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Original poster

Do you drug your babies so you can get a good night's sleep?

154 replies

pablopatito · 09/03/2006 08:51

DP and I are not ones for drugs, both being brought up my mothers from the "plenty of water and lots of fresh air" school of medical care. But DS (11 months old) has been teething and has a cold and he's been having even more broken sleep than normal and he's never been a brilliant sleeper. So the last couple of nights we've given him a dose of medised and omg, he's slept like a log! We haven't had a peep out of him for 12 solid hours. Its bliss! I've had the best nights sleep I've had in over a year.

Suddenly, the tempation to drug him at the merest whiff of a sniff has become overwhelming.

So the decision to drug? How can I be sure I only drug him because its right for him, and not be influenced by my selfish desire to get a good night's sleep?

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carla · 09/03/2006 13:05

Ibruprofen, I think!

carla · 09/03/2006 13:06

And Calpol, even Blush

FrannyandZooey · 09/03/2006 13:28

Littlerach, I don't think Medised makes them sleep through. My ds never sleeps through either, but Medised does make him drop off really easily.

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Elf1981 · 09/03/2006 13:37

A friend of mine, her dd is nearly 8, and does not have the hormone that regulates sleep in her body. Given half the chance, she'd stay awake for days. She's on medication to make her sleep, otherwise it's rare that she'll get anything more than two hours sleep a night.
However, she's a totally different person to who she was now she is on medicine. She used to be really chatty and funny, talk to anybody and a little hyper. She just seems like a shadow of her former self.
Hopefully she is going to a sleep clinic soon to be monitored and hopefully that will help.
Personally I wouldnt 'drug' my DD to make her sleep, but perhaps that's only because shes a good sleeper (5 months old and we probably only had ten weeks max of disturbed nights).

lazycow · 09/03/2006 13:42

Must have looked at the wrong website
www.netdoctor.com says that medised contains paracetamol and promethazine hydrochloride (obviously a mistake on their part and mine).

I don't have a bottle so couldn't check the product itself.

Also read a pharmasist review that made me doubt the use of phenergan or medised

\link{http://www.dooyoo.co.uk/health-therapies-treatments/phenergan/102663}

Anyway the two times I did use it it didn't make any difference Smile

Calpol definitely helps ds to sleep but obviously only if there is something wrong with him in the first place. It isn't a sedative but soothes anything that is sore/painful so that he can sleep better.

blueshoes · 09/03/2006 13:53

I don't think there is anything wrong with a precautionary shot of Calpol for unsettled los who cannot tell you if they are hurting. Agree that it is not a sedative but a pain relief which removes pain as a disrupter of sleep.

My 4 month old dd was in hospital following surgery and I was concerned about the copious amounts of Calpol I was supposed to get down her. Was basically advised that Calpol is very light and it is not possible to overdose, even if she drank a whole bottle at once (don't try this at home, though!).

anniemac · 09/03/2006 13:54

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daisy1999 · 09/03/2006 13:55

definately No! I wouldn't give my children medicine for anything other than for what it is made for. They get pain relief when in pain. I used to be aware of a group of mothers who used an under the counter-non licensed (not kidding) teething remedy just to make their children sleep. Shock

Wordsmith · 09/03/2006 13:57

What's with the anti-painkilling medicine brigade - do you want your kids to suffer?

I use Medised when my children have a cold/are teething - at night, so they can have a good night's sleep. Not when they are fit and well to knock him out.

Sleep deprivation is used as a form of torture in some countries - and I don't believe in torturing children or their parents!

What is it about Medised that's a bit dodgy? I would be interested to know as I've never been told anything about this.

MY DS1 was prescribed Phenrgan when he was 2.5 and going through a really bad period of nightmares/not sleeping/waking up screaming etc. I must admit it didn't work, but the doc prescribed it so I could get a good night's sleep as much as for his benefit.

To be honest, given a choice between 'drugging' your child and harming them due to your own distress and depression from sleep deprivation, I know which I'd choose.

From the title of the thread you could imagine it was gong to be a discussion about heroin or something!

