Is it safe to give half a Calpol Fast Melt to a toddler

[Daddysteve1]

Hi all, ever since our two year old had antibiotics for tonsillitis, the horrible one, not the banana one, he refuses point blank, to the point of vomiting, to take medicine, including calpol. He will however take teething powder with no fuss. Calpol fast melts are 250mg of paracetamol, does for 2 year old is 120 mg. Would it be safe to give him HALF a fast melt?

No. The tablets may not be evenly mixed, so all the Paracetamol might be on one side. Are those the 6+ ones? The infant ones might be better but you need to speak to the pharmacist.

I used to get toddler ones, different brand but mine are adults now, dd wouldn’t take liquid either

I have sometimes put the liquid calpol in porridge (we give some porridge in the evening). Have you tried that?

I would (and have done). I’ve also used 6+ Calpol for under 6s…

I think the factories they make medicines in have to be pretty well regulated. I can't imagine them producing tablets where all the active drug is only on one side? Adults regularly take half a tablet of something.

It's not safe to cut all adult tablets, though. You're supposed to check with the pharmacist first.

You could try paracetamol suppositories if you can get hold of them. It works well when they are in nappies and used to being changed.

Yeah I'm sure but I don't think it's because the manufacturing process is so shoddy and ingredients mixed so unevenly that all the medicine is only in one half?

What so when the vet tried to charge me £18 for cutting a human paracetamol in half they could have killed my cat! 😂

some slow release or have a special coating on them tablets should absolutely not be cut in half and cutting should be confirmed by a pharmacist

it’s not because they’ve loaded the full hit in one half and the other is a placebo

I just read the information sheet in my paracetamol pack, it doesn’t say a word about not splitting them in half. Granted it doesn’t suggest any half doses either!

Tablets are only reliable to take half of if they have been manufactured with a split indentation line down the middle. If there isn't a split line the manufacturers do not warrant that half a tablet contains half a dose. It's probably ok, but it's a risk.

Extreme!

Why? Many countries prefer suppositories for young children over oral medicine, but plenty of people in the UK use them too.

Lol it really isn't. It's quite usual. Not all toddlers take the oral medication and this ensures they get the right dose. It really doesn't hurt them, you do it when you change their nappy.