The French do it, the Germans do it... so why don't the English?

[emkana]

Administering medicine by suppository, that is. I'm German and I was talking to a friend today who is French - she said she went around 10(!) pharmacies to find Calpol suppositories - whereas in France you can pick them up in the supermarket!
I import them from Germany as well, because both my children absolutely refuse to take Calpol by spoon, no matter what I try - and a suppository you can give while they are sleeping without them really noticing it!
Another friend was telling me how her barely two-year-old had her mouth forced open in hospital to put Calpol in, while being told to "be good", then they kept her mouth shut to keep it in!
How horrible is that? She was traumatised for ages!
I really don't get it! Enlighten me!

after having dd by c-section I was given Voltarol suppositories which was fine until I realised that my arse was about to explode and I couldn't get myself off the chair to "run" to the toilet given that I could barely hobble.

Yuk! I would never want to shove something up anyones arse..even my kids!! Surely that is more traumatising?

My dd didn't like to take calpol at first, but she was hardly traumatised by us persevering. And loves it now!

I am with Lou on this one. I was really terrified of having to have them as a child and have the distressing memories to this day. Would never inflict this on a child old enough to be aware of what is happening, OK for small babies I guess. If as an adult you are OK with having medication this way, fair enough.

certainly less traumatic for a baby than having calpol if they don't like it - mine never even cried when having a suppository... it makes me mad emkana and I always import them from Germany. My biggest grievance though is that several times dd had to have a sedative for minor procedures in hospital - the sedative is called chloral hydrate and tastes like petrol - dd nearly passed out screaming when 20 ml of it was forced down her neck by three nurses and was totally, utterly traumatised. In Germany it's available as a suppository - why why why not here???!!!!
I asked about it and they looked at me as though I was some sort of perv.

I'm german too and I can remember having suppositories as a child and absolutely hating them!!
I can see that it might be a good way to get medicine into a child that hates taking it orally but I wouldn't want to inflict it on my children unless there was absolutely no other way.

I have never heard of having calpol or anyhthing else for children that way up.

Anyway this may be a really silly question but what happens if the baby does a poo straight afterwards.

How much medicine have they absorbed?

cos we're very refeend doncha know

JanH, via intravenous lines that sit near the heart. The ear ones I personally have found to be unreliable at times.

They really are absorbed very quickly so if they do poo you can see if it is either all gone or still there.

It is interesting dd (3) who has not known anything else has no problem with having suppositories part from the usual squriming, although we haven't, fortunately, had occasion to use them recently. ds who was in UK until aged 3 has always resisted and makes a serious fuss. The Swiss pharmacists and drs look at us as if we are mad when we ask for an oral form and often it is far fussier to measure out the dose and administer.

I was ill quite a lot as a preschooler, and I can still remember having suppositories, it really was no big deal. It was so quick and undramatic that my mum would have finished giving me my medicine before I managed to work up a fuss. On the other hand, I also remember her chasing me to the bottom of the garden, bottle and spoon in hand, to try and get medicine into me - and I was a relatively docile child!

The only time I remember my dd being given something up her bum was when she was in hospital as a prem baby. It was hilarious, she wasn't doing a poo, so they had a practice of using a tiny sliver of gycerine (a bit like a bit of that solid jelly tablets). Anyway the nurse kept trying to get this up her bum and she kept weeing over it (which melted it!) I thought it was so funny, since when at the 4th attempt the nurse managed it, she held dd's bum cheeks together so she couldn't push it out. SHe let go and dd did the hugest projectile poo I have ever seen It splattered the whole of the incubater, the nurses hands etc. I was just watching and laughing!!!

I'm sure nobody wants to make suppositories compulsory , but why aren't they available more widely as an option? That's what I don't understand!

my bum is private.
so are my kids'

Suppositories are a very very effective way of admistitering fast and effective pain relief. When people get them in work they always blanch, but as soon as it 'put in' and it kicks in almost immediately they are singing the praises of them!!

(oh and aren't ear thermometers a pain in the arse urgh)

talking of thermometers, i had one of those head strip things when my kids were little, but i dont think ever used it. i always found it pretty obvious when they were running a temperature and one instinctively knows when its got too high.

recently discovered suppositories after some mumsnetters recommended them to me earlier. they are the business! fever fell from 39.5 to normal in 2 hrs.

Can I add that they seem to be commonly used here in Malaysia if the fever is considered very high/the baby is vomiting.I personally havent tried inserting one, but I wouldnt hesitate to do so if dd was ill and vomiting again, which happened just recently.

on thermometers, i first bought an armpit one. now realise thats impossible to use with a sick, wriggly, crying baby. now own a very expensive digital ear one, gives u temp in one sec.

When we were on holiday in Spain when I was 8 I got tonsillitis and was given antibiotics in suppository form. I remember crying on my mum's shoulder asking why I couldn't have the yummy medicine that our doctor normally gave. I also remember having to have antibiotics by injection in the bum ... not nice ...
When DS was 18 months we were on holiday in France and he got really sick ... couldn't keep even a tiny sip of water down ... doctor gave us paracetamol suppositories for him and although I admit they were very effective and worked immediately both DH and I were traumatised by having to give them to DS who struggled and fought it as much as he could. I hope never to have to give them again.

dd2 had to have paracetamol suppostries when she was in hospital with brocholitis as her temp was sky high and it wouldnt come down. she was only about 8 weeks old. they did work and they let us go home about 4hrs later as her temp stayed down. if it had peaked again i wuld've taken her back for another dose.

Ear themometers can be inaccurate...and its actually quite important to know (vaguley at least) the temperarture of your child if they are running one. There is a big difference between 38C and 39C.

My ds reacts to all the crap that they put into oral formulations. Would a suppository mean he wouldn't have to be subjected to the artificial flavour of oranges?

toddlerbob

The ones we have a like small pieces of wax, about the length of a thumbnail, and as there is no need to make them attractive I guess there are less additives !

Hi, my oldest boy at 18 months, was prescribed paracetamol suppositeries, after having a fibral convolsion,(now 10). I have used them ever since... We are in London/England and have no trouble getting them from the GP.