Medised now unsuitable for under 2's - Who knew , and will it stop you giving it?

[Sycamoretree]

Just been on another thread about a 11 month old with a absolutely rotten cold - not sleeping at all. I mentioned medised and the OP said she thought it was not for under 2's.

I was sure my bottle said from 3 months so I googled it and here is what I found.

Packaging in pic still says 3 months +, but an ingredient has been re-classified.

My youngest is 15 months and teething like a maniac. I am really loathe to stop using medised as I think it's brilliant for bedtimes when LO's are feeling this rotten.

What do other's think. Would you stop using it if you have used with with your other DC's from a much younger age?

I would speak to my GP and probably carry on using it unless he advised me there was some majorly important reason for this. Sometimes GPs can prescribe things that are not readily available for over the counter sale, if they deem it necessary.

There have been quite a few threads about this. I still use Medised and would on a 3 month old.

I have a paediatrician friend who says it is fine as long as you do not mix with other paracetamols or decongestants. Also do not give it to a baby with high fever (as you need to be able to monitor their conciousness).

However, when I have said this before I have been flamed. Most people seem to think mediseding a baby is tantamount to child abuse now.

None of mine liked it when they were babies so I never actually succeeded in giving it to them! I think we always found that Calpol or Nurofen did the trick.

I gave it to dd (now 4) at night when she was particularly bunged up and it worked wonders. Ds is 9 months and I've used it a couple of times- the first time I hadnt realised the guidance had changed. I asked my GP who said it was fine to use it but as others have said to be careful not to give it alongside other medicines- common sense really.

Normal Calpol has never done the job for my DS when he is teething, he seems to suffer so badly,
So I have used Calpol Night from when DS was 6mths,
before it was reclassified,
this has not stopped me using it and he is fine,
as with any other medication I am very careful about dosage.

If you do decide to keep using it then just go into the chemist without your child and then lie when they ask how old they are,
no other evidence is asked for.

I also was not aware of the new recommendations, I bought some ( for the use on my 2yr old luckily) from my local pharmacy the other day and they asked if my DC was over 3 months, so I guess they are not aware of it either. I have recently used it on my 7 month old but I think I will do some more research now before I use it on him again.
artichokes I think your advice sounds very sensible to me, I can't see the problem in using medised, if one uses it appropriately. I did however have one friend who was using it to get her child to sleep, (there was no illness) so I guess some people abuse it's use (and therefore their child!)

no, it won't stop me giving it, because the new guidelines were only issued because they assume parents are too dumb to read directions and will OD their kids on paracetemol.

have never used it and never will.

What are the reclassifications? I have been giving ds2 (2) calpol night this past couple of days at bedtime as he has a really bad cold and cough, i have been giving it with cough medicine. Is that a no no?

SheherazadetheGoat why?

when ithink of all those more peaceful nights my dd i could have had. I didn't find out about medised till last week and she's 6!

What is Medised? Doed it actually have some sort of sedative in it as the name implies?

i have already gathered it contains paracetamol, I have never come across it.

Ah, they're treating us like errant 12-year-olds again. I assumed it was a problem with the antihistamine and was evidence-based. I didn't realise they had just assumed we are all hell bent on inducing liver failure in our LOs by being too lazy to read the label.

This sort of thing just makes parents lose faith with classification systems. If life carries on like this we will be reduced to rosehip syrup or nothing at this rate (like pregnant women seem to be).

Honestly.

Still using it. Because, like Expat, I can read, and count. And I know what the dosage is cos we're still using the old bottle.

I also use 6+ calpol (on different occasions to the Medised, obv!) rather than the infant one - because it contains double the paracetamol so I only have to get half the amount down them. Not that I would ever mention this to a pharmacist, they'd treat me like a poisoner and refuse to sell it to me, wouldn't they? I just say "yes, I have a 6yo". Which is true.

honeybuuny - i didn't like giving dd anything unless absolutely neccessary. she had calpol and nothing else.

Medised has the opposite efect on ds1 (2.7) - he'd be awake all night (and then have the most awful poo for the next day or so). Ds2 was prescribed some at 6 months old, and it gave him a horrible rash and yucky poo too.

Nurofen works much better here.

i look at this way: when i feel shit because i'm in pain from a cold, a dental problem (i have lots), a headache, etc., i take paracetamol or ibuprofen. and i usually find sleep really helpful in such instances.

so why would my baby or child feel differently?

read teh label and follow instructions as always.

ANyone knoe about DS2?

He is 2 and has a bad cough and cold i have been giving him Calpol Night 5ml and 2.5 ml Tixilix (sp?) at night. Is this ok or should i take him to gp for advice on what to give?

Medised contains antihistamine as well as paracetamol, which dries up runny noses and makes some children sleepy. Calpol Night and quite a few others are the same.

They've reclassified it - over 24mo only - because parents were giving medised AND calpol AND a cold-remedy containing antihistamine, all at once. And because parents were giving it nightly, long-term, to get some sleep.

Shit sorry just realised i had already posted.

Charlee, which Tixylix? What are the active ingredients?

Yes, I do things like that too, fruitful. I am paranoid and triple check labels and doses every single time, anyway, as well as considering body weight, number of overall doses in 24h, etc. I do not need to be treated like an idiot.