Baby refusing calpol

[lemondropsandchimneytops]

I'm sure there have been many similar posts on here so I apologise in advance but would appreciate tips or advice!

My 8mo will not take calpol (original or sugar free) or baby nurofen. Before we started solid foods, we could manage to get her to swallow it but she'd be very distressed. Since starting solids, she spits it straight out or she gags on it and is sick. We've tried giving it into the inside of her cheek, tried using various spoons, through the teat of a bottle and hiding it in milk and food. The food angle might be easier if she was older but there's only so much you can disguise the taste in a few spoonfuls of food.

HV has suggested suppositories so I'm trying to get our GP to prescribe them but being met with a brick wall. I get that they're expensive but to me, leaving a baby with uncontrolled temperature or pain is negligent.

Does anyone have any weird and wonderful suggestions of other ways we could try to get calpol into her? Or any suggestions of how/where we could get suppositories without the massive cost? One pack is £57 for about 2 days' worth!

I have a 10 month old who completely refuses too. I bought the femmings 6+ 250mg from boots so there’s not as much liquid to go down (1.2ml rather than 2.5ml), measure with a syringe then put onto the small side of the little white spoon it comes with and I sort of cradle him with one arm with his body across me and his head leant backwards between my chest and arm so he can’t turn. When he (eventually) opens his mouth whack the spoon in and let the liquid fall in but don’t take the spoon out till he’s swallowed so he can’t push it back out. It’s not exactly pleasant but does the job, sometimes he’s very cross about it but not always and it’s getting easier. My older child was the same and we did get suppositories for him but hoping to avoid this time.

Do you have Paralink in the UK? €10 approx for ten suppositories

Use the syringe every day with something that isn’t Calpol in it, make it a daily thing that you do. Doesn’t matter whether it is swallowed or not, just make it a really uneventful activity. Small quirts, no fuss.

Does the baby have a temperature? Did a doctor say they have to have it? Why the need for it

Mine hated Calpol and threw it up if you did manage to get it down her, our GP at the time said she had to have it. I think it was a health visitor who suggested Junior Paracetamol instead, which she would take no problem. I think it was the flavour of the Calpol, she still hates strawberries.

I would have been lost without suppositories when mine were little; we're in Ireland where they're widely used and can be bought OTC. They're used in hospital settings all the time as well, and can be safely given to even very young babies. I found it really surprising when I was living in the UK that they were so difficult to obtain.

Failing that, mixing the Calpol with a fromage frais tends to work for us.

You can buy them OTC here but they're ridiculously expensive - £20ish for 10 I think and usually have to be ordered in as aren't routinely kept. We had similar, he was given suppositories in hospital and the GP was then happy to prescribe until he was a bit older and could take the liquid or oral tablets.

OP I'm so sorry you're getting such nasty responses!! I can't believe the number of people questioning why you're giving it to her, as if she should just sit in pain! The comments about a doctor saying she needs it - do we all only take painkillers when doctors say to?

I refused all medication up until age 11 or 12, I hated it. I would refuse the liquid banana stuff (it tasted like plastic, my mum used to have to mix it with sugar to get me to take it when I was really unwell), I wouldn't take any tablets or anything.

It changed when I started my period 🤣 I understand it's not ideal during the night but could you mix it into a yoghurt or something? Just something to get it in her?

@itwasnevermine "OP I'm so sorry you're getting such nasty responses!! I can't believe the number of people questioning why you're giving it to her, as if she should just sit in pain"

I'm certainly not saying that. I do think, however, that there are other approaches worth considering, particularly if taking calpol is a stressful experience for child and parent.

@lemondropsandchimneytops

My baby hated Calpol too. We got Genexa (it's from the US but they do sell it online in the UK). It's got much cleaner ingredients compared to Calpol. Just paracetamol, agave syrup and a bit of natural blueberry flavour.

You need to be a bit careful with the dosing as they do it slightly differently in the US but it's not that difficult to work out and it definitely tastes a lot nicer!

Do you mean ones like supermarket own brand? We've tried one that she didn't like, albeit it was strawberry flavour too. She also doesn't like orange Nurofen though...

We used to pop it in a bottle teat and attach an empty bottle to it. They'd suck it down thinking it was milk, then we'd give the normal bottle straight after. It went down esp quick they didn't have time to realise what it was.

Thanks for your kind comment but don't worry, I'm not bothered by it. I'm glad I'm not the kind of person who thinks it's unnecessary to treat a baby's pain...

I used to love the banana one 😂

Our baby doesn't have a sweet tooth at all and it doesn't seem so easy to hide calpol in broccoli, omelette or chicken!

@lemondropsandchimneytops flavourless and in cream cheese maybe? I don’t know if they do that?

I don't think that comment was necessarily directed at you but you don't know what else we have tried because that isn't what my post is about. When my baby wakes up screaming in pain because her gums are sore, believe me, giving her calpol is less stressful than letting her cry when no amount of teething powder or teething rings are going to do the job. The problem is we haven't been able to get her to swallow it since we started weaning. Fortunately there have been some very helpful comments on here.

I'll look into this, thank you!

I don't know! I've never seen it anywhere 🤔

If anyone in the family is in Europe suppositories are standard over there and cheap. My former boss is Polish and brings back a bunch for his kids. I used to do the opposite when I lived in the Netherlands and come back with calpol and liquid ibuprofen to go with my HP and Yorkshire teabags. Can you not buy them over the counter here atall?

They're extremely expensive and need to be ordered in. My tired brain had forgotten that I have relatives who frequently travel to the Netherlands for work. Thanks for the reminder!

I'm in Ireland and happy to send you some paralink if you're stuck. They're for 3 months and up. Wonder if you could just order them online, maybe from NI?

I also did not give medication as they wouldn’t take it.

the distress, crying and vomiting made things far worse. In the end it was better to keep them comfortable and ride it out.

temperatures are there for a reason- bacteria and viruses can’t survive above normal body temp. So unless the temp rises very quickly or is over 40 rest, light coverings and lukewarm baths helped more than medication. Teething frozen rings and other stuff to chew on helped.

eventually I taught mine to swallow peas/sweetcorn/tictacs whole, which then transitioned to tablets.

it’s not negligent to not medicate a temperature. Medication will actually slow down recovery. There have been studies that even for general colds medication will lengthen the course of the illness.

@lemondropsandchimneytops "
I don't think that comment was necessarily directed at you but you don't know what else we have tried because that isn't what my post is about"

So people aren't allowed to make other suggestion? Fair enough.

To be fair, she specifically asks for how to get medication into her baby. It's great if alternatives worked well for you but she wants to give her baby medicine and that's ok.

You haven't made any other suggestions, but you've incorrectly assumed that we don't do anything else before we try painkillers.

Aww that's a really kind offer! We're going to see how we get on with some of the other tips on here, so we'll hopefully have something we can always get our hands on. They don't have them in NI but I tried to get them delivered from Ireland to a relatives address in NI and couldn't get them.