Medised everynight to get children to sleep is this healthy?

[Runnerbean]

A friend of mine told me she was concerned about a freind of hers who gives her two children (3 and 18 months) Medised or Nurofen every night to get them to sleep! This has been going on since the oldest was 12 months. She is concerned that it is unhealthy for the children, the are drug dependant aren't they? Does anyone else give medicines to help children get to sleep?
Is she creating problems for the future?
I was horrified personally but didn't want to alarm my friend. Wondered what anyone else thought.

OMG Just read all the thread and am appalled - I use Medised quite often (i.e. about once a month for 1 or poss 2 nights) because dd is always bringing colds home from nursery and if it's not a cold then a tooth is coming (HV recommended Medised for Teething). I even checked with my GP that this was ok, thinking that I was giving it too often (he said absolutely fine).
I wouldn't have thought any of the active ingredients work very well if they are administered daily - what happens if one of the children really is in pain ?

i know this is probably quite a major reaction but have you considered calling social services about this?

nurofen can cause stomach ulcers and parectemol can cause liver danage, you cannot give them every night.

she obviously needs shock tactics.

oh and they will also become immune eventually

i took parecetamol about twice a week as a child for headaches, it now doesnt do a thing!

i would report her anonymously, but i suspect they may not do much about it, not sure about their guidelines. I would definitely call her doctor - these children are at risk.

I read that Dannilella Westbrook gave her first little boy a hot bath & calpol every night to get him to sleep - she used to call it his medicine

social services have to do something about it it is a form of abuse, please please do something about this!!

My uncle used to give his eldest phenergan every night to sleep as his son had problems sleeping. He's in his 40's now (my cousin) and no problems. The phenergan was prescribed by a doctor and my uncle was a doctor.
DD's dermatologist has prescribed her with Vallergan to be used as a sedative to stop her scratching her eczema (have never used it btw as I don't believe in sedating her to sleep). Before giving me the vallergan he told me to dose her up with piriton and when I commented that was I to do it when her eczema was bad he told me to use it every night to stop her scratching.

Not condoning it btw but this is advice I've received (BUT never taken)

We used Atarax for eczema but, although very safe etc., it was given to break the eczema cycle (probably 2 weeks at the most) not to use it all the nights for an indefinite period...

I've just used medised for the first time for ds, 16mo and dd, 3.10 and it knocked them both out all afternoon! - can't believe anyone would do that to their child every night!!!

I think you have to call social services and get her to talk to her health visitor about giving the children a good night time routine.

I am a believer that Medised has its time and place-ie- only when the infant has severe congestion and/or a high temperature/cough/cold etc. It is knock out juice and I only use it if the decongestive part of it is required-otherwise I will only use Calpol or Nurofen if they have only the temperature/teething problems-the parent that uses it as a sedative is mistreating their child whether they know or are ignorant enough not to know!

Sorry-this ,IMO, is the truth!

Would be very concerned about this and would advise someone!

Does no one else feel slightly worried about this??

So, we all medicate our children to sleep then???

Is it that alot of people have not heard of Medised or used it before??

Have got it in cupboard but used it once when out of Calpol. I think it's horrendous - not sure what Runnerbean should do though. Maybe have serious talk with her friend and voice concerns?

How horrible! I would never give our children medication unless they were ill or in pain. Interestingly, Medised had the oposite effect on DS2 when he was a baby; it made him really irritable and anxious. He needed to take it fairly frequently because when he was congested, he would often succomb to a secondary infection that required iv anti-biotics. Long, irrelevant story but I am feeling ill just thinking about this mother medicating her children to sleep.

lockets: I am glad that I am not the only one who finds that it has the opposite effect on their child...

Runnerbean: Do you think that you could talk to your friend about it?

I'm just gald to get a reaction!

what's in it to make them hyper - e numbers?

Hi there, Lockets btw

DS has Medised, Disprol and Nurofen. When he's ill. And not at other times. Medised and Nurofen at night (if he needs both - he has random extremely high temps when teething - up to 40.9). Disprol during the day, if he's still in pain. And since he's usually an extremely happy little boy, it's very obvious when he's not right.

Don't give any of them often and the idea of giving them just to get him to sleep - noooo!