What makes you feel confident as a parent when your DC is feeling under the weather? Tell Nurofen for Children for a chance to win a £250 Love2Shop voucher! NOW CLOSED

[MichelleMumsnet]

Nurofen for Children have asked us to find out whether Mumsnetters feel confident in making decisions on their DC’s health. We’d also love to know what would make you feel more confident in these kinds of decisions.

Here’s what Nurofen for Children says, “Our research shows that 7 in 10 parents feel judged on the decisions they make for their children and a quarter of those surveyed said the health of their child is the most difficult subject to make decisions on. As parents, you want health advice you can trust. Nurofen for Children is trusted by parents - 9/10 parents who used it would recommend it to a friend*. If your child is struck down with cold, pain or fever, Nurofen for Children offers products to help manage their symptoms. It starts to work in just 15 minutes to bring down a temperature and is clinically proven to last longer than paracetemol to relieve a fever.”

So, what makes you feel confident in making health-related decisions? Would you like more support and if so, from who? Would you like more practical advice on treating your child’s symptoms? Would you like more resources available from your pharmacist? Or is it emotional support that would help your confidence? Would you appreciate more help from your partner or more advice from your friends? Whatever it is, we’d love to hear it.

Everyone who leaves their comments below will be entered into a prize draw to win a £250 Love2Shop voucher.

Thanks and good luck,

MNHQ

Terms and conditions
• To enter the competition simply post a comment below telling us what makes you feel better when you’re down with a winter bug
• Competition closes on 22nd December 2014.
• Entries posted after the closing date will not be considered
• One winner will be chosen from all entries
• Entrants must be aged 18 or over
• Competition hosted by Mumsnet, Deane House Studios (Studio 6), Greenwood Place, Highgate Road, London, NW5 1LB
• Mumsnet will choose the winner at random after the closing date
• Mumsnet will contact the winner privately to organise delivery of the prize
• The prize is £250 Love2Shop vouchers
• Full T&Cs can be found here.

*Survey of Survey of 2,000 parents by OnePoll. March 2014

**Survey by Mum's Views of 225 mums ‘9 out of 10 mums who used NfC would recommend it to a friend’. Last accessed August 2013

EI: Nurofen for Children Cold Pain & Fever 3 months to 9 years Orange / Strawberry. Nurofen for Children Orange / Strawberry 3 months to 12 years. Contains Ibuprofen. For relief of cold, pain and fever. Always read the label.

Luckily we have a pharmacist and nurses in the family so feel very assured of asking advice as a first port of call

my first child was very prem (27wks) so i was a very nervous terrified mum when ever she used to be sick or out of sorts i would bring her to the drs, but by the time we managed to have my son seven years later he was full term a such a big sturdy baby compared to my first that i was so much more confident of using my instinct and previous experience as a mother to know wether anything thing need more intervention by the medical profession or if it was somthing that i could get advice from local chemist to help sort out anything minor

We have a great pharmacist across the road from us. He knows us well as I am on a lot of medications, but even from our first encounter, he was so friendly & helpful. I would always feel happy to consult him & I trust his advice

it feels confident knowing thyat there are products like nurofen to take the edge off the worry

NHS Direct are only a phone call away and whenever I've had a need to call they've been very understanding and informative

I have lost faith in doctors recently, mainly for issues regarding my own health, they always seem to be too busy to listen properly. I have been a mother for 20 years, but still have two younger children and usually deal with any illnesses by myself and without advice from the doctors. Very occasionally I have had to contact the doctors but in general if they only have a virus then we use nurofen to keep their temperatures down and are usually recovered anyway within 2 to 3 days.

Knowing that i can access a world of information on their illness and how best to deal with it, through for forums such as this or the nhs site, i try not to google randomly as it usually ends in a terminal diagnosis even when its just an eye infection, the internet is a strange place sometimes.

I feel more confident if I avoid catching the bug myself so that I can focus on the sufferer/s!

My mother in law was a theatre sister in hospital - and has been a great help and support when children under the weather.

I have to remind myself to trust my own instincts more and not get railroaded by certain family members. They forget I am an HCP and therefore have a pretty good knowledge base to refer to!

I keep paracetamol/ nurofen/brufen on every floor in our house (3 storeys) as there's nowt worse than having to gallop upstairs with a poorly child in your arms, trying to find the stuff! I try to offer food and drink especially, for when I know it's kicked in, so LO's are more likely to eat/drink something.

I'm currently sitting nursing our 1yo to sleep, and he's got the most horrendous cold. Poor lad has been coughing, vomiting, sneezing and screaming most of the day. I had him checked at the dr for ear infection as he was twisting his ears, and they are red but not infected. Actually, I wish I was qualified to check inside ears as it would have saved many trips to the gp/OOH as our DC are prone to ear infections/earache. I could then just go when they need antibiotics!

I think having someone to ask is the most important thing. Would be great if our GP actually phoned back when the receptionist says they will. In the absence of that, friends and family who've been there and dealt with similar things are always good to get reassurance from.

Having other Mum friends with DC the same age to check things out with

What makes me feel confident is knowing I have an array of non-medicinal treatments for lots of conditions, which work really well.

If it's something minor then I feel confident within myself to make any related decisions. I don't have any confidence with my GP because he always prescribes paracetamol for every single little thing. I'm also confident with the availability of the internet, although with grey'ish areas I don't like to assume anything.