Enid · 09/03/2006 14:12

I give my children calpol or nurofen if they have a pain or I suspect they have a pain. The other stuff in Medised is an antihistamine which makes them sleep so doesn't do anything else other than 'drug them' to sleep.

beetroot · 09/03/2006 14:16

I give mine Tamazipan..works wonders, sometiems for days Grin

fredly · 09/03/2006 14:18

That's all a big joke isn't it ?
Medecine is supposed to be used when you're ill.

chapsmum · 09/03/2006 14:20

no analgesia is supposed to be used when you are in pain.

batters · 09/03/2006 14:22

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mumfor1standfinaltime · 09/03/2006 14:22

Ds had a jab yesterday so I was concerned he might get a temperature or not sleep through, I gave him some Calpoprofen sp?(calpol brand name for childrens Ibuprofen) after he had the jab and then some calpol before bed.
He didnt get a temperature and he didnt sleep in any longer!

I have used Medised, when DS had a sickness bug and was very groggy with high temperature. It didnt seem to make him sleep longer, but it did help him settle at night.

we have been lucky so far as Ds has slept through from an early age, so this isnt an issue for us (yet) I just want to know that he is sleeping well and not in any discomfort.

chapsmum · 09/03/2006 14:34

you two are crazy, and its temazepam! but you would know that it you had been brave enough to use it!Grin Wink
thing about medised and phernigan is that sometimes they have the unfortunate side effect of ifact not making your child sleep but actually making them completely hyper, not a risk I would like to take!

WideWebWitch · 09/03/2006 14:38

Has this thing kicked off yet? Or has Suzy already been?

anniemac · 09/03/2006 14:42

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Message withdrawn at poster's request.

noddyholder · 09/03/2006 14:42

Look I will make you all feel better as I gave ds gin on the advice of an elderly relative as a cure for colic!I was so knackered that I don't think I even thought it through I just did it and he stopped screaming and started sleeping!Not advised though I would never do it now but at the time I was desperate so compared to me the medised brigade are virtually homeopaths!

happybebe · 09/03/2006 14:44

still laughing at this thread 'drugging' makes me wince! its pain relief thats all not like its valium or anything! i agree i use pain relief when i think my child is in pain, and i got medised because he had a particulary runny cold and the pharmacist told me unlike calpol medised helps dry up the runny stuff (bleurgh) but now i wont be able to use it again without thinking of 'drugging him!'

liek its been said, medicine should be used as directed, and if you baby is nt sleeping, 'drugging' him.her wont help them learn how to go to sleep! xxx

sophiecustessofwessex · 09/03/2006 14:48

my ex sil has 4 children close together (s he liked the attention of babies) anyway that aside - she used to drug them to get tosleep - and i hated her for it - but to be honest if i had 4 kids in a row - i think i would have dont the same thing

poppadum · 09/03/2006 14:53

I think it's more effective to drug myself. does take a lot of baby calpol to render me totally insensible to the whining kids, though, but I order it by the case, so always have some in stock.

Marina · 09/03/2006 15:13

Old version of medised with the stronger antihistamine was taken off the market about three years ago because there were concerns about its safety when used inappropriately. New version is much milder.
Antihistamines, however strong their formulation, don't sedate everyone. That's why hay fever meds warn "may cause drowsiness". So medised, vallergan etc will help some kids sleep but not others I guess.
I will use medised without a qualm on either of mine if they have a stuffy head cold that is stopping them sleep. But that's usually after we have given Vicks/Olbas etc a try first.

Marina · 09/03/2006 15:14

I agree poppadum. Although I prefer a nice case of sauvignon blanc Wink

Tatties · 09/03/2006 15:32

If I have eliminated all the possible causes of crying, given a good bf and ds is still crying, then I resort to calpol. I think if he is possibly teething, better to give a bit of relief from it than have him potentially suffer. This kind of thing only happens occasionally though, maybe for a couple of nights in a row. To answer your question though, Pablopatito, I don't think you would resort to 'drugging' every night because you know it's not right. At the time, when I'm giving ds the calpol, I'm always thinking, oh I don't want to get into the habit of giving him calpol every time he cries. But I find in practice that it doesn't really happen because unless he's acting particularly upset, it doesn't occur to me to give him anything, iyswim. For me anyway it's a last resort, I only give it if he seems really upset and bf doesn't do the trick.

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