I can't get Calpol into my 1yo and she's had a temperature for 2 days now ...

[babypowder]

DD has had a temperature hovering around 39C for the past 2 days. I have tried, and failed, to give her Calpol a number of times. Even with a syringe, she just holds it in her mouth and then spits it out.

At what stage do I have to worry about her not having paracetemol to bring her temperature down? I'm doing all the usual things (no clothes, loose sheet, plenty of BM, etc.)

Any advice gratefully received!

You should be able to get some paracetamol suppositories from your pharmacy.

Have you tried putting it in her milk/juice/water?
I find this is the only way I can get medicine into my LO.
Or hiding it in a yogurt?

If ff can you put it in her bottle?

If you're bottle feeding you can put in milk. If breast, can you try mixing it and putting it in a cup?

After you syringe it into her mouth, hold her mouth shut until she has to swallow. Harsh, but if nothing else works you have to. I think the problem with a prolonged temp, is that they're at risk of febrile convulsions. DD had a bug last week and was running 39.5 frequently. I was told that I should try and get it below 39 or better, 38.5 and if I couldn't do that over an hour or two then to seek help. Call NHS 24 if you're worried at all.

Thanks, everyone. Spent the night sponging down (which I know is no longer recommended) and breastfeeding, and her temperature has fallen to 38C. Still can't get any meds into her, though!

Express some milk, put it in a bottle, add calpol.

If that doesn't work then get some paracetamol suppositories, she can't spit them out!

we bought a drug dispensing dummy, so if lo takes adummy she should take this ok, yuo can buy them at chemists

We mix unpleasant medicines with Fruitapura (fruit puree) and DS takes them with no fuss.

oh yes paracetamol suppositories are a very effective and easy way of getting paracetamol into small babies. They make special ones for babies and children, which are very quick and untraumatice to use. I find giving a baby calpol far more traumatic.

As suzi said, plus when we used the syringe for either of my two we put it right at the back of the mouth, practically in the throat so it couldn't be spat out.

Doh! Should add that my DS is old enough to eat solids (well at 15m he jolly well ought to be!)

could you mix it into a little pot of fromage frais and spoon that in? We did that a couple of times with one of ours

not much advice as dd truely beat me when i tried to get calpol in her at this age, i just gave it and hoped some when down if i felt she truely needed and otherwise let things run their course. in the bath is a good tip, then i found we were both relaxed and i wasnt worried about her spitting sticky, staining stuff over, well everything. with a syringe try slowly, 1 ml at a time so it doesnt fill her mouth, upsetting her and making it trickier to spit out.

Now she is 19 months and has had to have antibiotics this week and is now old enough to bribe! and sort of get the concept that medicine stops 'hurting' so she will take 5 ml from a syringe if she can press the button. So in six months or so your lo should be a better age for reasoning with.

will she take juice? My son was the same. I used to warm some diluted apple juice, add the calpol and he would suck it down in a feeder cup.
He is now 7 and would still rather be feeling awful than take any medicine...

some of mine have been reticent about taking meds.

i have a dosing syringe.

get in a comfy chair, holding them with arms down and tilted back. syringe small amounts at a time into mouth when its open (i usually wait for the mouth to open, either in agreement to take the stuff, or at a push, to let out another wail). wait till that mouthful gets swallowed before adding more. then when all done, a good cuddle.

is my patented gentlest way of force feeding a small child drugs.

putting it in juice in a bottle sometimes works, but they always get wise pretty quick and wont generally work twice in one illness.

Put the syringe into the cheek and rub it until she swallows it.

If she is eating, you can stir it into a fromage frais tub, as long as she eats it within 1 hous you should be ok.

I checked with the manufacturers of calpol and they say it is OK to do this

This may sound cruel, but a pharmacist recommended that we hold dd's nose until she opened her mouth, and quickly put the spoon in before she could protest. Fortunately now, at age 2.8, she loves taking medicine - she saw her brother getting calpol when he was teething and didn't want to miss out!

try ibuprofen too - tastes much better and my DS loves it!

Our method at this age was what Nappies said, but also gently massaging under the jaw, in the soft bit between jaw bone and throat, as this encourages swallowing. Didn't feel very gentle as ds would generally be screaming frantically and thrashing around, but it was the only thing that actually got the medicine into him. He is now 16 months and can be bribed with chocolate buttons - so hopefully you won't have much more of this left! A nurse at the hospital told us if all else failed to hold him nose so he would have to swallow. It's horrible but if they have to have the medicine they have to have it.

Hold his nose

If temp is 38C you don't really need to give calpol, it's only necessary if it exceeds 39C. I personally use suppositories (don't like all this forcing by mouth) and will only use them if temp is +39° or 38.5° if at night.

The fever's there for a reason, we need it to combat the illness. It's only if you go over a certain temp that you need to keep it under control.

Not in all cases Brangelina, as my dd2 16mths suffers febrile convulsions , weve been told to medicate her at lower temperatures to prevent them happening.

Not all gps will prescribe suppositories.