Paracetamol overdose 2 year old

[Mrspike888]

Please help! I have accidentally mixed up my kids doses of paracetamol and gave my 2 year old 500mg of paracetamol in stead of my 4 year old. I have made her throw up as best I can to try and get it out of her system a few minutes after giving it to her and realising my mistake but I'm panicking! Please can anyone help? Will she be OK if I don't give her anything else for the rest of the day? We are isolating due to Covid so I couldn't leave the house to get calpol so I gave her crushed paracetamol in a spoonful of jam but gave her too much! HELP!

@WiseUpJanetWeiss nothing medical but currently out to lunch with my SIL who is a pharmacist in a leading Childress hospital. I trust her opinion. Obviously calling 111 is necessary and getting your child checked for reassurance however it’s the 999 shouts that are ridiculous. You don’t even test a child’s blood levels for several hours with a paracetamol overdose it takes time to metabolise.

*childrens

www.nhs.uk/medicines/paracetamol-for-children/

2-4yr old should have 180mg in a dose. Call your go for advice.

And you shouldn’t use adult tablets for children, even if you think you can exactly portion it because you cannot be sure if the portioning and even 1/2 a tablet is still way too much.

A one off isnit ideal but if you've done it more than once you need to seek advice. Call the pharmacist / GP or 111, not 999 yet.

Get some Calpol.

Hopefully the OP is on her way to A&E now .

So many self righteous people on their thread, demanding that the OP doesn't call this number, must call that number etc.

I suggested 999 because 111 can be a very slow service full of people trying to book GP appointments for a sniffle or whatever. A 999 call handler will be able to tell the OP the urgency of the situation straight away and decide whether a paramedic A&E is actually necessary and potentially avoid waiting it out when she might need urgent attention.

Given the dramatic nature of some of the posters replies the OP won't know what to do for the best so my best advice would be to seek medical help in the fastest way possible.

FYI
999 is the right port of call for an overdose

I'd only give a 6 year old half a tablet. Probably best to ask a pharmacist for advice, they may weigh her and might send you to A&E.

@Sirzy

The one off dose wouldn’t be too much of a worry (although still worth seeking advise) but given you have been overdosing both accidentally for a while possibly I would phone 111

This. I didn't take into consideration previous doses when I posted earlier.

[quote MyDcAreMarvel]@WiseUpJanetWeiss nothing medical but currently out to lunch with my SIL who is a pharmacist in a leading Childress hospital. I trust her opinion. Obviously calling 111 is necessary and getting your child checked for reassurance however it’s the 999 shouts that are ridiculous. You don’t even test a child’s blood levels for several hours with a paracetamol overdose it takes time to metabolise.[/quote]
The problem with this advice is that it is based on the half tablet being a one off dose. If both the children have been having regular doses of 250mg for the 2 year old and 500mgs for the 4 year old (even if it is accidental) then they could well be into toxicity levels already. I agree that 999 may not be appropriate if both children are otherwise well, but they do need to be seen urgently.

OP try not to panic lots of posters are massively overreacting. Do not call 999 for "advice" call 111 and they will be able to help you. ❤️ We have all messed up at some point, don't beat yourself up x

Sounds like you are regularly overdosing your children on paracetamol.

I really hope you are getting medical advice/help now. Please don’t make your 2 year old vomit, what have you given her to induce this? Salt water?!

I give my 7 stone 14 year old DS one paracetamol. It’s a really dangerous drug if used incorrectly.

Why are you giving your children tablets when they’re so young? Ring 111 for advice asap!

The people saying it’s not an emergency, it’s not that serious, etc are giving poor advice. My qualifications are a degree in neuroscience with a final year research project in pain transmission, followed by a year working in a medical school as a research assistant, then 3 years as a pharmaceutical rep selling paracetamol among other analgesics, eventually working in hospitals as an analgesic product advisory specialist. (And then I left the industry for anyone wanting to point out I do something different these days.)

Paracetamol is an undervalued and underestimated drug, primarily because we can buy packets of it more or less anywhere - supermarket, petrol station, convenience store, etc. Used correctly it is an extremely useful analgesic. Used badly, it is ineffective at best and downright dangerous at worst. Approximately 200 people a year die from paracetamol poisoning, and some of those are accidental deaths due to inadvertent overdose. The case the OP describes, where she has been giving crushed tablets to children, is a classic example of this - the main risk factor for accidental overdose being low body weight which is a given with a young child. The fact that she has been doing this is concerning, the fact that she has accidentally given one dose incorrectly high compounds this concern for me.

So many self righteous people on their thread, demanding that the OP doesn't call this number, must call that number etc.

I suggested 999 because 111 can be a very slow service full of people trying to book GP appointments for a sniffle or whatever. A 999 call handler will be able to tell the OP the urgency of the situation straight away and decide whether a paramedic A&E is actually necessary and potentially avoid waiting it out when she might need urgent attention.

Imagine calling people self righteous for disagreeing with using 999 for advice

Get her checked but try not to panic. I once had to take my 3 year old to a and e because she had got into a pack of paracetemol and I had no idea if she’d taken any. They were totally chilled and said she’d have to take a few of them before they’d be concerned. I was worried she’d taken one. They’ll prob do a blood test at hospital to make sure all is ok but I’m sure all will be fine x

Paramedic here. Call 111 and they will use your DCs weight and access "toxbase" to calculate the toxic dose for your child based on their weight. If you need an ambulance they will activate one.

My child ate a peacetanol that they found on the floor under a bed when they were 1.5 years old (we were on holiday) and they were entirely fine, hospital were not worried at all after they’d identified the pill and realised it was paracetamol

Stop trying to make her sick, what are you doing sticking your fingers down her throat?? She must be absolutely beside herself poor thing.

Are you okay @Mrspike888? I expect that you are panicking especially if you are also unwell.

If you call 111 they can give advice but will also triage quickly due to your dc age. They are likely to want to run blood tests on your dc especially if this isn’t the first dose. Do you know how much they have had in the last 24 hours? Have they had anything else?

Can I ask how you are making your child vomit? Please try not to do this.

We are isolating due to Covid so I couldn't leave the house to get calpol

well, you could, because depending on what part of the UK you are in, you don't have to isolate anymore and even if you do, you can go out for medicines.

I do think people are being a bit overly dramatic on this thread as long as it was only one tablet.

Imagine calling people self righteous for disagreeing with using 999 for advice

An overdose is classed as a potential medical emergency and NHS guidance includes it as a reason to contact 999. I didn't say call for advice about a headache or a snotty nose, but an overdose. The call handler can decide whether or not to despatch a paramedic or advise attending A&E.

Some people have been self righteous in their tone, it's unnecessary. Everyone can tell the OP what they personally would do in this situation and why but it's upto the OP to make the decision which route to take.

I agree with backinthebox

People on this thread aren't saying phone 999 for advice, they're saying it to get the DC some urgent medical attention.
No one on here knows how much her children have taken.

There is a tendency on mumsnet to avoid phoning 999 but when it's a potential child overdose I'd say it's justified.

500mg for a 4yo? I use that for my 11yo. Both your 2 and 4 year old DC should be having the same dose - one and a half teaspoons of calpol - that's 180mg of paracetamol. So 500mg is too much even for your 4yo! Please get some calpol in!! Hopefully you've got some advice from 111 now.

Irrelevant which number she calls, however posting on an internet forum would be my last thought!