Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

For giving my dc Calpol?

109 replies

GoodEyebrowDay · 22/12/2016 08:03

My dh never gives our dc Calpol and when I do it's always met with 'why are you doing that?' in a low tone and later on mini lectures on it's bad sides. I only ever give Calpol when necessary (today I know for definite its teeth, eyes red & bloodshot, full of snots and cough) and it's no more than a few days a month I'd say and always lower than recommended dosage (she's 1 & still only give 2.5ml)

For background he was brought up in a homeopathic household and while I respect what they prefer, I'm not going to sit and listen to my child crying and moaning in discomfort.

Or am I just projecting & reading into it too much?

OP posts:
Crumbs1 · 22/12/2016 08:36

The trouble with a low dose is that it is less effective so may perpetuate your husbands belief that it doesn't work very well. Medicines need to be given at correct dose.
Calpol is safe, virtually harmless if used properly whereas homeopathy is discredited quackery. Homeopathy can actually be quite dangerous both because serious illnesses go untreated and because toxic substances are used. Initially in such small doses as to be water or sugar tablet but when that is ineffective some people use higher doses which carry risks.
My husband disliked 'drugs' for himself as a principle and wasn't keen for children but came to trust Calpol and then other essentials like antibiotics when he saw the difference it made.He did try to tell me I'd had enough Entonox during Labour once.........silly man!

Wolpertinger · 22/12/2016 08:38

For goodness sake give her the proper dose - a half dose will do nothing.

But think about what you are giving it for - won't do anything for a red eye, prob not much for teething, use a teething gel, won't stop her being snotty but might help on the worst day of a cold.

A few days every month does sound like a lot of Calpol.

HeCantBeSerious · 22/12/2016 08:38

It is based on the idea of giving a minuscule amount of a chemical that induces the same symptoms that the ill person already has

There's not even a trace amount. It's based on "water memory" (although it appears water doesn't remember piss or shit Hmm).

Not sure about the hitting on a horsehair saddle a certain number of times does to the water either.

It's total bullshit and Nelsons et al make billions from it

Threesoundslikealot · 22/12/2016 08:40

Lots of people confuse homeopathy with naturopathy - using natural remedies. The second can be very effective, the first is a pile of steaming horse shit.

BertrandRussell · 22/12/2016 08:42

"So he would rather trying medically untested horseshit that isn't proven to work? "

Oh, homeopathy has been medically tested all right! Grin

If a child is in pain then give the proper dose of a painkiller. Which she probably is if she's teething.

But calpol is no use at all for coughs and colds- it's a pain killer, pure and simple. And I think I would be a bit concerned at giving it for 3 days a month.......

StatisticallyChallenged · 22/12/2016 08:43

Most of the time when I have a cold I have a sore throat and a headache too. Paracetamol provides relief from those symptoms. With a baby they can't tell you, you can only see the physically obvious symptoms like the runny nose but too right I'd give calpol for a nasty cold because chances are there are pain symptoms too.

Temporaryname137 · 22/12/2016 08:46

Sorry to derail but can a cough be caused by teething?? DD is 15 months and getting molars - she's slightly feverish (37ish), coughing and congested and has no appetite. I assumed cold or MMR which was about 3 weeks ago...

As for your DH, tell him to go to the dentist without pain relief!!! One of my friends is training to be a homeopathic practitioner and has refused all jabs for her DC, it's hard to be polite about it .....

acquiescence · 22/12/2016 08:47

A few days a month is not excessive by any means. Teething, colds which cause pain (I can't ever remember having a cold where I didn't have a sore throat, head or muscle aches).

You might as well leave it rather than give a half dose.

Good luck with the OH, maybe honk about future scenarios where this could be an issue and discuss now as I'm guessing it will inpact again. Does he look after your LO on his own (or do his parents)? I would personally be a little worried about people caring for a baby who would leave them in pain.

Bobkinyoyo · 22/12/2016 08:51

To the people saying it's excessive, why? What harm does it do?

Genuine question.

MrsPeel1 · 22/12/2016 08:53

temporary a teething can cause a cough due to excess saliva - so not an ill cough just a cough due to irritation iyswim

Spikeyball · 22/12/2016 08:54

My child has been on maximum dose paracetamol and ibuprofen for over a week now with a nasty ear infection and I've done this lots of times in the past. I don't understand leaving a child in pain.

balls2DWall · 22/12/2016 08:58

i think you should be giving your child the correct dose first of all. otherwise it probably isnt doing anything at all and you have to reach for it more. and also if a child has a cold, while it may not help with blocked nose etc the child perhaps is headachey like any normal person and general unwell feeling so calpol would be appropriate.

can you at least meet your dp half way and try teetha sachets (homeopathic) for teething. they worked for ds even if some consider it placebo or what not. or steaming the room, vicks etc

Sandsnake · 22/12/2016 08:59

I think saying that using calpol for more than a couple of days a month is 'excessive' is like NHS targets for capping things like c-sections - pretty pointless. I give DS pain relief when he is in pain. The last couple of months with starting nursery and getting all the associated bugs plus molars coming through he's had quite a lot. In the summer, however, he probably went for three - four months without needing any.

BertrandRussell · 22/12/2016 09:04

"can you at least meet your dp half way and try teetha sachets (homeopathic) for teething"
Why?
Why would you give your child a pointless spoonful of xylitol?

CockacidalManiac · 22/12/2016 09:10

can you at least meet your dp half way and try teetha sachets (homeopathic) for teething

Or recite an incantation

PiecesOfCake · 22/12/2016 09:13

It contains paracetamol which is metabolised by the liver. If used excessively there is the potential for liver damage.

BertrandRussell · 22/12/2016 09:13

At least it's xylitol nowadays and you're not pouring sugar onto emerging teeth every couple of hours like you used to...........

megletthesecond · 22/12/2016 09:13

Yanbu. Mine had it all the time when teething. Certainly a few times a month. Hardly touched it once their teeth had all come through.

HeCantBeSerious · 22/12/2016 09:13

Actually, teething powders do work - it makes the baby bump their gums together which offers relief. Even the shitty Teetha ones do that. Ashton and Parsons contain actual chamomile though, so they are better.

HeCantBeSerious · 22/12/2016 09:14

Anbesol liquid is also much better than any teething gel for numbing sore gums.

Milkand2sugarsplease · 22/12/2016 09:15

DS has recently had an adenotonsilectomy and was on full dose (as prescribed by the hospital based on his weight rather than the general doses on the side of the bottle!) paracetamol and ibuprofen for 2 weeks with a further week gradually lowering it as he improved.

By some of these responses I should have ignored the doctors and used it more sparingly!!

If I think he's in pain and will benefit from it then he gets a dose - he's had it several times this week as he has a cold/ear infection.

SugarMiceInTheRain · 22/12/2016 09:16

YANBU at all OP. Your post made me think of this:

Bobkinyoyo · 22/12/2016 09:18

Anbesol liquid does diddly squat for my 9 month old, neurofen is the only thing which works

ElspethFlashman · 22/12/2016 09:23

Anbesol is liquid lidocaine. I had such great hopes! But sadly it didn't work here either.

And it's a wee bit of a strain trying to get it in an unwilling sore mouth.

Temporaryname137 · 22/12/2016 09:24

Ah thanks mrspeel! She's got lots of catarrh so probably a cold after all then