Friends don’t believe in vaccinations or calpol

[Campingcarryon]

I have some friends who are new parents and have declared that their child won’t be having any childhood vaccinations and that they also don’t believe in giving kids calpol or other medicines either.

Honestly, I didn’t know what to say when they said that to me- I haven’t come accross people who were anti calpol before 🤦‍♀️

Aibu to think it’s quite irresponsible if your child is ill not to get their temp down with calpol and that you are risking things getting a lot worse, especially with really small babies that get ill and deteriorate really fast. Let alone the whole anti vax position.

Honestly, I am still really baffled by their position to be honest. I think it’s really weird and irresponsible not to want your child to feel well 🤪

It’s considered abuse to not give your child adequate pain relief and if this happened while in hospital it would be raised with social services.

I’ve looked after patients with injuries and parents refused pain relief, it never ended well for the parents 🤷‍♀️

They don't believe in?! It is like Father Christmas- I don't have time for people like this.

Why are telling people?!

Have you asked them then if they'll be denying all medical treatment for their DC? Surely no antibiotics, no hospital treatments, no blood tests just pot luck and hope the baby doesn't die from a basic infection like it would in the mediaeval ages!

I find it terrifying and irresponsible that there are people out there like this. Imagine just leaving it to chance whether your child gets a disease that could kill it or leave it disabled.

Utterly infuriating.

Give them a bit more time and they'll be desperate to get their hands on calpol. The same as the mum's who are dead against their daughters watching peppa pig. They come to the dark side eventually.

I feel attacked. I was this parent. 🤣

(To be clear I mean Peppa Pig - I love vaccines and Calpol)

How can you be friends with someone who will willingly let their kid potentially contract a disease that may kill them? They have no reason to do this, their child doesn't have a compromise immune system, or is allergic to the vaccines (that they know of). I couldn't be friends with someone like that, they are being cruel to their own children.

Good luck to them

We all know Calpol is full of microchips and 5G. Sensible approach really.

@LionGiraffe

We all know Calpol is full of microchips and 5G. Sensible approach really.

🤣 OP you need to say this to them!

Capol isn't necessarily needed for fever. The fever is the body doing it's job. But it is cruel not to give pain relief to relieve pain or feeling uncomfortable ( obviously if other safe methods work they are fine as well).

SIL was very vaccine sceptic (although did give them eventually) and also v anti calpol. Nephew would be crying in pain and she wouldn't give him anything. It's a mindset I've never understood++. Mine had calpol as needed when young, but not at every turn. And as they've got older, it's less and less because they can communicate more effectively and I can talk to them about alternative options. A bottle of calpol lasts forever around here.

++ also nephew now has all kinds of weird behavioural issues and the like which a) she's in denial about and b) at least some are 100% caused by their parenting. Sigh.

Nuts. What if their child is properly sick? Are they gonna let doctors treat them?

I got told off recently by a nurse at the minor injuries unit, I had taken my daughter in with what turned out to be a broken thumb and I hadn't given her any calpol yet! She had hurt her thumb the previous evening but had been using her hand and lifting up cats etc so I didn't think it was too serious but when she woke up it was all swollen and so I decided to take her to get it checked out, the nurse was very snappy with me about her not having had any calpol, she said they don't like to examine children when they are in pain, which is fair enough I just didn't think before rushing off to the MIU first thing.

I'd be finding new friends!!!

I can’t be friends with stupid people, so they’d no longer be my friends and I’d say why.
I am NC with my cousin as he has not vaccinated his kids and spouts nonsense.

I knew a woman like that- but she happily had all her travel vaccinations, was vaccinated as a child and took plenty of codeine herself. It was one of the reasons I stopped having anything to do with her.

I don’t understand the anti Calpol thing. My DD must have had it about 20 times in her first year!

The vaccine position is ridiculous.

I do think Calpol is over used by modern parents. It has a place, definitely, but I don't think it needs to be given for every little sniffle or hint of a temperature. It's a useful medicine when needed, but it's still toxic. I didn't give it to my children unless absolutely necessary, just like I don't immeadiately take paracetamol myself.

I have had comments off people (generally those without children) that I'm just giving calpol so DS would sleep. As in rather than crying all night in pain with teething or a fever? But of course it's because I'm a selfish mum who just wants to knock him out.

I do sort of get the PFB thing of not wanting anything like that near 'my perfect baby' but I had to get over that pretty quickly when DS was in NICU with IV antibiotics.

I worried about when to use Calpol. I've left it too late in the past and ended up with very poorly DC who had to be blue lit into hospital. If I'd given Calpol earlier theyd have been able to sleep better and probably fight off the infection without needing to be hospitslised. I'd recommend supermarket own brand over Calpol though as the sorbitol doesn't agree with my DC

Please don't be friends with stupid people especially as you need to protect yourself and family from them.

A friend of mine knew someone who refused to give their baby vitamin K at birth. The baby was the rare one who had a bleeding disorder and ended up in hospital. Oddly after that the parents were happy to vaccinate their child.

My DP knew a couple who refused to give their baby vaccinations. The child ended up with measles, was hospitalised and with long term side effects including deafness. Again they then decided to vaccinate their child for other diseases but the damage had already been done.

I judge parents who don't give their children vaccinations. To not give Calpol is ridiculous if a child is in pain. Especially situations like teething, if they would rather keep their child in pain, than give Calpol, to me that's awful parenting. I wouldn't associate with them tbh.

I think Calpol is often overused tbh (as are otc painkillers among adults). There was an interesting interview with a doctor I heard on Radio 4 a couple of weeks ago who was saying that there's no reason to fear fever in children in itself, and parents should not try to bring it down.

Declaring you'll never ever use Calpol is weird though.

My mother used to go to school with kids who had Polio. My grandparents lived in terror that their children would get it. It's a horrible disease.

Parents today who refuse to have their children vaccinated have no clue what these illnesses do because they've never encountered them.

I was vaccinated against all those illnesses as a child and I will be making certain that my children are as well.

Here's some information on the iron lung that was used for some Polio sufferers:
www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/objects-and-stories/medicine/iron-lung

This disease was not a case of the chicken pox.