To say that Calpol....

[Wonderbread]

Barely reduces children’s temperature but liquid Ibuprofen does so dramatically?

I’m confused because medical professionals always recommend Calpol but it literally does nothing to reduce my son’s temps. Sometimes it shift a few points down but not much. Ibuprofen though nails them by 1 or 2 degrees for hours.

Is this just my child or is it common!?

You can bring a temp down without medication. Young children shouldn’t have calpol et al for all minor fevers or ailments, it’s totally overused and paracetamol certainly isn’t great for tiny livers and stomachs, no matter the dose.

Not overusing meds for fevers is in the NICE guidelines for drs, so maybe yours need to brush up a bit on up to date information.

I’m not someone who is anal about food colourings and sugar content but never understand why calpol is always preferred over dispersible paracetamol without all the additives

@mustardscreams it’s not one doctor. It’s the whole of the NHS system I’ve encountered from my local 10 doctor surgery to 111 to A&E

And I wouldn’t give for minor fevers but over 39 and I do

Blimey, how many drs do you see for a fever?! You only need to seek medical attention if it’s been going for longer than 5 days or your child has signs of sepsis, or you can’t rouse them etc. Even a high temp with no other symptoms can be treated at home.

NHS reccomendations for fevers in childten.
www.nhs.uk/conditions/fever-in-children/

How do you bring a temp down without medication (not saying all fevers need meds)

Calpol usually works well with both my DC, however this Easter my DS had a high temperature of 38.4 and calpol did nothing for it. At 1st visit with GP she advised to alternate which I did and the ibuprofen certainly brought the temperature down. She also told me that due to the severity of the temperature it wasnt safe not to give anything at all due to the risk of convulsions or fits. As there was no real improvement after 3.5 days of this I took DC back to GP. At our second visit - he explained that ibuprofen works better at bringing temperatures down. He did explain why, but I can't remember !!! However, UK advice is always paracetamol first, apparently most other countries start with ibuprofen first. He also advised that the medicines these days are not as strong as they would have been when I was a child.

I find paracetamol works best for us. I don't rush to reduce a fever as it is the body's way of healing but if the kids or me feel rubbish and unwell and can't get to sleep because of it a dose of paracetamol seems to do the job. It seems to work really quickly too.
Ibuprofen doesn't seem to do that much for us.
Perhaps medicine results vary for different people.

My DD has a reaction to ibuprofen so can only use cal poly.

When I spoke to a nurse about this, he said it's a judgement call whether to use paracetamol or ibuprofen for a fever, and there are schools of thought both ways.

He said that he, personally, wouldn't medicate for a fever unless it was above 39. My DD at the time the day before had been 39.5, so I felt justified. Whilst a fever does, of course, fight infection, a very high fever can cause convulsions or - in extreme situations - problems with the brain. It can also be bloody uncomfortable and stop them sleeping, which can also worsen any illness.

DC1 is a calpol kid
DC2 ibuprofen every time

DS had a high temperature of 38.4 and calpol did nothing for it. At 1st visit with GP she advised to alternate which I did and the ibuprofen certainly brought the temperature down. She also told me that due to the severity of the temperature it wasnt safe not to give anything at all due to the risk of convulsions or fits

That’s actually a very low fever are you sure that’s correct. 38 and over counts as a fever but it’s not until you get to 39 territory it’s classed as high.

Sorry to add, and even then doctors haven’t been that worried at my son’s 39.9 fever. As long as it came down with Ibuprofen

Just in case anyone is unsure, NICE guidelines say that calpol and ibuprofen should not be used solely for reducing temp, and that anti-pyretics don't prevent febrile convulsions in under 5s.

Hi @wonderbread - his temperature was 38.7, when I took him to doctor it was 38.4, the reason I took him was because, he was telling me his eyes hurt and to turn the light off, he was very sleepy and didn't voluntarily want fluids over a period about 15 hours. I was almost forcing him to take sips as often as I could. My kids have had high temperatures before and I've never taken them to the doctors as I'm not normally a rush to the doctors kind of person, however for me this time all the symptoms set off alarm bells as a friend of ours lost their 3yro DS to meningitis very very quickly and was initially sent home to medicate with calpol. My DS was just 3 at the time. But what I wrote in my first post was correct, the first Dr I saw told me to alternate to bring his 'high' temperature down due to risk of fits or convulsions. The Dr was quite rude in the way she spoke to us, and almost told me off, as I had not given him a dose when it was due just as we were leaving the house to go to the doctors. I came away feeling s**t and like I had increased his risk of a fit because we were about 45 minutes overdue for a dose of calpol or ibuprofen.

It depends what’s wrong with your child. Calpol is more effective for some illnesses, ibuprofen for others.

When it’s really bad I alternate both.