baby friendly medicines

[hostelgirl74]

My baby is due this week. I have tried to be as prepared as I can. I have bought a first aid kit as well as one of those kits with thermometres/nose clearers etc in it.
What I wanted to do now was get a bit of a supply in of baby friendly medicines. I am not the sort of person who would use medicines at the drop of a hat and obviously I would go to the doctor/contact NHS direct if it was something I felt serious. From what I understand, most medicines cannot be used until about 3 months old anyway. After that, what would people suggest I buy? I am thinking stuff to help with teething, colds etc.

You can get products like Karvol or Olbas Oil which help a bit with snuffly colds - check the labels for tiny babies as I'm not sure what the rules are, but you just have it near the baby or in steam.

calpol, nurofen, snufflebabe/olbas oil/karvol, teething gel

Nelson's Teething powders were really helpful when DD was teething.

I second Seona's list but really, you can't use anyhing for a while so there is very little point stocking up. If you wait until injections then they will often give you some calpol (well, generic paracetamol solution) on prescription anyway so save your pennies! If you do buy stuff though then get an oral syringe or 2, they allow you to measure the dose accurately and are far easier for getting medicine into a baby.

Second the oral syringe - That was a life saver, you cannot get a baby to take a spoon of meds!

I bought a plug in carvol thing which was fab - Its about £10 for the plug in and then about £6 for the refills, I got mine from Boots and use it whenever he has a cold or is sniffly - It beats using a wet towel on the radiator which is what my parents used to do!

I also second the calpol but not until after first jabs and then baby nurofen and baby bonjela for teething - Another brilliant thing to have in for teething are the teething powders (Milton something I think) which can be used from any age and are very good for the gums + for binding their tummies when they have runny nappies from teething.

Other than that I would say not to worry about the nose-picker things, they are useless! Get a muslin square and rub their noses gently if they get snotty etc.

Also we invested in a digital ear themomtre from amazon (think it was about £30?) Only because the first time I phoned NHS direct they wanted to know his temp and I didn't have a bloody clue because I couldn't get a good reading with the other type!

I also got a small bump-pack which you keep in the fridge, this was great for distracting from a bump or bang (Not for new born but for about 7 months or teething)

Just use common sense and make sure everything is for babies + safe, most of this stuff was from Home Bargains as its just so much cheaper - Just pick it up as you go along, at the moment I'm collecting plasters ...

we use the syringe that comes with the bottles of nurofen - very handy!