Generally I'm confident that most things can be treated with Paracetamol/Ibuprofen and being sent to bed. I know how my DS reacts to most minor ailments, so they can be treated as mentioned - if he reacting differently, then the nurse practitioner as the local GPs is always easy to see

I'm pretty lucky that my 3 are never very ill. Ds is more prone to bugs than dd1/2- and I'm confident to administer calpol/ibuprofen at regular intervals should they have fevers.

I am lucky that my doctors surgery is great- and whenever i have gone to check if a rash is merely viral, or a cough has gone on too long, I've never been made to feel foolish.

There have been times when I have gone to A and E- and have felt my gut feeling was correct each time.

I found that when my children were younger (babies and toddlers) it was invaluable having someone else's opinion - be it my husband or doctor. I was lucky that my doctor's surgery would also see a baby or youngster - they would tell you to pop by at the end. It was very reassuring in the early days.

I soon became more confident however - you learn what works for your child. I found ibuprofen works best with my children to quickly reduce a temperature but that paracetamol is better for colds.

Our eldest is a sod for getting a really high temp when he's ill (which thankfully isn't all that often!) and feel confident in giving him Nurofen/Calpol intermittently to keep it at bay. If in doubt with a temp I call 111 as they can usually tell you what other signs to look out for if things are more serious.

Im not as confident in dealing with the youngest. He gets ill much more often and illnesses go straight to his chest which has meant him being hospitalised twice. He now has an inhaler for these times and we are told to 'try and manage it at home'… on the prescription it says 1-2 puffs upto 4 times a day but the drs at the hospital told us if we feel the need to we can give upto 10 puffs every hour but its we need to give this more than twice in 3 hours to call 111….. VERY conflicting information and I would never give him 10 puffs at home as it sends his heart racing which is why they're monitored in hospital? Honestly, it terrifies me whenever his nose starts to run for fear of the breathlessness getting bad. Id like other peoples opinions but OH is less than helpful and tells me to 'do what I think best'

When I'm ill, I drink lots of tea and Lucozade, they make me feel loads better. Plus some bum on sofa time and daytime tv to numb the brain.

Knowing what is normal for my children in relation to symptoms of colds and fevers is useful. I know for example that they naturally spike very high temperatures when they get a virus, and that 39.9 although very high, needs reducing and monitoring closely, is not for my own children necessarily something to be concerned about, when looked at with the other symptoms. Same with viral spots. DD in particular gets spots when she gets a virus, has a pattern of high fever, spots, and when she was younger I panicked a few times. Now I know what these mean, and so don't panic, but also know what to look out for, if what changes and how to check (for meningitis for example).

I am in the 'neurotic mother' camp though, and will happily take DD to the GP if I don't know what is wrong, or if there are any hints of something that might be wrong, even if I know it's unlikely to be so. Same with A&E for bumps on the head and vomiting. Dh thinks I over-react, but I prefer to be too cautious. Not that I have had to do that for bumps since they were very little and unable to talk clearly about how they felt.

I use children's ibuprofen, but not necessarily branded, as it's quite expensive. It would be quite useful to have more information about how to dose in conjunction with paracetamol as the advice can sometimes be quite mixed. My GP is of the view they can be given at the same time as long as the dose max is not exceeded (so one additional paracetamol dose within 24 hours), but other hcp are very clear that they must be alternated and never ever given at the same time. some ibuprofen bottles state 6-8 hourly, so that may coincide with paracetamol dose, so clarification would be useful (as an adult, I have no issues taking them both at the same time, is it different for children, and if so, why?)

A better out of hours service would hep. Nhs direct is like dealing with a robot.

I get confidence from friends and family mostly and online support here on MN can also be useful to confirm instinct or fears.

My gp is great too if in hours.

Weekend illness is the worst to deal with as a single parent.

Friends and family mainly but our doctors are brilliant at squeezing us in if we think we do need a GP opinion. Where we live, the out of hours service is actually really good too.

I use NHS , a local natural parenting group for any alternative ideas and local pharmacist.
I'm open to all ideas

I feel much more confident with my second child. This time around, I think I know more about developing immunity, healthy diet, and natural remedies, and I have a network of friends and online groups where I can get advice. My daughter is now 8 months and has never been to the GPs apart from normal checks, and has never been ill. With the first one, I was always dashing to the out-of-hours centre, sick with worry, and I feel we were prescribed antibiotics far to many times. I also agree that GPs seem to busy to really listen, I generally have more luck with my pharmacist. I wish there could be more 'natural health' products at the pharmacy, say like raw honey and probiotics. I use both of those a lot! I prefer to avoid products like Calpol, but would use Nurofen to bring down a temp if my child was uncomfortable.

Thank you everyone for entering and leaving your comments about this topic! The competition is Now Closed.

I am pleased to announce that beeelaine has come out of the hat as the winner of the £250 Love2Shop Voucher. Congratulations beeelaine!

Both my partner and I have been worriers since we ourselves were young -and we find great relief in seeking any advice from each of our parents who (with 9 children and a grandchild besides our own) combined - have had quite a lot of practice - also as I work providing private healthcare, I'm speaking to Doctors and Nurses on a daily basis - with a wealth of experience should I ever have an urgent worry (cutting out the ever increasing wait in local GP)