Possibly urgent. Kids have been swilling calpol. What to do.

[spidermama]

I've just found the bottle of Calpol for 6 plus open. They climbed up into the cupboard and managed to open the so-called child proof lid.

It was about three quarters full. Now it's about 1/4 full (so half a bottle has gone) and they've admitted it was my four year old and my 7 year old who've had it.

Do I need to do anything? Is this dangerous?

TIA.

Do I need to call NHS Direct? Has this happened to anyone else?

calpol is paracetomal and potentially dangerous but depends on body weight

I would say that is not enough to cause any damage to a 4 year old if drunk on their own and as they shared it .. I wouldn't worry unduly

BUT I would call NHS direct and they have the charts to check it off

If you know the dose I would ring NHS direct just to make sure. How long ago did they take it ?

My gut reaction (without looking up dosages) would definitely be to call NHS Direct, and if you can't get through very quickly, would go to A & E.

I should think they will be OK. Our neighbours child ended up in A&E with a raging temp, the first thing the paed said was, right Xmls of Calpol, S replied but he is maxed out on both Calpol and Nurofen , to which the paed replied believe me he isn't, they are guidelines.

Spidermania, the potential effect of having too much paracetamol are very serious, You must take them to a and e within the hour.
I would not even estimate what they have had, but they may need to have thier blood levels checked.
do not induce vomitting and giving them allot to drink will make no difference. take them to a and e now.

spidermama, how much do they weigh? The actual weight of the kids is much more important than their ages? Also, how many g of paracetamol is there per gml of 6+ calpol?

I would check with your A & E now.

Spidermama - Dont panic!

I accidentally gave my ds too much once, a doctor told me that her 7 year old swigged an entire bottle and he was ok!

I would call nhs direct for reassurance but i dont think there should be a problem with your little ones

paraceetamol poisoning is serious. go to A&E!

Call nhs direct but don't rush to a&e unless they tell you - over-reacting imo

\link{http://www.mypharmacy.co.uk/medicines/medicines/c/calpol/calpol_6+_sachets_sf.htm\calpol info}

Check with your local a and e

agree with fastasleep. Or call the out of hours GP instead of useless NHS direct.

Yes dont panick, the effect of a paracetamol od are treatable and they are probabaly ok , but (and I hate to pull rank here) I work in a and e. If you dont know exactly how much (especially the four year old) has had you must go to a and e, within the hour if possible.
If you go within the hour she may be able to have a charcoal drink which would reduce the effects of the paracetamol. failing that they will wait four hours do blood test and check the paracetamol levels if they are worried.

Let the professionals work out the doses ASAP

Your getting pretty mixed responses here aren't you. I would say first port of call nhs direct but go with your gut instinct, if you feel happier having them checked out at a&e do it. No-one there will see you as a time waster with 2 small kids and a poss paracetamol overdose (but I'm sure they will be fine ).

good point mb - my dd ate some of my contraceptive pills and I rang a & e - they were really helpful, spoke to a toxins and poisons unit somewhere else and rang me back 10 minutes later.

I think you should listen to chapsmum. She works in A & E and is providing sound advice.

agree totaly with capsmum. Don't wait for NHS direct, contact a and e directly and/or take your child there. It may well be noting to worry about but you can't chance things with paracetamol

Part of the NHS direct protocol is to refer childern with suspected OD to A and E regardless of what the OD is and wether it is an accident or not.

It has to do with child protection issues, At least in scotland it does.

Also, how many ml in the bottle?

The maxdose per day is 90mg/kg of child (20mg/kg every 6 hours, really). There are 250mg of paracetamol in each 5ml of the suspension.

So, if your 4 year old weighs 15 kg, and your 7 year old weighs 20 kg (totally making up figures here), then your 4-year-olds max dose per day is 15x90 = 1350 mg / 50 mg per ml = 27 ml. Your 7 year old comes out at 36 ml. That's max per day. So 65 ml between them.

Which is probably about half a bottle? And I'm assuming here that they can have their max daily dose in one shot, which may be not a safe assumption.

So unless your kids weigh a lot more than 15 kg and 20 kg, or unless the bottle was only, say, a 50ml bottle, I'd take them to A+E.

Really think you should go to A&E. DS1 did the same a couple of months ago - even though we knew it wasn't huge amounts ( was a part of only a tiny bottle given to DS2 after jabs) they had to do blood tests after four hours just to check. It was fine but I think you really need to get them checked.

Spidermama - I think it would be best if you just contact the hospital directly. Let them advise you on their guidelines. I'd be inclined to take my kids just to be on the safeside. After reading that link from Whizzz, I wouldn't want to just assume they will be fine. Good luck and I hope they can have the nasty charcoal drink rather than bloodtests.

(charcoal drink will stop them wanting to do it again at least!!)

think she has gone