Urgent - can I give Calpol and Nurofen at the same time?

[shattered200]

My baby (13 months) is struggling terribly with teething tonight. I’ve given 0.5ml of Calpol but can I give the recommended dose of Nurofen as well? Or do I have to wait a few hours now?

I’ve also dabbed Anbesol on the gums but don’t know where the pain is coming from and I think I may have got the wrong gum. Now have to wait another 3 hours to use it again!

OP, DH is a dr and wouldn’t hesitate to give both when child is really in pain, even though I’m quoting what I’ve read online etc. I think for context, the amount to overdose on either of them is quite high - not saying to exceed recommended amount of either, of course. But we had a toddler suspected to have ingested extra calpol once and it was a surprise how big the amount they’d consider toxic was. Sorry for your little one, mine always suffered terribly with teething for a few nights and it always seemed unfair that other kids sailed through it. The relief when they break through!!

@shattered200

I’m so confused as the NHS site says you can’t

If you ever have to go into hospital with your baby then the Dr will tell you about spacing pain relief which absolutely gives a overlap between calpol and neurofen.

It's a very effective way to keep pain or fevers under control as there is always a overlap usually a 2-3 hour gap between the two which are alternated which ensures that pain relief doesn't wear off fully.

We do it fairly regularly as my toddler gets high fevers quite frequently.

I was advised to space them 2 hours apart when LO was very ill with a fever (but obviously not going over 24 hour dose and keeping the minimum recommended gap between doses of the same medicine.) Also teething crystals/powders are good OP. Hope it passes quickly, teething is horrible.

Thanks for the replies, it’s horrible seeing him in pain like that So relieved he’s settled, for now…

@shattered200 is this his very first two teeth? I fear you are in for a rough ride with them unfortunately.
We started giving DS homemade mini milk ice lollies and that's been helpful for the last few teeth coming.

I'm quite surprised the nhs website says not to use both at the same time. When mine were little I was always told to stagger the doses by two hours so ibuprofen then paracetamol two hours later then ibuprofen two hours after that. It means as one is wearing off the other one is kicking in
Suspect the advice is because it can be easy to lose track of what's been given when leading to potential for accidental overdose. I always wrote down on a notepad what they had at what time so I could keep a track

Give him nurofen in a couple of hours even if he’s reasonably settled - it works to bring inflammation down so should give 4-6 hours of reasonable pain relief

I just wish the advice about the Calpol and Nurofen wasn’t so vague. Or maybe I’m just stupid

I think the advice has changed since some ofnour kids were tiny. When ds was small it was either stagger or give them together. Although it may be that he was often in jospital and theu may jave done ot differently with constant medical supervision.

It’ll available that really severe pain that he’ll get when he first wakes up

*avoid

During the daytime I used to use a piece of cucumber, about 3-4cm in length, with the middle seeds removed, and peeled, VERY well chilled, for DC to gnaw on. I kept a few ready in the fridge, they seemed to help between using ambusol, calgel and teething granules.
Good luck, it does end but by gosh it's distressing seeing them in so much pain

I would call 111 for advice if he is still screaming in pain. One of the nurses would be able to give advice.

How is he this morning @shattered200? Hope you got some sleep