Confused about calpol

[MarmaladeAndToast]

Very tired and brain dead single parent here. Thursday has been a very long day.

I have a nine year old DS with really rotten tonsillitis and she has had fevers today.

The bottle says not to give calpol more than 4 times in 24 hours.

I gave it to her

1. At 0400 Thurs morning
2. At 1015 Thurs morning
3. At 1415 Thurs
4. At 2100 Thurs

Does this mean I give the next one at 0405? Or am I not thinking straight?

She has the kind of temperature where I will need to set an alarm to give her meds to make sure it is controlled.

Yes but if she is asleep I’d let her sleep rather than wake her at 4 in the morning.

We have antibiotics now so I’m expecting this fever situation will improve soon.

@LittleBearPad I was planning on inserting a syringe into her mouth with meds while she sleeps.

It’s about 38.1 even after the calpol..

No! Please don't.

Err
That's dangerous!
You could end up choking her!

No I just tell her and she sucks it without waking fully.

It's dangerous and an unpleasant invasion.

Yes. I think so. My GP always says to give it every six hours, which makes it less confusing, I guess. I was at A n E last week with my son and there they stuck to six hours between calpol and 8h between nurofen doses as well but my DC is only 2.

Are you getting giving nurofen as well? If not, you can give that (but only 3 doses in 24h or every 8h).

Hope your DC feels better soon.

Yes @SimplyFed I am alternating with ibuprofen

That's hugely invasive!
If she's sleeping then she's doing OK
Let her sleep and give her Dose 1 when she wakes

You can given ibuprofen too- unless she has allergies to it/asthmatic etc. Its given less oven though, but the combination with paracetamol is usually very effective.

I would absolutely NOT be shoving a syringe in her mouth whilst she is asleep!!!

If she is sleeping, leave her to it - the temperature in itself is her body's attempt to fight the infection, not dangerous in itself.

Nurofen is better for fevers I've found

Is there a particular reason why you need to bring her temperature down? A temp as such is not something to worry about (as I was told by A n E last week). We only give calpol or nurofen to make the child more comfortable. The temp is the body's way of fighting an infection. I asked them at what temp I should start worrying and they said there is no upper limit as long as the child is showing no other concerning symptoms. I asked them if 40 is still ok and they said yes.

Truth be told at 40 I did wake my ds to give him something as his temp was freaking me out and I wanted to see if it will come down with nurofen.

So unless a clinician advised you to keep their temperature down for some reason I wouldn't wake your son or risk giving it to him fast asleep.

€;@CC4712

I agree. For Ds nurofen seems to work better.

Treat the child not the fever I was told. A fever is a natural reaction to infection. Only need to give calpol if in discomfort so if asleep you can just leave her to sleep if she wakes and is uncomfortable with the fever give her calpol or Nurofen x

Staff have always told me to alternate meds to keep children’s temperatures down. She is certainly not comfortable with a raging temperature.

Also, leaving her to sleep means YOU sleep better and feel more human and able to look after her!

If she’s fast asleep then she’s not uncomfortable. Don’t dose her when she’s asleep. She could choke and if not it’s unpleasant.

38.1 isn’t that high anyway. It’s hardly raging.

Give it every four hours or interchange with child ibuprofen, so then calpol, then four hours later ibuprofen, 4 hours later calpol etc etc

It has actually been raging most of the day.

I don't know why yous would give her it if she's asleep. If she's a wee bit hot, take her covers off, open a window put a wee fan in her room. No need to jump straight to meds as her temps not that high

Some posters saying that's too often have clearly never had chronic tonsillitis. It's agony. Don't forget to keep her topped up but make sure she's in antibiotics too and they will take at least 48 hrs to work

If she’s asleep it’s not agony!