Yet another change in guidelines!

[Psychick]

As some of you may have seen from my thread lower down on feeding, guidelines for do's and dont's are always changing where babies are concerned. Today Ive come across another that I thought would be useful to mums out there who may not be aware of it.

I went down to Boots this morning to be recommended something for my 16 week old who has got a cold. The lady behind the counter informed that they can no longer offer anything as an baby under two years of age have to go through the doctor.

Im not sure why it has been changed and an age of two years set but if I had gone to the doctor first, and before the guideline had changed, I probably would have been frowned upon and seen as being a fretful and over cautious mum! Not only that, I dont know about where everyone else is, but its bad enough trying to get in to see my doctor as it is!

Anyway, I just thought there maybe some of you who werent aware of the changes and would like to know :)

lol I wonder what they will change next?

[luckyfish]

i can't believe it.... everytime my daughter went to get a shot the nurse told me that i should give her 5ml of paracetamol 1hr before the appointment - to lessen the pain. she's still under 2 so lucky i have a good stock of nurofen and calpol then :)
i also wonder why they've changed it.
have they changed the guidlines for pregnant and lactating mothers? surely that would also eventually get to the baby?

sorry no answers, just more questions...

[redcrx]

its impossible to get an appt for docs here unless its an emergency too

i can still buy calpol etc for colds but i know a lot of medicines were pulled due to additives and stuff.

so did you manage to buy anything for her to at least help her until you can get to GP? snufflebabe products are often recommended by mums

[redcrx]

pregnant women should only take paracetomol as i think the placenta filters it out. they should never take decongestants like flu remedies as there is a risk of miscarriage.

[luckyfish]

sorry, i meant with paracetamol...
surely your body would still have some of it floating round for the baby to get from you either umbilical or breastmilk.
i was always too scared to take anything and was just wondering if the reason that they've changed it for infants till 2 yrs would effect the mummies too

[Psychick]

I suffered bad headaches with my second pregnancy and the doctor told me it was perfectly safe for me to take paracetamol so long as it wasnt more than 4 doses in a 24 hour period.

Im wondering whether the changes are due to babies being given medicine too often unnecessarily perhaps?

I brought some carvol capsules and went to the doctors. The receptionist took all the details as to age and sypmtoms etc. She has told me to go back at 4pm when she has had chance to speak to the doctor and get a prescription filled out if he thinks its needed. She said he may give her nasal drops which would be useful as I can use them before her feeds so she isnt struggling to drink and breath so much! Thats a worrying thing though, getting prescriptions for babies without seeing the doctor!

[redcrx]

nasal drops can be bought from any chemist, they are just saline.

i still have calpol for little CRX and have never been one to give it without reason so i will follow the old guidelines.

But i did once hear of a mum who often gave it to her child purely to get them to sleep when she wanted a break. as you say, perhaps its to stop such things but chemists arent going to check that youre telling the truth if you say its for a 2 year old are they?

[Psychick]

Ah, I think things may be getting a little muddled lol You can still buy calpol and similar in the chemists, just no cold medicines.

[Psychick]

She was giving calpol to make her little one sleep? How does that work?

[redcrx]

calpol makes some babies drowsy, same with ibuprofen. she just had her child off its head!

ah so are you talking about the likes of tyxilix cough medicine or something else? i bought snuffle babe vapourub with no questions and then found it wasnt suitable for babies under 12 weeks but i just used it near her bed rather than on her.

[Psychick]

Yes, just the cough syrups/medicines. I was still able to buy things like the karvol capsules (I checked the spelling this time lol) and snufflebabe etc was there also. Im a little wary of snufflebabe as my eldest had an allergic reaction to it and, I know all babies are different, it has still made me a litlle wary though.

[lnknprkbabe]

its due to the stuff they hasve in for colds, decongestants are now being looked at and most cold remedies contain this, babies under 2 are suppossed to have a natural immunity to colds, coughs etc, dont know how as my little one always has them, suppose he never has them as long as me though. anyways thats the reason you can no longer get them over the counter hope this answers your question