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Original poster

Only give calpol for a temp of 39 or above?

39 replies

CaptainFlameSparrowWifeOfJack · 19/09/2008 07:44

story here

Ok, so I know asthma is a bad thing, but do YOU only take paracetamol for a temperature?

What about actual PAIN???

I'm confused. Are children meant to hurt if they aren't hot?

OP posts:
belgo · 19/09/2008 07:54

I personally would rather give paracetamol for pain rather then just a temperature.
But of course mostly pain and temperature occur at the same time anyway.

belgo · 19/09/2008 07:55

I know children sometimes have a high temperature without any other symptoms, and in those cases, I wouldn't give paracetomol.

stitch · 19/09/2008 07:55

i give calpol to my kids the same way i take paracetamol myself. for pain, and bad colds as well. but my kids are no longer babies

Original poster
CaptainFlameSparrowWifeOfJack · 19/09/2008 08:04

Mine and both DC's legs ache horribly with sudden changes in temperature - warmth and paracetamol fix it. I can't imagine trying to get them (or me!) through it without paracetamol

OP posts:
herbietea · 19/09/2008 08:05

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

Indith · 19/09/2008 08:13

So what the hell do you give them when teething like hell etc? We are always told paracetamol better than ibuprofen.

belgo · 19/09/2008 08:15

herbietie - don't feel guilty. This is from the BBC report:
'Researchers do not know if the drug directly increases asthma risk or another underlying factor is to blame.'

So basically, they just don't know if paracetamol contributes to causing asthma or because more paracetamol gets given to babies who are more likely to develop asthma anyway. They don't know if it's cause or effect.

Don't blame your ds's asthma on you following your doctor's advice.

TheUNITUBER · 19/09/2008 08:21

It is entirely possible for a small child to have an infection and be in pain without having a fever. When that happened to my daughter the hospital gave her copious amounts of both paracetomol and brufen. I would have no qualms about giving her paracetomol at any time if I thought she was in pain.

ajm200 · 19/09/2008 08:35

What about when they are going mad with teething pain, screaming and refusing to eat and don't have a fever at all. I think it is wrong to leave a child in pain but I have seen some mums give calpol to children who are restless at bedtime as a 'sleep aid'. Same with Medised. I don't agree with that

belgo · 19/09/2008 08:37

Paracetamol is probably the most widely used medication and has been for years and years. As long as we follow the instructions on the box, I don't think we should have anything to feel guilty about.

CrushWithEyeliner · 19/09/2008 08:45

I agree with belgo. Also who really would ride out a bad headache without a tablet to ease their discomfort? I think it should be used whenever the child is in pain but never for a sleep aid.

SaintGeorge · 19/09/2008 09:04

I have always used ibuprofen for pain and calpol for fever with my kids.

I am more annoyed at the moment that I can't get paracetamol for myself! Locally, supermarkets seem to have stopped selling it. DH spent 3 hours tracking some down earlier this week when I had a fever.

jimjamshaslefttheyurt · 19/09/2008 09:09

TBH I only ever give calpol/nurofen if temperatures go above 39 anyway. In the main because a mild temp helps fight an infection, so I don't see any point in messing with the natural immune response if it's not going to cause any harm.

My boys tend to run v high temps (all have gone above 40 a lot) and ds3 has had a febrile convulsion which is why I do dish it out once it goes above 39/39. I figure calpol is a better bet than a seizure!

MrsJamin · 19/09/2008 09:20

Brilliant, something new to feel guilty about!

So should we use ibuprofen more than calpol? DS has had a fever for nearly a week and calpol and ibuprofen both seem to work similarly so I think I'll just stick with the ibuprofen.

themildmanneredjanitor · 19/09/2008 09:25

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

EffiePerine · 19/09/2008 09:28

also ibuprofen is not a good idea if you have asthma or are prone to it

orangehead · 19/09/2008 11:08

I have not read the report so could be talking rubbish. But just because they have found a correlation between kids taking paracetomol and having asthama by no way means that is what is causing the asthma. It makes more sense that children who have had a lot a bugs, so therefore had paracetomol, has had their immune systems weakened making them more prone to asthma. Or they may of had paracetomol for recurrent chest infections which has left the lungs weaker thus more prone to asthma

ForeverOptimistic · 19/09/2008 11:10

Another guilty mum here.

Ds has been very wheezy this year and has hayfever.

seeker · 19/09/2008 11:11

We had a thread about this - sort of - before. I really believe that there are plenty of things tat we can do to make children with mild fevers like this and every day aches and pains more comfotable without resorting to medication as a first resort. But I seemed to be very much on my own!

2shoes · 19/09/2008 11:14

I have been told to give dd calpol at the sign of a cild, a fever can lead to her having a seizure, which is dangerous.
I think imo that they are just saying in the normal scemme of life(not sn like mine) that don't give it for every minor thing. some people do.

Upwind · 19/09/2008 11:14

agree orangehead, and reporting of this has been shocking - I read the times' scaremongering piece this morning and was really Yet again journalists have run with a press release from a study they barely understand.

It could be that the kind of parents who give paracetamol regularly are also the kind who will use a lot of chemicals and detergents to keep their home clean, reducing their DC's exposure to bugs.

Or it could be that babies who have regular chest infections are predisposed to asthma.

pagwatch · 19/09/2008 11:19

my DD seems to have some weird asthma type response which is still baffling Doctors. And I don't believe she has ever had calpol or anything like it in her life.

A study is a study and it will almost always be a general trend or generally observed respond. It almost never means every child will do X in Y circumstance.

Anyway - I don't believe in feeling guilty about information revealed after I have made a decision.

ForeverOptimistic · 19/09/2008 11:23

I have always been told to give it at the first sign of a temperature because we have a family history of childhood convulsions. Ds usually has a high temperature when he has a cold or virus and has picked up lots of things since he started nursery.

Why are health professionals so quick to tell you to give it?

FairLadyRantALot · 19/09/2008 11:29

hm...but it's not just that children also get calpol to help with pain....surely, you have to look also at teh individual child...as everyone reacts very different to fever....and treatment needs to take that into account....
some Kids still bounce happily about with a high temp, others sem to feel like death warmed up even at a minor temp...

Brangelina · 19/09/2008 11:33

I've only ever used paracetamol when temp exceeds 39.5 or 39 if overnight. Fevers exist for a reason and I've found that if I let it run for a bit instead of stifling it at the first sign then DD gets better much more quickly. DD's first paed was very much against administering antipyretic (sp?) drugs for this very reason.

I've never given paracetamol purely for pain relief but am still bfing and find that that does the trick just as well so haven't really needed to so far.