Calpol and the Virgin Gut

[NinkyNonker]

Hi all,

It suddenly struck me today that I have been protecting DD's virgin gut (4.5mo old) but simulatenously giving her the odd dose of Calpol as she's starting to teethe I think. Have I shot myself in the foot?

Obviously her comfort is the most important so if Calpol is the best solution than that is fine by me. I've looked on the internet but can't find any definitive answer as to whether Calpol does remove the virgin gut, some say yes but needs must and some say no.

If there is something else that works better I'd love to hear about it! She looks horrified when I give it to her, half of it ends up all over her top...

My DS loves it, I reckon he pretends he is poorly!

Haha, the sugar free variety tastes nowhere near as nice as the thick purple one I remember!

I read that anything apart from breastmilk will affect the virgin gut even cool boiled water (not that it is nec. to give water to baby)

I think probably calpol is of equal "badness" as formula measure for measure but since you don't give 200ml of calpol at a time (erm I hope!!) then formula is probably worse for the virgin gut than the odd 2.5ml/5ml of calpol IYSWIM?

(and by statement "formula probably worse than calpol"- that doesnt mean am anti formula at all (-as my mixed fed baby will testify!)- just pondering in terms of the virgin gut theory!)

I'm not really sure about the whole virgin gut theory. I mean babies are constantly sucking on (not very clean) things and ingesting this and that. Does the virgin gut research use a definition that means "never had formula" or is it "never had anything but breastmilk". Because if it's the latter I think that's pretty hard to guarantee and control between babies across any study.

That's assuming there is good research on the virgin gut. Does anyone know of any?

They don't tend to suck on things or ingest things much before they are sitting and putting things in their mouths though, which is when it's relevant. (Interesting crossver with baby led weaning theory there)

My ds is 4 months old and sucking on anything that comes into range! He's swallowed medicine and bath water as well as formula so I'm sure his gut is fucked.

I've only heard of this virgin gut theory today, does anyone have any more details?

Moonunit, my DS is three months and would gladly eat steak and chips if I put it near him!! :)

PS surely babies also ingest the tiniest amounts of soap, lotion etc from mum, even if they are EBF? And that would all add up...

Just tried googling it, cant find any details, just loads of people slagging it off!!

MoonUnitAlpha:

PMSL at your comment: 'He's swallowed medicine and bath water as well as formula so I'm sure his gut is fucked.'

what about fingers? Bits of their blanket? Bacteria floating about in the air (shock horror!) Way too high maintenance for me I'm afraid.

I've been wondering about this too. DS2 had Calpol when he was in hospital with viral meningitis at 10 days old, so couldn't be avoided I'm afraid. My understanding of the virgin gut thing is that anything apart from breast milk can stuff it up.

dust? pollen?

infacol or gripe water?

plain boiled water??

Hmmm, in that case the amount of soap she tries to swallow in the form of bubbles every bath time I shouldn't be worried about the odd little bit of Calpol! I'm not being precious over it to be honest, I just saw it as a bonus to EBF and I think it was mainly the dairy thing that they worry about.

I'm no expert but I think it's only things containing proteins or enzymes that affect the virgin gut therefore medicines don't count. Kind of irrelevant though given that you only give medicine when it's necessary anyway

Marzipananimal is correct as far as I know. Also, I don't think the WHO could ever be seen to advocate withholding medicines therefore they have to exclude them when talking about exclusive breastfeeding.

teething is agonising and it would be a cruel parent who wouldn't give a child some relief

early for teethign though IME

not early teething IME though OP, my DS has a tooth coming through, and his cousin has one fully erupted (also 3 months)

I know, bless her. She has days where all she wants to do is rub something hard backwards and forwards along her bottom gum. She woke on the hour every hour all night the other night even with Calpol, rubbing her gum with our finger was all that would soothe her. The HV said she could just be in the early stages where everything is moving around in her gums and that feels strange, as against the break through stage.

I would never ever withold pain relief and am really not that 'sold' on the whole gut theory in terms of importance but was just curious on how that all worked. I did read a forum earlier in my searches and a lady posted who was witholding pain relief from her teething baby to preserve his gut, saying that she would only be treating the symptoms and not the cause anyway so he could cope with the pain for the duration. Cruel (IMO), pain is one hell of a symptom so cure it!

DH was born with a tooth.

My mum loves telling people that i had no teeth til 18 months!!

Ninky thats horrible :( poor baby :(

my 4 all started drooling around 3 months but no teeth came through for another 6 - 9 months - as I said though IME

Breastmilk flushes out viruses, bacteria, particles of soap etc, while at the same time lining the gut to protect it against allergens and infections until it closes up at around 6 months.

Anything other than BM (food, formula, water, Calpol) will affect this but the BM will then re-coat the gut afterwards (may take a few days or weeks depending on how long the additional product is given).

However, Calpol has other problems. Calpol as a product contains E numbers which can trigger eczema in sensitive children - quite well known amongst parents dealing with eczema. An alternative is soluble Disprol for children which is pure paracetamol (well almost pure). Saying that, another study has shown that babies given Paracetamol before 6 months can very dramatically increase their chance of getting eczema...

Personally, despite being passionate about the VG, I wouldn't avoid Calpol for that reason. I would avoid it (and paracetamol) for other reasons but my babies are prone to eczema. So far DS2 (5m) has had none at all and we've just got through jabs etc without it on the basis that although he'd have been more comfortable with it, the long term downsides (if it triggered eczema) weren't worth it. But if his temperature had gone too high or he'd been too ill I'd not have hesitated.

My solution - avoid as far as possible and as far as I and my DH are comfortable with. Some discomfort is ok, probably more than I would have allowed DS1 to go through (because I'm desperately trying to save DS2 from what DS1 has to now live with) but there comes a point where medicine is needed, and that's all there is to it. It hasn't happened yet, but it will.

"BM will then re-coat the gut afterwards" I should point out that there are limits to how effective this is so anything other than BM is always best avoided to ensure the best protective effectiveness.