Why is calpol the right answer for a temperature?

[Biscuitsandtea]

Hi,

I'm hoping someone can help me come up with an answer to get my FIL off my back!

Whenever DS has a temperature and I give him Calpol (you know, as advised by the entire medical community!), my FIL rolls his eyes and gives me this speech about when he was young...

His argument is that the raised temperature is the body's way of fighting off bacteria etc so I'm stopping this if I lower his temperature. Then he tells me how of he had a temperature he piles on the blankets and layers and sweats it out.

Now I'm pretty sure the entire medical profession haven't skipped over the knowledge that he seems to possess but I don't know how to say that calpol is the right answer. Or how to refute his argument.

Can anyone help me out?

Thank you

We've also been through the febrile convulsion experience - not fun. There is a significant difference between not giving paracetamol and sweating it out. Not medicating immediately is more recent advice as a slightly raised temp can help in fighting the bugs. However, if it's too high or pain relief is needed, it's a very safe drug used correctly and should be administered.

Sweating it out used to refer to the belief that the best way to handle a temperature was to increase it further, so piling on layers and blankets etc. This is dangerous. In adults too, although usually less quickly.

So with mine, reduce layers and stuff but no cool baths or the like, plenty to drink and if it's quite rapid fever, I'm quicker to give them calpol. Absolutely DON'T deliberately try and increase their temperature or encourage sweating. If they're shivery and sweaty I would probably medicate as I would see that as getting more serious and if calpol didn't improve the temperature I'd get them seen by a dr.