DD temp 39.2 - can I give calpol and nurofen at same time to get temp down?

[CharlieBoo]

DD's been a bit grouchy past couple of hours, just taken her temp and its 39.2....eeek! Have given nurofen 5 mins ago...should I give calpol now or wait a bit? She's ok in herself playing etc just bit grouchy. Thanks

yes you can but I wouldn't

give the nurofen a good 40 mins to kick in and strip her off if it hasn't started to come down give her the calpol - if that doesn't bring it down then take her to A&E

it's not a temp that would make me eek - it would make me reach for the nurofen and calpol though

Great, I'll give it till half past and then give some calpol... thanks very much. She normally doesn't go to 39, which is why I was a bit shocked.

I was advised to give Nurofen, wait 2 hours, then Calpol, then 2 hours later Nurofen and then 2 hours after give more Calpol and so on. That way they're not getting more than the recommended dose of either but having a constant supply to keep the temp down. If the temp is still high after 12 hours of this then I would go to A&E or get a doctor's appointment.

it can be shock but small children spike temps very quickly and you get used to it over time

good luck

gilbon - my advice was for a temp that wasn't coming down

I think nurofen should be 6 hourly shouldn't it, and calpol 4 hourly - check the bottle carefully as these can change

you don't take a kid with a temperature that is responding to ibuprofen and paracetomal to a doctor if you have no other concerns - not after 12 hours - you wait for 3 days (sometimes longer if you're particularly laid-back) but the advice is 3 days of high temps

hope that helps

You can't take nurofen more than every 6 hours so I have always given alternate nurofen and calpol every 4 hours as that way you are allowing enough time between nurofen doses.

Also you aren't supposed to give more than 3 doses of nurofen in 24 hours so you need to leave 8 hours gap if you are going to be taking it for a few days, like if they have flu for example.

I wouldn't give both nurofen and paracetamol together as you are going to run out of possible doses over the course of the day.

Hope your DD feels better soon.

Thanks very much. Back in the summer we took her to the walk in with a temp of 38.5 (been going on a couple of days) and we had given her nurofen before we left. The nurse gave her calpol while we were there, and we were seen straightaway, so she had both within a hour. I do try and leave it 2 hours as a rule but if high and being slow to come down I give it sooner.

She's now 38.6...shall I give calpol in about 10 mins? She is tired, way past her bedtime now..

Thanks

As it's coming down I would wait.

agree it's responding so should be fine

don't forget temps rise during sleep anyway - you could give her some calpol at 11 if you wanted to / deemed it necessary

if she isn't in pain or other discomfort, and was mine, I wouldn't be medicating at mid 38 as the temp is actively fighting something

if she's tired put her to bed

how old is she anyway ?

I wouldn't. The temp is clearly going down and I find it can take as much as a hour or more for it to go down as far as it will go, especially this time of day.

You can give the two doses together (although NICE advise against for reasons I am not clear on since it clearly doesn't do harm) but as I say, I wouldn't personally.

She's almost 21 months....will put her down then and keep an eye, we can wake her later for calpol if we need to. Thanks again for your help ladies...temps freak me a bit..

And she's my second dc, I should be used to this!

Temps are crappy aren't they? Especially when you don't know why they are high.

My two are 10 and 7 now and I still don't like them!!

Niecie. NICE dont like the two given together because they think parents are too stupid not to overdose their children. Its something I'm supposed to not recommend in my job but rollux to that - more recent research says it is better to alternate

I'm sorry if my advice was wrong - it was just what my doctor told me to do when my dd had a v high temp at 20 months. I hope your dd is feeling better now.

sneezecakemum - Really, as simple as that! They think we are too stupid? Sheesh.

Alternating has worked for us. I shall pretend I have never heard of the NICE rules. I have only done so on here (although I don't doubt it is true - they banned the coughs and colds stuff I swore by when the children were little as well so obviously if it works, ban it!). Docs always say alternate - that is good enough for me.

CharlieBoo - hope the temp has gone today and you don't have to worry about it.