WIBU nursery & ibuprofen?

[Tobruornottobru]

I've NC'd for this.

DD is teething with a vengeance. Had every symptom going, including on and off fever (and disrupted sleep hence the time of this post). Nursery will give Calpol & send her home when she cracks a fever, even if we know it's teething. They have explicitly said that if she requires Calpol she cannot be at nursery (masks a fever, potential to make other children sick etc) which is fair enough.

However, I know she isn't sick. She's been sent home so much recently but is bright as a button once she's had some pain relief.

WIBU to give her some ibuprofen before nursery? If she needs Calpol it won't interact, she can have one after the other but the poor kid gets some pain relief (more than granules and gel can provide?) I know there's no risk of her making anyone else sick, this is 100% teething and the nursery have got no explicit rules about ibuprofen before nursery, only about Calpol.

I’d do it providing she wasn’t running a fever, for pain relief purposes only. It seems perfectly reasonable to give her the ibuprofen if she’s in pain given that it won’t interact with the calpol and technically doesn’t go against the nursery’s policy. However, the fever policy exists for a reason and it can be the first symptom of something more serious so I’d check first and wouldn’t use it to mask a fever, especially as you’d no doubt get a call later in the day once it wears off.

DC at school. I keep calpol in the car for this very reason (they aren’t given any meds at school). Of course it’s not silly to give ibuprofen before nursery.

I've done this. Nursery will keep dd there if she's only had one dose of Calpol but won't give a second, or ibuprofen so I've given the ibuprofen before dropping her off which really helps.

It is pretty standard to give your child medicine when they’re feeling poorly. If you were doing this to mask symptoms of a viral infection you’d be unreasonable. But this isn’t the case.

Teething does not cause a temperature. It may raise it by point 1 or 2 but anything over 38 should be treated accordingly and you should keep your child off of nursery.
Temperatures can be dangerous and I've had 2 children been admitted for febrile convulsions whilst working in nurseries. We have policies for a reason. If you're having to give meds to keep your child happy and to get through the day then they should be at home.

Ok I should make it clear I'm not trying to mask a fever, I'm just trying to relieve her pain without deliberately breaking the rules. They won't keep kids there after one dose (we'll give Calpol with your permission, please come and pick her up) but otherwise it's a fantastic nursery and DD loves it and I don't want to piss them off.

A few weeks ago she had an on/off fever (fluctuating withing the 38 range) for a week. It responded to Calpol but when I took her to the doctors on day 4 they told me she was fine. It's definitely her teeth, she never seems to cut one at a time which makes it harder on all of us, two simultaneous molars was awful.

We always do this, as you say, if she's in pain she needs some pain relief

Is it possible she is also fighting a virus aswell?

The doctors seemed to think its unlikely. She cries and behaves in a particular way when she's in pain compared to when she's ill and she's no where near as clingy as when she's ill (usually a very independent child).

I gave ibuprofen at 4.15 because she was crying in her sleep. Lots of cuddles and now she's fine, running away from me whilst I try to do her hair.

I work in a nursery and I would say yes, give her ibuprofen and send her in, she’ll likely be distracted enough to manage once it wears off.

Teething gel is crap. Try anbesol liquid.

In the real world, people (including me) do this all the time as there is not a never-ending supply of annual leave for people whose children are absolutely fine after a dose of medicine...

Ex medic here. I do this all the time. Don't see why you wouldn't.

I'm surprised by the nursery policy to be honest, is this similar to other people's experiences? Our nursery will give calpol (or nurofen if we take it in) for a fever or if they're a bit ill, obviously anything serious and they can't go in (and there's a very lengthy sickness policy!).

What you're proposing is fine OP, perfectly reasonable. The alternative is leaving your child in pain when you could easily prevent that, and ultimately having to collect them from nursery early.

The only thing I would be uncomfortable about is not letting nursery know she'd had nurofen, just in case for some reason they ended up giving it without seeking your permission first. Sounds like they don't even have nurofen though so chances are probably zero...

Yes I'd give it but make sure she has something to eat first or a drink of milk. Probably not essential but I don't like to give it on an empty stomach.

It also lasts longer than calpol so you might get 6 hours of pain relief / fever relief out of it.

Thank you. They only have Calpol there which is why I would give ibuprofen - absolutely no chance of overdose even accidentally.

Their sickness policies are very strict. DD missed 5 days because she had a dribble rash that looked like it might have been hand foot and mouth but wasn't. We liked this initially and thought it might protect her from the worst of the starting nursery illnesses. It didn't, not in the slightest, and now we take a lot of time off with her.

@spam88 that's it spot on. My child is in pain and I don't want policy to stop me relieving that.

@Tobruornottobru that is very strict considering there's no exclusion period for hand foot and mouth.

I'd do it without hesitation

I'm a childminder and I exclude for hand foot and mouth. I have a couple of pregnant parents so I don't take chances. I also exclude for conjunctivitis because it spreads like wildfire.

The reasons most childcare settings (in my experience) ask for children to be collected is that 9/10 times it's an illness. And it's not fair on the other children in my care if I'm pinned to the sofa with a sick child. Parents also regularly blame every illness known to mankind on teething (I'm not saying you do op, just in general). I had a former client try to tell me that the explosive diarrhea was teething. She didn't like the message 2 days later that I had to close as I'd contracted teething!

@kaytee87 that's the conversation I had with the doctor. I'm glad kids are sent home when they have it, two outbreaks at nursery in her room and she's not caught it (yet) but at the time I was very unwell and couldn't look after her alone.

She didn't like the message 2 days later that I had to close as I'd contracted teething!

Sorry but I had to laugh at that! I wouldn't dream of sending her in if I knew she was sick, I know how quickly young children turn once they can't compensate any more and I trust other parents to protect my DD by not sending in their sick kids.

Exactly what Glen said.

I am an ex Nursery Manager and parents ( not pointing to you op) can be unbelievable with their D.C. in relation to illness. They will blame everything else and not accept their child is unwell with something contagious.

You only have to look at schools as well and this is the very reason these nasty bugs spread like wildfire.

I was very strict and Nursery staff are with your D.C. all day long. They know when to send them home and wouldn’t do without good reason.

Op. I’m glad they’re strict with things like this. I now work on the other side of the fence and that’s a sign of a good Nursery, with good management.
You have to remember they that they have a duty of care not just to your child but to every child registered with the setting.

Absolutely, I agree 100% like I said, if I believed for a second that she was ill (and have had her checked out by a doctor) I wouldn't send her in. DD is a right personality and changes accordingly. I know she's not sick.

I don't begrudge them sending her home if they believe it's the right choice. I trust the team with my dd and I trust them to make the right choice within the policies. I just don't want her to be in pain unnecessarily.

I don't think there's a problem giving ibuprofen for teething, though you could drop off anbesol liquid for use in the day instead. It think it's a myth that babies get a fever from teething though, they're just more susceptible to infections and getting unwell a lot.