What the heck can you do other than a dose of Calpol?

11 month old has caught something and is coughing her heart out, crying, snot. We feel proper useless. The pair of our kids have had bugs for as long as we can remember it’s heartbreaking!

Called nhs24 mate?

Love and tenderness, closeness, cuddles and being there. And NHS direct for reassurance that you are doing the right thing.

Depends on the bugs doing the rounds, got that problem @ work atm. MrsT has a low immune condition due the medication she has to take. She is always on at me to get the flue jab. Biking buddies (medics)and my GP reckon that it is likely to be a waste of time even though I’m an asthmatic!!!
Son, now 37 is asthmatic. Around 3yrs old I was convinced he was asthmatic but his GP reckoned until he was nearer 5-6yrs old ir wasn’t possible to diagnose him as asthmatic.
He was 3 when one night at around
D 3am I decided enough was enough and called the practice, held the phone to son and asked GP to tell me if I was wrong re him being asthmatic???? He was there within 1/2hr………..
When it come to kids and being ill you cannot be too careful!!
Have you got a thermometer????
Many, many nights I was awake shaking our son just to keep him breathing even after he was diagnosed. As a shift worker I could/had to go many, many hours without sleep…
Over the years we tried things such as menthol crystals, dehumidifier, dust extractors etc…..
Do you have any pets? JnrT may be allergic whereas your elder kids are not.
Vick , Albas oil in boiled water (as per menthol crystal)

can you buy these in the UK? “nasal aspirator”

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0318/3845/products/6924p_edf4d7bd-1b2f-4622-

Calpol is paracetamol I think…. so you can also give children’s ibuprofen concurrently. mini batfink has just had a particularly nasty bug too

Place A large jug of Boiled water with some olbas oil drops in their room can help calm coughing and ease chest (can use vicks in the water if you dont have any)
Also put some books under the bed head legs so there’s a slight upwards slope in the bed.
As mentioned above you can also give kids ibuprofen liquid alongside the calpol.

One of ours suffered really badly with crupe and had a steriod liquid that worked amazingly well at easing a really bad cough

Our 2 year old is the same this weekend.
He’s been asleep or close to it all day, we’ve been doing shifts sitting in bed with him and giving him comfort/cuddles and he’s just like a floppy little rag doll.

It’s really hard to deal with, but keeping them warm and comfy and cuddled seems to be the best way.

thermometersBe careful to not overheat your child. Use a thermometer.
My daughters 2 kids were very ill when they were born and a thermometer was her best tool to help her and GP keep the kids on track

Vicks and books under bed legs +1

All that advice up there plus keep an eye on their breathing, make sure they aren’t recession breathing.

Jam Bo (NICU and PICU veteran…)

It’s heart breaking and you feel powerless and there will be many hours at Medocs/ A and E over the years (just on case) but kids are surprisingly resilient.

As said,a thermometer is worth its weight in gold as you can really get an idea if you do need to get more help than just paracetamol suspension etc can provide.

Hope the little chap feels better tomorrow. The nights are always the worst I found.

+1 on the thermometer.

We got a contactless one as a gift (and thought it was on odd one)

But it’s been great, point at the forehead and click, get a digital reading.
We’ve been using it this weekend while he is asleep and it’s been really useful to keep an eye on how he’s doing.

Hot steamy bath/shower.
+1 for raising the cot at head end. & olbas oil.
Or Vicks on pajama chest
When he was really little I’ve even sucked the snot out of lil J’s nose . My mother loved that one .ha
Hope he gets well soon.

Our baby was the same last week. You can get junior Vicks called snufflebabe or similar which works really well. Also we found a saline spray up the nose just before bed cleared things so ours slept better… she hated it though. Again we got a specific baby spray

I know it sounds ridiculous, but someone told me to put vicks on the sole of the kids feet at night time and then get them to sleep in socks over the top.

It worked brilliantly for my boy who always had a bad cough.

Nothing to say other than I feel you’re pain, our 14mo has been ill with something all weekend. Ocassional sickness, horrific nappies and tons of snot! Not sure if it’s there’s some teething going on too! We’ve just been dosing her up with paracetamol and ibuprofen and giving plenty of cuddles/sleep. Every so often she powers up for 30 mins and runs around like the cheeky thing we’re used to! Get well soon OP jnr!

lots of water and rest. if it means loads of formula or whatever, keep their fluids up. Nose drops are very good too

+1 to snufflebabe and what Jam Bo said. If they start looking like they are struggling to breathe, neck muscle contracting and breathing from the ribs, ring 111 or 101.

Our little lad is just getting over his cold/bug/man flu. Sniffles, snot, coughing, wouldnt feed at all was a right nightmare. That snot sucker is amazing if not totally gross but it works.

Calpol and baby ibuprofen were a good combo to help him sleep and finally feed.

Lots of love and cuddles if they’re not too stressed for it

Ugh, a period of time that was memorable or all the wrong reasons. You stop giving a crap about your sleep and would happily give it all up just to see the little dude more comfortable 🙁

For us, In no particular order:
– Snufflebabe
– Amazing little plastic thing that lets you suck bogies out of their nose (not the one with the bulb you squeeze, they’re rubbish, you need the full fact ‘suck through a straw’ version)
– Calpol and Ibuprofen at regular intervals.
– Cuddles, lots of cuddles. For the child, you, and your partner.
– Selfishly A spare bed far away from the child for whoever isn’t on duty. No point you both being knackered.

