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

[pablopatito]

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?

yep, the humidifier works, too, bossy! but it can heat the room up a bit overmuch, so i use it during the day.

oh good! didn't mean to stalk you about it!

i find humidifier is also better for congestion. dd1's not really congested.

sadly, i think she inherited my crap sinuses. i've got the same cough.

hope you are both better soon

Erm, lockets, no I don't. What do you feed them? (or were you trying to make the point that in fact, I don't actually know what everyone feeds their children? You are right, I don't. It was meant to be a joke :))

Can anyone tell me the potential bad effects of a daily dose of calpol, ill or not in an 18 month old

I have concerns about a friend.

I dunno, freshstart. But all I can say is that it was common for me to give dd calpol almost everyday at that age for suspected teething pain. Why would your friend give calpol for no reason at all? I consider suspected pain, after having eliminated other reasons for unsettled behaviour, as a valid reason BTW

diphenhydramine, active ingredient in Medised, has been on the market for a long time. its the active ingredient in Benylin. Until the medical community comes up with a reason why diphenydramine is unsafe, I will continue to give my dd for a runny nose, so both of us have a more peaceful night.

paracetamol, the other active ingredient, is not just for fevers, its also for headaches and achy joints. so if my dd has a cold, she may also have other aches.

as some one else has said, sleep deprivation is a form of torture. with a good night's sleep, she is a happier baby than without one.

God I've never heard of Medised until now, but if it or any other medicine is given to eliviate an illness or pain then there is nothing wrong with it. Just giving it because a baby is a bad sleeper isn't right and no one can seriously think it is.

agree with HC. Don't have medised in the house. Would only give calpol if temperature over 39/40. 18 month Ds has always been a bad sleeper but extended breastfeeding is one good way to get them back to sleep fast, helps with teething and anything else. Not right for everyone but works for us.

Medised used to do the trick in our house - but I only ever used it when DD has a really snotty nose and couldn't sleep due to coughing. For some reason the last couple of times she has had it - she developed a rash all over her arms, legs and then body. The doctor suggested that I stick to calpol as it only has paracetamol and therefore DD not likely to be alergic. BUT CALPOL DOESN'T HELP WHEN SHE HAS A COLD... Then pharmasist in a well known food store suggested that I used tickylicx as it also contains antihistamine which will help dry up the runny stuff which makes her cough all night long. Tickylix doesn't make her sleep any better, but does stop her coughing all night. Have to say I really miss the medised.... Only times I have got a full night sleep in the last 2 years....

i did consider it tonight!!! DD is 19 motnhs and has only ever slept though about 2-3 times. She wakes in the night and stays up for around THREE hours, she usually wakes 2-3 times each night. I NEED SLEEP!! i was considering it like i say but felt bad so havnt done!

i think its a bit of a myth! ds has had a few teething problems and colds recently and so has had the odd dose of calpol/tixilyx/medised but nothing seems to make him sleepy! at the moment he's on 3x daily paracetamol and penicillin for a throat infection and he could still match me in the extent of his waking hours!

I've never used medised. Usually I try to avoid using medication even when my children are ill, but I gave dd2 Nurofen last week because she felt so unwell she couldn't sleep. I think that although it's best to avoid medication if possible, if it helps the child sleep then it's ok because sleep aids recovery - dd2 got a good night's sleep and woke up much better than the day before.

I tried Phenergan once just to try and get my DS to sleep but didn't work and then felt really bad for using it!!!! Never tried Medised though. I do use Calpol and on the odd occasion I have used Calprofen when he's been really ill though. I would selfishly love him to sleep through as in almost two years my DS has only ever slept through once but unless he's ill - not sure I could use medication again just to make him sleep. Mind you, if he hasn't slept through by the time he's 10, I may reconsider.....lol

Having just nursed my dd through chicken pox I'd swear by phenergan. She was covered in spots and it helped reduce the itch brilliantly. I used a low dose so there was less of a sedative effect during the day and a slightly higher dose at night, again for the anti-itch but also to help her sleep. She was plagued by spots around her mouth and nappy area and if she weed it obviously really hurt, likewise sucking her thumb. Havent used it for anything else, but if medised has anti-histamine then it is useful for the anti itch effect even if you dont fancy the idea of sedating your child.

Having just nursed my dd through chicken pox I'd swear by phenergan. She was covered in spots and it helped reduce the itch brilliantly. I used a low dose so there was less of a sedative effect during the day and a slightly higher dose at night, again for the anti-itch but also to help her sleep. She was plagued by spots around her mouth and nappy area and if she weed it obviously really hurt, likewise sucking her thumb. Havent used it for anything else, but if medised has anti-histamine then it is useful for the anti itch effect even if you dont fancy the idea of sedating your child.

...to add a point to the debate on not-medicating children let me say that i personally try to avoid taking medicine and letting my body sort itself out however if i have an awful headache/pain i would take a nurofen or something. when ds was little i gave him no medicine whatsoever but now he's a toddler i have really lapsed this philosophy, with no verbal expression its hard for him to convey the extent of his discomfort/pain and therefore i don't refuse him the occassional dose of medised/calpol witht the justification that i myself would take it if i was suffering and therefore why should i take a higher stance on it for him and let him suffer through!

Sorry, drugging your children to sleep is just wrong.

I can understand how easy it is to reach for any hope of a solution to illness related sleep problems, partly for them and partly for yourself. It is understandable. However you cannot always be sure how your body will react to medication and we just don't know enough about some of these drugs for babies or children to make them safe.
I have never suffered from allergies, food intolerances whatever until suddenly I came out in hives, great big red swellings on my tummy, thighs, underarms - turned out at 35 years old I had developed an allergy to nurofen. I had been taking it at maximum dose for 3 days to treat a period related migrane. Couldn't believe what a state I was in, it was scarey, and apparently caused by having such a strong dose of the drug. Since then I will not give my children nurofen, I stick to calpol and I do give medised once a day (at night) to treat snuffly noses/colds but I try to get them off it as soon as I can, so two or three nights maximum.
There just hasn't been enough research to show what reactions we might have to things - people say 'I took it years ago and it never harmed me', but we live in a world so full of pollutants nowadays that allergies are radidly increasing. It is frightening to find out you've developed an allergy to some of the most 'useful' drugs around.

Wish our grandson would take it ... he is 3 and still calls for us several times during the night. (He lives with us). It is unusual for him to sleep through, we would like an occasional break. He wont take any medicine whatsoever and if you secretly put it in his juice he leaves it.

His mum had phenargen occasionally for same reason, but she wasnt as bad as he is.

A drop or two of lavender oil in the bath works sometimes, but need to watch they dont get water in their eyes.

peaches johnson and johnson do i lavender calming baby bath, its in a purple bottle. that won't irrate if it gets in the eyes

Not had chance to read whole thread (it's long ) but I do give Medised if dd2(1yr) has a cold and is really snotty because the antihistimine helps relieve the snottiness! Dh is a medicinal chemist and therefore knows more than most people about the effects of various drugs. He is happy for her to have it when needed, therefore, I am.

If she doesn't have a cold, but is teething, I will give Calpol or Nurofen.

I would not give any drugs to make her sleep unless she was ill or in pain, tempting as it might sometimes be.

Oh, and btw, harpsichordcarrier, I am very fussy about what I feed my children - buy organic wherever possible, and don't let them have fizzy drinks or squash (dd1 is almost 8). So there .