do you 'medicate' a ill baby?

[BabyMamma93]

when i say ill i mean like a cold or a cough.
Ive always thought 'its better no not give medicine unless they absolutley definatley need it for a fever or pain' but i know people who reach straight for the calpol as soon as their baby sneezes, my mum is one of them, if a baby has a cold, give them calpol, if they have a cough-calpol, teething-calpol.
i hate paracetamol, idk why, theres something about it i just dont trust, yet i trust ibuprofen, and i do give it to M when hes suffering with his teeth, but when hes ill i dont, a few people have asked me why i dont give M medicine to speed his recovery, the reason i dont is to strenghten his immune system, i was once told by my midwife that letting them fight off a cold alone will only do them good in the long run, but them soemone said to me 'but kids, especially babies, can die if they get too ill' which i know for example, flu can kill, but surely not a common cold?

so.. do you medicate your babies when ill?

 

[LoveCakes]

I haven't had to much thankfully. LO had a week of teething and I gave her calpol a few nights as she was obviously in pain. Also after her injections as she was crying and refusing to eat. I didn't the two times she had a cough/cold as she wasn't too bad.

If cuddles work I'd rather do that but I wouldn't leave them in pain if I couldn't comfort them. I also wouldn't hesitate if they had a temperature that wasn't solved by cooling them down as it's dangerous.

Part of the reason I'd wait is so I can tell more easily when they are getting better and especially if their condition is getting worse but the medicine is masking it

 

[BabyMamma93]

Malakai once got quite ill when he was cutting his first teeth, i mean really ill, he had a super high temp, wouldnt move, he literally slept all day with little bits of food and bottles, he wasnt in pain but the DR told me to give him both paracetamol & ibuprofen, but i didnt, i just gave ibuprofen as and when i felt needed and he was better in a couple days, ive never given paracetamol after jabs as i was once told it lessens the effect of the jabs, idk how true but.. if he gets a temp i will try cool him down if that doesnt work a little ibuprofen should.

he was also ill last week, i still dont know what was wrong but he was sick alot, again the DR gave me paracetamol, again i didnt give him any and he was better the following day

 

[jodilee6]

I give paracetamol for fever and ibroprofen for pain but only when needed, so if it's just a sniffle then no

I try and limit how much I give because, like you said, it's better that they overcome mild fevers without medication

 

[MindUtopia]

We only use calpol to bring down a fever, or on some occasions if she is really obviously uncomfortable, usually with a chest infection/bronchiolitis, when the fever has gone but she's clearly miserable and up all night coughing and crying in discomfort. As a scientist, I don't feel there's any convincing evidence that paracetamol in children is dangerous, but it's like anything else, I don't think you should use it unless you need to. So yes, to control a fever because fevers can in rare instances kill children if they go uncontrolled, probably not from just a common cold, but from lots of other viruses and bacterial infections. I tend not to run to the doctor very quickly, so if we can manage a fever at home, then I know it's nothing serious. On those rare occasions when calpol didn't bring the fever down, it was a good sign it was something more serious, so I knew to see the doctor. But no, I don't think it's great to use it too liberally. But I think older generations probably don't see it that way. Then again, our parents and grandparents generations were giving babies whiskey to help them sleep and cope with teething, so I think a lot has changed since then!

 

[misspriss]

Fever is good for illness, it's the body's way to fight off infection. I don't treat a fever unless DS is obviously miserable and not himself. Usually he just keeps right on going, maybe a bit slower but still happy and playing - I don't medicate that.

I have given him medicine for his nose/cough (benedryl is about the only "medicine" the doctor said we could use, it's a honey based cough syrup so it's only "kind of" medicine) to help him sleep at night, because sleeping will help him heal. I don't usually give him any during the day unless he's really suffering.

Medicine (that treats symptoms) does NOT help people get better, I am SHOCKED at the number of people who think keeping your symptoms suppressed with cold medicines helps you heal faster. It makes you FEEL better. My MIL firmly believes this. The only thing that will helps is antibiotics for a bacterial infection. My MIL also runs off and gets antibiotics every time she is sick, even if it's probably viral.

