Overuse of baby nurofen

[MommaBH]

Hi mommas.
I've been giving my baby 'baby nurofen' on and off for the last few months for teething. LO is 10 months.
I might give one to five(5 being thr most per week probably) doses per week if teething is bad but never more than 3 doses in 24 hours.
There have of course been weeks with no doses at all.
I find it's better than paracetamol and teething powder is a nightmare to give to LO because baby won't take it.
Teething gel lasts for maybe 5 minutes.

I'm worried I've giving my baby too much over maybe a 6 month period and have done damage to his kidneys or liver?

Any experience with this or any health professionals with advise in this wouod be appreciated.

That sounds like an excessive amount of painkillers for a baby. Even an adult taking 1-5 doses of ibuprofen a week would be ringing warning bells.

The thing is are you absolutely sure it’s teething? It sounds like every time she cries/fusses she gets a dose of painkillers. Babies cry for all kinds of reasons and also wakes up in the night. If it coincides with the teething period then parents assume it’s teeth but it may not always be the case.

For contrast, DD only received 3 doses of baby ibuprofen in her entire first year. Twice for fever and once for possible teething when she appeared inconsolable (could also have been gas or something else). Teething is not supposed to cause so much pain that babies need painkillers almost every single day. Usually when DD is teething she’s fussier and crankier but it passes.

If she's in pain then what else can you do? My son is cutting his canines right now and has definitely had 5 doses of calpol this week. Slightly worrying reading that other reply, but if he's crying in pain there's only so much a boob can do to help him.

Sorry possibly your question is specific to ibuprofen vs paracetamol. I would use them interchangeably, although am always aware which one he's had. Interestingly I had a headache this week and ibuprofen wouldn't shift it but paracetamol cleared it within about 20 mins (at least 4 hours later).

Speak to your health visitor or gp

That sounds pretty normal for teething etc to me.

Many people (inc kids) have to take painkillers every day to manage chronic pain.

For teething there have we often been times when they've needed a dose every night (and often a second in the middle of the night) every night for a few weeks. Didn't do any harm and little alternative when they are crying in pain.

Try to alternate with calpol though

This does not sound like any other teething experience I have heard of. I have had to give plenty of painkillers to my baby. I know when he is in pain. It's a different cry, different behaviour. And it doesn't sound like OP gives her child painkillers "every time she cries/fusses" unless babies only cry 5 times a week. I'm glad your child didn't have much pain, but most of them seem too, and I don't think op has been excessive in dosing, but @op, perhaps a HV could advise?

See someone about this. Ibuprofen can be risky - more so than paracetamol. It can also be addictive (honestly not exaggerating)

Personally I've never given my daughter either for teething pain. Preserve with the granules.

Lucky for you that it didn't cause that much pain. For some babies it does!

Canines and first molars caused 3 months of agony on and off with my second child. 2 months for second molars. It came and went during that so not constant but at times it was clearly awful for her. For her second molars she was verbal enough to tell me what was hurting. She's got an exceptionally high pain threshold for a toddler and she struggled.

You just got very lucky.

DD never had any teething pain. She had four coming in at once and you'd never have known! She was her usual cheery self. I think we were lucky as all the other babies in our antenatal group seemed to suffer with it. DD2 is only 12 weeks so will see if we get lucky this time!

If your child is in pain then painkillers are necessary, but if you feel you are giving them too much maybe worth a trip to GP for peace of mind?

Perhaps get advice from a doctor?

I did bring this up with our GP once and they said it's fine as I felt like I was giving calpol or nurofen so much. We are giving either one every night to our little one over the past couple of weeks. We didn't give any last night and he work up moaning and seemed so much in pain, constant hands in mouth. Molars are cutting and these seem to be the worst ones yet! Nothing else we can do. Granules work to a point.

Sounds fine to me.

Speak to your HV if you are worried.

Fine to me too. If baby is in pain then have pain relief.

Imagine if you had a really bad toothache and all you were given were some shitty granules.

Not sure if post real or not, but posting for anyone who might land here with a " search"
If you give nurofen for more than three times a week for more than three months it is a chronic use and baby can not only develop a tolerance but also a dependence to it. Dependence being a nice word to call addiction.

You say you have been giving for a few months. You need to talk to your GP

Can u please tell me where u got these facts? Is there a medical link you can copy and paste so I can read about it please?

Thabk you for your input but I most certainly do not give my baby pain kollers every time baby is fussy or cries!

As I said in my post...there have been weeks, consecutive weeks with zero doses!

@MatchaTea Link? OP states there are weeks she has not used any medication. OP is within the guidelines.

Have you googled the adult 200mg dose? (I think you have).

Don't worry OP, you're not over dosing your baby and you certainly won't cause them an addiction.

Some people talk absolute nonsense on here.
For information go to the actual nurofen website or the nhs website.

That sounds totally normal and won't cause any problems. If you were giving it 3 times a day every day for weeks I'd say to maybe speak to the gp, but considering the most you've given in a week is 5 doses I think you're getting a hard time here! Your baby will be totally fine.

I’ve no advice on the nurofen, but have you tried anbesol liquid? I found it worked much better than the gels (used it myself for a toothache too).

Ibuprofen is really effective but can inflame a tummy

It isn't addictive? I want a link.

NSAID use is defined as chronic if these medications are taken more than three times a week for more than three months.
www.thejournalofprecisionmedicine.com/the-journal-of-precision-medicine/safety-and-efficacy-considerations-for-chronic-use-of-nsaids-for-chronic-pain/

It is not normal to give a baby/toddler pain killers for months, even with sporadic breaks.

There's a lot of uninformed advice on here. OP speak to your local pharmacist, HV or GP for reassurance

There was a BBC documentary a few years ago on the use/abuse of ( pain ) medication in children

and one of the GP in the interview used a sentence about kids becoming addicted not so much in the drug but in the process itself, and mothers using it at any sign of distress and not for high fevers or strong pains .