Calpol and Nurofen

[PickledMuffin]

Hi. how long after giving your child Calpol can you give them Nurofen?

thanks

You can give them at the same time, or you can space them out so every two hours they have different one.

I.e

9am calpol
11am neurofen
12pm calpol
2pm neurofen

as long as it’s only 4 doses of calpol and 3 doses of neurofen with 24 hours and a gap of 4 hours between each dose

That's really helpful, thank you so much for the reply.

Seconding PP - you can give them at the same time but we find it best to give 2/3 hours apart so that there’s a more constant stream of pain relief

🙏

This isn't a gap of 4 hours between each dose? And there's also only an hour between the 11am nurofen and 12pm calpol.

Just be careful OP, if you're needing to use Calpol and Nurofen together then you might want to get your DC checked over, should only be used together for short periods, if there's no improvement then seek medical advice.

Check the bottles for correct dosage for age.

I only ever use ibuprofen for a fever and will alternate paracetamol and ibuprofen every 3 hours if he's really suffering. I would do this for extreme pain or discomfort too but we fortunately not had anything like that so far, always just used it for fevers.

Thanks. it's for an ear infection. Couldn't get an appointment at the GP, so went to the pharmacy. Have meds but the pharmacist said paracetamol and ibuprofen. She's in pain though, so want to try and keep her as comfortable at possible.

100%

Just check the dosages for her age and give her the max you can in 24 hours evenly spaced out to make the most of it. Ear infection will be so sore. Get well soon!

They have different mechanisms of action so there is no restriction on giving them together. Adults can buy tablets that have both in together.

Spacing them out can mean you can balance out the peaks and troughs of the medication.

Calpol is 4 times a day and every 4-6h.
Ibuprofen is 3 times a day so roughly every 8h.
Something like Calpol 8am Ibuprofen 11am. Calpol 1pm Calpol 6pm ibuprofen 7pm then you have a dose of Calpol and ibuprofen overnight if needed

We try to time a dose of Calpol early evening so they have something to take the edge off bed time and a dose of ibuprofen at bedtime to help with sleep. We do it in this order as the ibuprofen has a slightly longer window of use