Also

Jam Bo (NICU and PICU veteran…)

Cap duly doffed sir. I genuinely don’t know how you manage it.

saline drops to clear the nose, steam, snufflebabe, propped up bed, plenty of paracetamol and ibuprofen as everyone has said above.

Is it just a cold? Is it more than a cold? Check your symptoms:

Bronchiolitis isn’t as widely known about as it should be. We had never heard of it until we went to out of hours and then got blue-lighted to Sick Kids A&E. This time of year, hospitals are full of kids on oxygen because of it.

Sometimes it is just a cold and they struggle because there isn’t a lot of space for snot and air both in their nose. Other times it needs medical intervention.

suck bogies out of their nose (not the one with the bulb you squeeze, they’re rubbish, you need the full fact ‘suck through a straw’ version)

^This^ Even if it doesn’t work you feel like a ‘real’ parent and you have a tale to tell them when they’re older 😀

If they are sticky bogies I find if you catch the end of them with a cotton bud you can then roll the bogey out by rolling the bud and wrapping the bogey up like a fishing reel.

It’s amazing the size of some of them.

With out oldest one it was all of the above. Books under the bed at the head end (or if you fancy spending some money you can get stacking blocks), snufflebabe on feet under her socks, Basel aspirator (I couldn’t do it, had to get my wife to sort it out!) and plenty of calpol/ibuprofen as per the dosage instructions. You just have to struggle through but they’ll get there.

The problem we have with the little one (now 5 months old) is she won’t/can’t take calpol. She will literally throw it back up within 5 seconds. No amount of subtlety will stop it.

What to give a 5 month old, just starting teething, who won’t take calpol?

Gin.

Reading this with a mix of sympathy, interest and dread. Got a 4 month old, so it’s only a matter of time….

For coughs – Vicks on the soles of their feet. Don’t ask me why/how this works, but it does.

What to give a 5 month old, just starting teething, who won’t take calpol?

Calprofen?

What to give a 5 month old, just starting teething, who won’t take calpol?

Try it in milk or juice.
Or there’s always gin…

For coughs – Vicks on the soles of their feet.

Does this work for adults?

I feel for you! Our son has had a few 2-3 day fevers that have had us on the phone to NHS Direct where we were reassured to not be alarmed, monitor temperature with thermometer and use infant ibuprofen when his temp was over 38.5C. Calpol was pretty useless above 38.5C (he was at 40C) and the ibuprofen brought his temperature down within an hour.
It was pretty horrendous for us seeing him like a hot ragdol but he bounced back after he got over it.
He’s just had another fever, 36hr one, and ibuprofen sorted his temperature and we just stayed in and watched cartoons all day!

NOTE: The fevers shouldn’t generally last more than 3-4 days. We were advised that after this see your GP if its ongoing.

And NHS direct for reassurance that you are doing the right thing.

Really we have always found them anything but reassuring, and actually got them to update their triage/pathways for children as they were dangerous in our region.

Get a decent quality thermometer. Make sure they are hydrated, not too hot or too cold (most parents get kids too hot)

Vicks thing on feet does appear to work !

We used a humidifier in Jnr FD’s bedroom which helped too

Gone through similar recently this year.

Get a fast digital thermometer. worth its weight in gold. Anything over 39 go straight to A+E

cuddles. Keep them cool (not cold) calpol and if really bad you can use neurophen kids inbetween.

lift their head with a pillow. Sleep in the same room for comfort.

Good luck 🙁

Anything over 39 go straight to A+E

Anything over 39 get them completely stripped off and seek medical advice

Vicks on feet then socks over the top . spounds Mad but works!

speak to a dr a nurse or anyhow who is trained to answer—–not some muppets on a mtb forum……that’s not the advise you want to be taking .

@batfink, not really. Common in France.

OP the French are quite keen on flushing the nose, basically saline solution up each nostral with them laying on their side. There is much crying but it is really effective, the amount of snot which comes out is quite impressive.

Hope the little one improves, I can’t bear it when kids are sick

https://www.calpol.co.uk/our-products/calpol-soothe-care-vapour-plug-and-nightlight?psid_medium=cpc&psid_source=google&psid_term=%5Bcalpol%20plug%20in%5D&psid_content=text&psid_campaign=go-gb-eng-ps-calpol-bp-exa-rn-products&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIoOOBos7f1wIVQ7HtCh3w9QJmEAAYASAAEgLvsfD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

FTW

How odd a reputable drugs company suggesting a snake oil treatment 😆

Projectile vomiting from Funk Jr last week. Turns out he had tonsillitis 🙁 felt really mean keeping him away from his little sister, but she’s only four week old. As others have said keep an eye on breathing, regularly check temperature and keep fluids up.

If they are really young keep an eye on the fontanelle. The one at the front of the head. If it’s depressed that’s a sign of dehydration. Do the skin test too. Place a finger on their skin, chest is good, see how long it takes to turn back to normal colour The quicker the better .

Good luck and give em lots of cuddles. This was typed inbetween extracting a whopper of a bogey from lil miss funks nose.

If you’re referring to the calpol vapouriser, it creates a Vicks like cloud of fumes that’ll decongest everyone in the house and maybe your neighbors

mikeyd – Member
If you’re referring to the calpol vapouriser, it creates a Vicks like cloud of fumes that’ll decongest everyone in the house and maybe your neighbors

Yup, cleared my juniors nose no end!