Am I giving too much calpol?

[numbbycocomelon]

My DS is nearly 2 and was a bit late to have his teeth come through. He is having his first molars come out now and I feel as if he is having a bit too much calpol. For the past 2 weeks, he has had either 1-2 doses everyday or every 2 days. He cries a lot holding his mouth and is extremely naughty as if he is doing it purposely to take his anger out from pain. The other morning he was like a Tasmanian devil doing all these unusual things such as throwing toys everywhere and constantly whinging and whining holding his mouth. I know toddlers enjoy throwing things but he was literally finding toys to specifically to throw at our furniture and tv as if he was taking out his frustration as he was in pain. His appetite is also very bad but it was 16 hours since he last ate something the other morning and I prepared him a good hearty breakfast consisting of this favourite food and he wouldn't even open his mouth. So I gave him a dose of calpol and 30 mins later I went up to him with his toast and scrambled eggs he ate all of it! Again yesterday at dinner he was whiny holding his mouth and refusing to eat anything and he started to cry holding his mouth again, so I gave him another dose of calpol and 30 mins later he came back to me saying yummy yummy and he then had a good decent meal out of the whole day.

Am I giving too much calpol to him? What was your experience with your toddlers when they were having their first molars out?

I try to distract him and not give him calpol especially when he is whinging and whining and being extra naughty but when he starts crying with tears, I give in.

Thank you in advance for your views and opinions.

Weirdly with DD1 I didn’t know she had her molars until she the dentist told me. Ibuprofen is better than calpol and you can also use anbesol liquid. One of the biggest concern for long term use of calpol in children is that the pain in actually caused by something else like an ear infection and pain medication is given rather than them been checked out.

Teething really hurts some children. One of my children needed medication and had lots some days or weeks and then nothing for months. Another one didn’t even seem to notice when teeth came through. I don’t think you can go on what’s normal and just what your child needs. A fortnight seems a long time just for teething. Are all four coming through together?

As long as you are not giving more than the dose for his age listed on the bottle, then it's not too much. It won't be forever, the teeth will appear and his pain will go.

Perhaps you could speak to a pharmacist.

@FestiveChristmasLights thank you for your response. Yes all of the molars are coming out at the same time. We have a couple of days break in between and go through it again. He is normally a happy, bubbly and active little mite, that's why his behaviour is very unusual and with the crying and holding his mouth is added to mix, I give in. I've run out of ibuprofen and only have the calpol sachets right now.

Anbesol liquid is great, apply with your finger, (better than gel as you know where it is going) and if remember right you can use it quite a bit. It's not just for kids I have used it during lockdown

@PurpleMustang I'll try Anbesol as I've never tried it before. I've tried Ashton and Parsons powder, gel and bonjela before and it never helped. I hope Anbesol works as I feel I should only use calpol when totally necessary. Thank you all for your suggestions.

Like you said his behaviour is communicating pain.
Behaviour is communication.
If in pain give calpol .
You migyt wznt to throw things too if in pain snd no way to say

I was still breastfeeding when Dds molars came through, she went from 1 or 2 feeds a day to being like a newborn which I'm sure was because she needed comforting and relief from the pain, after her molars came through she stopped feeding all together.

Perhaps look into chewy toys, there are several designed for children with autism and sensory seeking behaviour which are shaped to reach the back of the mouth and might help.

If not, liquidise his food, lots of soups and smoothies perhaps frozen which will help numb the area for a bit instead of relying on calpol.

Anbesol liquid (think there maybe a gel aswell but get the liquid) is deceiving as it is a tiny bottle. As their mouths are little I used to put my little finger over top of bottle and tip it up, then rub my finger where need. Try it on yourself first you'll get the idea of how well it works

I was very lucky as none of my children seemed to suffer at all with teething and I would just suddenly notice new teeth had appeared. But I do know other parents whose children had a really tough time, especially with molars. You're obviously a sensible Mum, in tune with your child and able to identify that he's experiencing pain. There's absolutely nothing wrong with giving painkillers to a child who is in pain - in fact I think it would be wrong not to treat pain. The only thing I would suggest is that as it sounds quite severe pain and it's been going on for a while, it might be worth getting him checked over just to make sure there's nothing else going on that might be hurting him. I know it's really difficult at the moment with so many doctors and dentists not seeing people face to face, but I would be inclined to phone and ask their advice.
You're probably right about it being the molars, but sometimes young children aren't very good at localising pain.Even adults can get the source of pain confused in fact as it can be referred from one place to another. A few years ago I was certain that I must have a bad tooth or maybe a dental abcess as I had horrific pain in my upper jaw, but it turned out to be a sinus infection and my teeth were fine. If things aren't settling soon it might be a good idea to get other causes ruled out.
I hope your little boy feels better very soon.

This is concerning. You should not be giving your child calpol everyday. We use calpol to help our children settle at night if they have a temperature over 38 and are obviously unwell or upset because of their temperature.
Why would you continually dose your child up on calpol everyday. Please stop!! Are there other issues causing your child's behaviour? Or other remedies for teething pain relief?

I actually think the issue is you're leaving it too late to give him pain relief (be it anbesol or calpol). You're waiting until he's in agony and acting out in pain because it hurts that much.

I'd give the pain relief sooner and hopefully that will stay in his system / topped up with a different form (so maybe calpol early on and then anbesol when it appears to be wearing off) .

If you had a headache coming, you wouldn't wait until you couldn't even think straight before taking something for it.

Have you got anything like bickie pegs so he can chew down on them?

@GlassLake

This is concerning. You should not be giving your child calpol everyday. We use calpol to help our children settle at night if they have a temperature over 38 and are obviously unwell or upset because of their temperature. Why would you continually dose your child up on calpol everyday. Please stop!! Are there other issues causing your child's behaviour? Or other remedies for teething pain relief?

Op clearly isn't continually dosing him up as he's in so much pain he's crying, pullin at his mouth and acting out.

@MrsAvocet thank you so much for your kind comment and I really appreciate it. I took him to the dentist back in July and they said all is fine, so perhaps it's time to go again. I've looked again in his mouth today and his top and bottom gums are all sore. He has been like this on and off for now which seems like two months. He will go through a few days in a row where he is in so much pain and not eating where he would lose weight and then a few days later he is fine again and putting back on weight as he is eating more. This couple of weeks has been horrendous for him but today we got a break as he wasn't in so much pain, occasionally he was holding his mouth but he was following me around all day saying "yummy yummy". He demolished his breakfast, lunch and dinner today which he never does if he gets pain.

@SleepingStandingUp I've dug up his old teething toys and put them in the freezer for him which helped with the gums. I've just googled bickiepegs and will look into buying them. I'm a first time mum :) as I've mentioned my DS was quite late with having his teeth cut through and now they are all popping out left right and centre including the molars. It's just so constant, poor little man hasn't had a break from them. Normally he only sleeps with his dummy and this last 2 weeks we refused his dummy as I'm guessing it was so painful for him to even have a dummy in his mouth but then again, it was the perfect opportunity to hide them and he has forgotten about his dummies. I try to limit the calpol and use it when he really needs it especially when he is crying in pain and refusing to eat. Some days are manageable like today was fine and haven't given him any.

The frozen toys are a really good idea x