 

[BabyMamma93]

i totally agree that it makes you FEEL better, not actually better. thats why i dont give M anything for a cold/cough unless it is really bothering him, hes been full of cold all week, but he hasnt had anything for it bcos, apart from struggling to breathe thru his nose, hes just his normal self.
for a temp i do give medicine if i cant do it myself and IF its high enough and bothering him, other than that i feel no need.

i just wondered what other people thought, im not against medication at all, i just see different to people who reach for it right away

 

[misspriss]

Yeah, I really don't care if MIL wants to medicate herself and FIL the entire time they are sick and claim it is helping them get better, but it does make me roll my eyes a bit.

Most cold medications don't work on children and can be dangerous, I only use the benedryl because his doctor has told me twice it is safe and it does help with his nose. He still nurses to sleep and has trouble sleeping if he can't nurse because he can't breathe through his nose. We also use saline spray and the nose sucker out regularly!

 

[Button#]

I give paracetomal for fever (obviously not to DD yet) and when DS was teething I would sometimes give paracetomal and sometimes give Ibruprofen. I tried to limit ibruprofen as the Dr told me that it's not good for their tummies. I've never medicated for a cold or cough because there aren't any medications that work on those. I've also never needed to medicate after jabs as DS has never had a fever after them.

 

[BabyMamma93]

isnt it strange how people are told diff things, ive always been told to avoid paracetamol and if needed use ibuprofen instead!

 

[misspriss]

LOL in the US, ibuprofen is not recommended until 6 months. It's tylenol (paracetamol) before then. However after, most doctor's say that ibuprofen works better. In my experience, it does. It's an anti-inflammatory, so if say you have swelling of the gums associated with teething, it helps, where tylenol doesn't.

I have read some recent research that talks about tylenol and ADHD and/or autism links, so I use it as little as possible. It's still a casual link, nothing proven, but why risk it?

 

[Zephram]

I give Pamol for a high fever, but not if he just has the sniffles.

We tried giving him Pamol for teething but it made no difference, he was just as miserable, so I won't be giving my second Pamol for teething.

 

[SarahBear]

Violet is 2.5 and has never taken any kind of medication. Leo is 8 weeks old and has had at least 2 colds. The first started at less than a week old. He's never taken any medication.

Cold medication doesn't speed recovery. It lessens symptoms. The symptoms however, are part of the body's way of fighting off the cold. I don't trust medicine so only use it when needed.

 

[zorak]

I approach LO like I would myself. I don't overuse medications but take something if I feel truly miserable or can't control a temp. LO doesn't usually get anything for just a cold and I can count on one hand the pain relievers he's had for teething.

When he had severe stomach flu we did medicate as he was dangerously ill/fever/dehydrated. On those occasions (he had 2 bouts of it) he had Zofran for vomiting, and rotated tylenol, ibuprofen for the fever.

 

[lau86]

I give my eldest paracetamol if he's miserable from being ill, or clearly in pain, not just because he's ill.
My youngest is a bit different as he's had ?? Febrile seizures in the past so I was told to give him paracetamol if he's ill or has a temp, never mind how he seems

 

[catty]

my son has ibuprofen and/or paracetomal every day almost due to an issue with his hip called perthes disease. im REALLY not happy about it but theres little else that works and if I dont medicate him he lies on the floor crying, wont walk, wont eat judt in so much pain. so pretty much everyday unfortunately.
my daughter is almost 11 months and has never even had one spoon of medicine but has never required it. I think it totally deoends on how your child deals with pain illness.

personally id rather not use it but then wed never do anything after 12 noon

 

[bdb84]

If s/he is going about their day as normal, I do not medicate. I do, though, if s/he is obviously miserable and in pain.

 

[CaptainMummy]

I dont medicate for a cold... I do give my dd2 ibuprofen/calpol when teething is keeping her up at night or if she has a temperature (only happened a couple if times)

I usually use calpol, because I heard ibuprofen should only be taken with a full tummy

 

[Bella1185]

I try to be conservative with medication, but if she is so miserable she can't sleep then yes I will absolutely dose her - even if just half a dose. IMO if you can't sleep you can't heal adequately or quickly, and that's the ultimate goal - to be rested, well and healthy.