Worried about giving too much Calpol

[Lloydy88]

Hi all,
I'm a little worried about the calpol I'm giving to our 16 week old.
In the last few weeks he's really struggled with teeth and he's shattered but won't sleep because his teeth (we think it's his teeth as he's chewing his gums when crying) are playing him up.
We've given one dose of calpol before bed probably 10 or more times in the last 21 days (3 weeks).
Has anyone else had experience in this? The doctor just said that once a day when he's in pain at night isn't going to harm but I don't want to give too much.
Any advice would be welcome.
Many thanks :)

Calpol is useless, ime. Nurofen all the way. I only give it when DD is really distressed and won't be comforted with milk or cuddles but I definitely have found that there have been nights when she's clearly needed something to take the edge off. I also find paracetamol useless for me for tooth or ear type pain so I'm not surprised it doesn't seem to help her.

My youngest has really struggled with teething. For each tooth he has woken up multiple times a night with hands in his mouth etc. I know a few people who 'don't believe in teething'. I assume their children just coped with it better.

@brazzledazzleday yes really, I do not believe that teething is the explanation for many minor ailments and sleeping disturbances. Teething disturbance is unknown in many places- it is a cultural phenomenon. Many many meta-analyses have found little to no correlation between tooth eruption and any reliable of constellations of symptoms.

The reason I say this is that not one single child I know has complained of teething when older - they regularly have teeth popping through right through to teen years and I've never heard an older kid complain.

You haven't met my son Okay so he's autistic, and with severe learning disability he has the cognition of about an two-year-old ... He hates cutting his adult teeth. He's made of rubber when it comes to any other pain, shrugs off falls and bruises as though nothing happened. But teeth? Horrible. Absolutely distressing. First time it happened, we didn't have a clue what was up, he couldn't tell us, we had him to the GP and then to A&E in case we were missing something major. Two and a half weeks later, one round of abx "in case", one destroyed wall and chest of drawers in his bedroom ... and the wobbly tooth came out, with the new tooth poking through. We hurried to his special needs dentist, who told us that she sees this a lot - apparently it's worse because the child cannot actually tell where the pain is (think of how toothache travels around your face) and often is orally hypersensitive. Now we recognise the onset of the pain and immediately treat him with ibuprofen liquid (better for teeth pain than paracetamol, apparently).

I appreciate it may be different for children with ASD or a minority of neurotypical children. But honestly, I have lived in places where teething is not a thing at all..it can't be a universal physiological thing.

In ye olden days lots of infant deaths were attributed to teething.. a significant number.

I'm not for a minute saying that babies are not unsettled sometimes but there has to be more to it than physical discomfort of a slightly swollen gum that doesn't even bleed as the tooth breaks through Humans are complex beasts and the eruption of milk teeth is also prime time for an onslaught of assaults on tbe young immune system, and also a key time for developmental changes like realise g you have control over your limbs and realising you are separate from your mum!

Thanks all! :)
Lots of different opinions but after narrowing down everything and speaking to the doctor, it's definitely teething. I can see many white patches coming on his gums so I believe they are growing through the gums and it's really upsetting him.
I feel if he's a happy, healthy baby then there's nothing else wrong. I know of many people who's babies have sailed through their teeth coming through and some have been horrendous but there's one think for sure... I'm not letting my baby be in pain and not sleep so calpol it is! :D

My 9 month old has been suffering for 5 months and still no tooth! I prefer ibuprofen to calpol for teething because it's anti inflammatory. Lo likes chewing on Muslins as well. I would probably try not to use calpol for a few days if you've been using it everyday
My 6 year old complains every time an adult teeth comes through so I do believe teething is painful.

I don't understand people saying teething isn't a thing. I can understand people trying other soothing methods but to say it doesn't exist and cause discomfort. I simply don't understand.

So my baby cries, I put anbesol on his gums as he has all the signs of teething, he then goes straight back to sleep- if it was separation anxiety surely he would continue to cry when I left the room??

Maybe. Or maybe he just wanted to check in with you and was happy that you came when he cried or fussed. You responded, touched him, soothed him, he went back to sleep..Or maybe his teeth really did hurt. Who knows?

It's all about causation vs association isn't it? Babies go through lots of weird developmental stuff at the same time as they typically get teeth. How do you know it's teeth causing unsettledness? How d you know it's not just a coincidence?

I was SURE DSs awful drooling, sore face erg was cos of teething. So was everyone else. Nope. He had an allergy and hypotonia. Point being that had he not had tests I'd have put it down to teething. And it was not.

Another vote for anbesol. I prefer the liquid. I find it easier to rub into DS's guns than the gel. But both would work as good.

Get it behind the counter at boots. But I'm sure most pharmacies would have it.

How do you know it's teeth causing unsettledness? How do you know it's not just a coincidence?

DD is 22 months and is cutting her final second molar. She is cranky and grumpy, and she keeps coming to me, grabbing my index finger, trying to press it against her gum (where the molar is about to come through) and saying "teeth". I am pretty sure the reason for her unsettledness is teething.

I agree people sometimes mistake other things for teething but I completely disagree with a theory that "teething is not really a thing - parents just misread their children cues". Perhaps, cutting first teeth is more of a discomfort than pain but for a 4-6 month old baby this discomfort may feel as bad as pain does for adults. If it can be removed by remedies like calpol, I would go for it without hesitation.

I do not believe that teething is the explanation for many minor ailments and sleeping disturbances. Teething disturbance is unknown in many places- it is a cultural phenomenon. Many many meta-analyses have found little to no correlation between tooth eruption and any reliable of constellations of symptoms.

That’s interesting because I was always convinced DS was teething when he was little and then... nothing. All the symptoms, no teeth for ages. Then when they started coming through he had no symptoms. When he’s grumpy or not sleeping well it’s always attributable to other factors. I’ve been a bit skeptical of the whole teething thing myself tbh.

Famous last words maybe when my next one comes along