Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Parenting

For free parenting resources please check out the Early Years Alliance's Family Corner.

Original poster

Baby refusing calpol

109 replies

lemondropsandchimneytops · 03/10/2024 15:04

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!

OP posts:
Thread gallery
5
LolaJ87 · 04/10/2024 12:04

@lemondropsandchimneytops so strange as it's OTC here! Glad you've found some supply lines anyway.

HJA87 · 04/10/2024 12:25

Howmanyusernames123 · 04/10/2024 10:40

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.

Glad it worked for you but it’s not just for fever but also pain. Sometimes medicine is needed and for those times it’s important to be able to administer it to the baby. If suppositories were available OTC in this country, it would have made life so much easier for a lot of people.

Balloonhearts · 04/10/2024 12:38

I used to freeze it into ice pops. Very thin ones to prevent choking risk. Older kids were fiends for ice pops so baby thought it was a massive treat. Add a bit of undiluted or barely diluted squash to it to disguise flavour.

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about these subjects:

6-9 months old Babies & sleep Children's health Families
stichguru · 04/10/2024 12:38

Try other brands - my son (now 11) has always preferred Boots own to Calpol.

CurlewKate · 04/10/2024 12:38

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

No, I haven't. But hey-don't let the facts get in the way of a good story.

Original poster
lemondropsandchimneytops · 04/10/2024 13:18

CurlewKate · 04/10/2024 12:38

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

No, I haven't. But hey-don't let the facts get in the way of a good story.

"The reason I asked is that if giving a baby calpol is causing stress for parent, child or both, there are lots of other things you can do to ease pain or bring down a fever-including just waiting it out."

"I do think, however, that there are other approaches worth considering."

👍🏻

OP posts:
WhatInFreshHell · 04/10/2024 13:25

Balloonhearts · 04/10/2024 12:38

I used to freeze it into ice pops. Very thin ones to prevent choking risk. Older kids were fiends for ice pops so baby thought it was a massive treat. Add a bit of undiluted or barely diluted squash to it to disguise flavour.

Freezing can damage the integrity of certain medicines. You should be careful doing this.

nootcoffee · 04/10/2024 14:05

CurlewKate · 04/10/2024 12:38

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

No, I haven't. But hey-don't let the facts get in the way of a good story.

I mean tbh @CurlewKate
If you reread your own initial post

It does kind of look like that was the assumption you were making!

Balloonhearts · 04/10/2024 14:08

WhatInFreshHell · 04/10/2024 13:25

Freezing can damage the integrity of certain medicines. You should be careful doing this.

Show quote history

Can it? I didn't know that, thanks.

New posts on this thread. Refresh page