then drugging their babies with calpol instead. So where the calpol has gone definitely needs clarification.

Of course this needs clarification.

Paracetamol is dangerous stuff and the adults in a child's life need to be responsible when giving it to a child, and in the communication of doses and times etc.

Basic stuff.

If your first instinct is to think the nanny is 'drugging' your child rather than spillage / her taking it herself etc, then you gave no trust in her.

I'd get rid of her on the basis that trust has broken down. Fairly and with notice, but with some realism as the nanny might not want to work out her notice and there's no real way of insisting this happens.

Then find another nanny.

So how quickly has this 56 dose bottle been emptied? You haven't said. That's quite a determining factor in this AIBU.

Your Nanny may have had a period pain or the like, and taken some of the calpol as stronger painkillers like comcodamol give her bad side effects. to be honest, she is probably better off if you do sack her. Who wants an employer who assumes you are dishonest or at fault without even having a chat with you?

Did you point out the bottle and have a discussion about it? You are two grown adults. If you are unhappy with her conduct then talk to her.

You don't trust her, you have said that there are other issues. Trust is critical when someone is looking after your child.

Actually I think that you are right to be concerned. I would ask her about the calpol but in all honesty I think it is time that you parted company.

Get rid of the bottle and buy the sachets then you can count them
Tell your nanny that in future any medicines given must be written down in the medicine book. Buy a small notebook and ask her to write the date, time and dosage each time she administers and to note the reason
Make sure you check the sachets tally up
You could also ask her to ring you before she administers any medicine

I take calpol occasionally. I'm 45. I find it acts faster.
My lovely gp neighbour also brought us home a 1litre pharmacy bottle of the stuff when my dd was about 3 mos old. She had just gone back to work after mat leave and said she would use it pretty much every night on her own baby.
and oh yes. Medised was the dog's bollocks in terms of helping fractious babies sleep.
So, 2.5 cms of a bottle over what period of time? I do get that you'd want to know. I'm not sure I'd go in all guns blazing, I think I'd just say 'oh, I noticed the calpol had been used - can you make sure you write it in the book if you give him any please, I don't want to overdose him.' End of discussion.
I assume you also write in the book when you give calpol, so the nanny doesn't overdose him?
I know how easy it is to forget stuff when you are dashing out to work and trying to remember if there is anything the nanny needs to know.

She may well have given him some without telling you and yes, she should have told you. Why don't you just ask her? Mention that you can tell he's had some and you'd prefer it if she'd check with you in future before giving him it as if he's unwell you have a right to know.

But if she's given him Calpol it's because she's felt he is fractious through pain or running a temperature, she's not 'drugging' him routinely so he'll sleep and she can't put her feet up.

I would hope a trained nanny (and indeed a mother) would realise that there is bugger all in Calpol that will make a child sleep. It's just paracetamol. If a child sleeps as a result of taking Calpol it's only because it has eased whatever fever/pain they were suffering and helped them to settle better, in which case what's the problem? It won't send a perfectly well child to sleep.

so she can put her feet up

Actually she can if the nanny has been there less than a year.

Two years. The Tories increased it.

If your nanny was habitually drugging your child over the best part of a year - for any reason other than a legitimate one, ie he is in mild pain and she wants to relieve that pain - then I suspect she would have gotten through more than a couple of inches of Calpol. She probably has given it to him a few times but it may well be an issue of her failing to write it down, not of her deliberately doing something deceitful. Give her a chance to explain herself.

You can also give up to 20ml of Calpol in 24 hours with no risk of overdosing the child at all. It doesn't sound as though much more than this is missing from the bottle, so this could be a case of her spilling bit, giving him some on a couple of days etc. I don't think it sounds that sinister!

Even if she gave it to him, that doesn't equate to 'drugging' him - she administered medicine, unless she did it for some other strange reason of her own. Yes, she should have informed you.

Just googled "parent drug baby calpol sleep". Lo and behold there are articles and discussions on how some people have used and do use it to get babies/small children to sleep

Well it'll only help them sleep if what's stopping them sleep is pain. It doesn't make them drowsy or anything. I think that's a popular misconception.

To all the posters that think the nanny wouldn't have used it as a sedative because it has no sedative effect. If the nanny thinks it has a sedative effect that puts a different complexion on it doesn't it? It doesn't do to assume what knowledge others have. I had an employer that gave Calpol every night to his toddler as he said it made him sleep. As to the rights or wrongs of it ??? But he believed it to have sedative qualities and must have got through litres a year.

I would give the nanny notice. If there are no other reasonable explanations then the most likely one is probably right. She had access to adult medication and no-one else was coming into the house so she was probably using Calpol as a soother (the dangers of nice-tasting medication).

Extraordinary ignorance and lulz/bantz on this thread. The effects of paracetamol overdose are not reversible. People are worrying about the nanny's employment situation rather than the DC's wellbeing. It's unbelievable.

User: the nanny has a right not to be fired unreasonably. It is natural for people to take the view that she should be given a chance to say her piece.

OP I have a live in nanny, been with me since my dd was 3 months old and she is now 7 years old. There has occasionally been a break down in communications because English is not her first language but never about medication. But I wanted to check whether your nanny is also from a different country. I write anything important down on a black board and tell her everything twice so there is no chance she doesn't understand (culturally she finds it hard to challenge or say no or that she doesn't understand which frustrates me but she is a wonderful nanny) xx

If she was going to drug him secretly then surely she would just have her own calpol in her bag rather than use yours?

I recently noticed that the level of the emergency bottle of Calpol had gone down dramatically So over what time frame, when did you last check the bottle.

Isn't it more likely your nanny has given your child capol because teething over the few months and you haven't notice rather then jumping to the conclusion that the nanny is 'drugging' your child.