To think calpol is over used?

[crunchymint]

Calpol is used frequently by many parents. But it is basically paracetamol and should only be used for pain relief. NICE say it should not be used only to reduce fever. That is because unless very high, a certain amount of fever in ill children is a healthy response. But many staff will wrongly advise parents to give calpol when it is unnecessary.

@Eddierussett my response would be ‘take it in the other ear’ or don’t take my kids temperature without phoning me first.

Steeley cross posted. I think if they are even slightly warm to touch the check just in case (even if kid is running around in warm room). They do get more sensible once the child is over 1 thank goodness. It is a general policy for a nursery chain though!

yy fenella. Fevers generally go hand in hand with aching, headaches, ear aches etc. It's right to try and take away those pains.

@crunchymint that is not normal though, no one I know is that silly. My kids have snotty noses 99% of the time.

Yeah if DD had calpol for a runny nose i'd need shares 😂 but a genuine fever as opposed to a slight temp? As an adult that feeling sucks eggs, i take pain relief

My DDs temperature went to 41.1. I called Nhs direct they advised no calpol unless her body stops handling it. Whilst on phone she went vacant - think absent minded seizure. They still insisted no calpol and phoned an ambulance. I totally ignored and gave her calpol, (i panicked) nothing changed.
Ambulance came, they did something called tepid sponging! 5 mins later DDs temp was slowly coming down and I now use this instead of calpol with any temps over 39.

That the thing though betty calpol want to sell their product so they are not going to advertise not giving it!

There are fairly strict instructions on drug labelling and instructions though. It has to be correct. It's not like buying sweets.

That's interesting as our latest first aid course advised NOT to tepid sponge, or open windows & strip DC down. Even our 111 operator advised down to vest & pants but not to open windows or apply anything cold as the sudden temp difference can send the body into shock

@Iputthescrewinthetuna I don’t listen to anything 111 has to say, and I’m an a&e nurse. They’re a bloody liability they sponged her down as you gave the calpol and it didn’t work. I don’t recommend it usually, it can bring the temp down too fast which in itself can cause seizures. With a temp of 41.1 your child must of felt horrendous, you did the right thing giving them some pain relief!

@mustbemad17 when was your course, this happened about 18 months ago now, so have always used this since?
I now have a 2 year old with whooping cough. Her temp is so up and down we have no idea what we should do. We haven't tepid sponged her as she doesn't want to be messed with- she will just cry, crying is being on a coughing bout.
What is the advice for high temps now? I am comfortable in letting the temps rise to 39, I will be honest I get worried when it rises over that.

@Iputthescrewinthetuna give her calpol for pain relief! She clearly feels unwell! If you have a fever, you feel achey. Give her pain relief to take that feeling away, please.

It annoys me that people won't give their children calpol when they themselves take paracetamol.

Got a headache? You take paracetamol

Child complains of a small pain. Nothing significant but enough to grumble about it. No darling you can't have medicine, you don't need it.

Just give the kid some calpol. It's paracetamol! It's not going to hurt them when used in correct dosage

Mine have never had a fever without simultaneously being in pain and miserable.

@Steeley113 I felt so bad I allowed it to get that high. An hour before she was okish, 38.5. I sat next to her and felt the heat coming off her and took temp again, I couldn't believe it. The cause? An ear infection!
I have 3 children, the smallest of illness puts their temps at ridiculous highs. Luckily they don't get poorly often, however when they do it is never a little cold with a mild fever, it will always hit 40 if left.

And when I had sepsis and a temp of 42 I was given IV paracetamol (amongst other things) to bring my temperature down.

We were once told that it is not the height of the fever that causes the seizures, but a fast rise in temperature. So Calpol is a bad idea as when it wears off the temperature fluctuates back up quickly to what it would have been without medication.
Which is why when ds was younger (gefs+) the recommendation was to alternate between paracetamol and ibroprufen so that one would work while the other wearing off. NICE couldnt trust parents to do it properly so stopped recommending it despite doctors disagreeing.
Ds had over 20 fits between 15mos and 13 and the only time he had a 2nd fit in the same day was when we didnt alternate

As with many things, most people's use is probably fine but there are extremes. There was a woman on the program who was going through a bottle a month. I think we're on our 3rd and DD is 2.5.

@steely, we have given her calpol as her the amount of coughing she has done she has been in pain. It seems to be having no effect on her temp. The advice from GP was let her temp do what it needs to do and do not give her anything for the cough as it will cause the whooping cough to take longer to get better as it is bodies way of getting rid of bacteria causing it. She has antibiotics to treat whooping cough. I hate how much she is suffering. My usually hyper, cheeky little girl was so poorly yesterday she never spoke.

I think part of the focus of the program was that there were many parents giving calpol just because their young non verbal child ‘seemed a bit off’, ‘was teething’ or ‘seemed unwell ‘. Not just because the child was actually ill. Surely anyone can see that going through a bottle a month is far too much. Giving calpol when a child is genuinely unwell, has a high temp or is in pain is fine.

I agree. I only ever gave calpol very occasionally for pain relief. I don't even have a thermometer in my house.

Hardly bothered with it; even has to throw out of date bottles away. But I know people who I believe give it to their kids far to often.

IPut it was about a year ago i think? I say recent as in 'the most recent i've done' sorry 🙈 but it's always been something i was told from the first time DD fitted.

My DDs behaviour changes once she hits 38, so we catch it before a huge fever hits, perhaps the timing helps. And if you keep on top of it regularly then it doesn't dip enough to allow the fever to spike again.

When ds is unwell we can get through a large bottle a week. Some children don't cope with discomfort and feeling unwell.

Yes, guidance does now say not to give paracetamol for fever alone.

I'm 2 years into a paediatric nursing degree and have a child of my own but I've never yet come across a child who had a raging fever but was going about their day as normal. In my experience, fever almost always comes alongside pain or discomfort, which stops the child from exhibiting their usual behaviour. And parents are usually very good at gauging whether their child is in pain or discomfort. I've come across a few children who've been 'a bit warm' but happily playing and none of their parents believed their child needed paracetamol.

I saw that programme the other day. The lady had a 23 month old and had accumulated about 25 calpol syringes I think? So basically going through a bottle a month.

I watched the program last night and thought the exact same thing. My jaw actually dropped when I saw how many syringes they'd accumulated. Sadly, I believe that them being able to say their use of calpol had dropped 'hugely' was very telling and said a lot about their parenting rather than what the calpol bottle says.

I have 4 syringes at home in total. 2 at home, 2 at my parents' house. 3 of the bottles that came with those syringes are still in use, the other got binned as it had expired. And I definitely don't shirk on the pain relief if I believe DD is in pain. She's 4 so I suppose we're averaging at less than a bottle a year.

Healthcare profs we have visited when DS had a high fever (41/42) advised ibuprofen rather than paracetamol to assist with reducing the fever