Was this wrong?

[tigwig]

I went to my local walk in centre yesterday as my 2 week old has thrush in the mouth. I also mentioned to the GP that he was screaming alot and I presumed this was colic as he had all the obvious symptoms and the midwife had agreed.
The GP was quite rude and arrogant and immediately said he didn't have colic as he was too young and told me that midwife's had a limited knowledge on this. She then said that thrush could cause abdominal pain and prescribed him some drops for his thrush and told me to give him Calpol 4 times a day (1.25ml a time) I said I didn't think babies this young could have it and she said it was ok. He was 2 weeks early too.
I have not given him the Calpol as I feel strongly that this is wrong and it does say on the bottle not to be given under 2 months. When collecting the prescription the pharmacist agreed with me and told me to get a 2nd opinion as did the health visitor.
Have any of you been told to give a baby this young Calpol and do you think the GP was wrong or am I over reacting?

[Teleph0ne]

I think that a GP is a bit more qualified than a pharmacist or midwife but if your baby is still not right then I would try to get him to a hospital where you might be lucky enough to get to see a paediatricion (please excuse my spelling)

[Sqad]

I have never ever seen abdominal pain as a symptom of thrush.

Treat the Thrush with the drops and ignore the Calpol.

Monitor the situation re, the colic.

[Teleph0ne]

You could also try ringing NHS direct, they do give out some sensible advice and would be able to look into the calpol issue for you. It is very hard to diagnose any sort of condition in babies so young and calpol is generally a good fix all treatment if it is just abdominal pain. As for the under 2months, I haven't a clue but I would like to think that a GP would know

[LoftyLottie]

Unfortunately, I would trust the midwife and the health visitor more than the GP on this occasion. Some GP's are just very full of themselves. Health visitors and midwives would be far more used to such situations as that is what their training and experience is all about. GP's are just GENERAL practitioners. They know enough about a lot of things to offer advice or refer on if they don't know, but they should recognise that they don't know everything about everything. That's why we have professionals in other medical areas.

Of course a newborn can have colic. The NHS and BUPA would agree!!

http://hcd2.bupa.co.u...tml/infant_colic.html
http://www.nhs.uk/Con...ges/Introduction.aspx

I hope your little one settles soon. It's causes such anxiety when a new baby is unwell or behaves unusually.

[LoftyLottie]

And I certainly wouldn't give Calpol to babies under the recommended age.

[Sqad]

Lofty ;-)

[LoftyLottie]

Hello Sqad. I hope you don't think I was decrying GP's or doctors in general ;o).

[Sqad]

lofty.....not at all my love, I know how high you regard GP's. ;-)

[k8bailey]

Hi Tigwig, hope that your little one feels better really soon, As the others have said, babies as young as yours can have colic.

My little one has had oral thrush too, but it didn't give her colic symptoms.

I'm not sure what I'd do about the calpol but I think you're right to question that advice. I'd trust my MW over the GP with a baby of this age as they're more used to seeing them!

[sherrardk]

I would be in doubt of the GPs advice - sometimes they just seem to want to get rid of you, especially if you are a first time Mum with a little baby (they seem to think that all of your sense has abandoned you). Trust your Midwife or get a second opinion as the others have said. (Gone right of GPs since I caught mine looking up my symptoms on Wikipedia!)

[boxtops]

Please do also trust the advise of a qualified pharmacist if you go to somewhere like Boots for advice for your baby - they go through several years' training and ought to be up on all the latest products and medications which can be bought over the counter. (I have no connection to any pharmacies by the way, I just know they go through long training in order to qualify, and consulting your local pharmacist is one of the options being given out by the NHS as a cure for winter ailments.) I hope the little fellow feels better soon!

[Dolly1308]

I lived with my Mother-in-law when I had my first baby and she knew everything I needed to know when the baby was crying etc .and had colic .God rest her soul -long gone now .

[lil75]

Try the NHS helpline, they will give you a 2nd opinion, although i wouldnt give it to my baby if it says on the bottle not to...hope baby is better soon

[tigwig]

Thanks for the answers guys. In the end his crying got so bad he nearly lost his voice and sounded terrible so I took him to my GP and he was admitted to hospital for observation. They said it could be the thrush or reflux, I was there the entire day and typically he calmed right down and fed beautifully. He was given a small amount of calpol in the afternoon which I agreed to after the staff convinced me it was ok at his age in hospital!
He came home last night and screamed again for over 3 hours before eventually settling to sleep. Maybe he just hates us and his house?! He woke up several times in night as usual but this time instead of giving him more and more milk I shoved the dummy in his mouth and rocked him in the moses basket and he fell asleep after a while. I think now the key is routine and to stop feeding him every 2 hours as he is taking too much milk. Hopefully he will settle down soon, I'm working again in just over a week! (from home as a childminder)

[Mamyalynne]

tigwig of course he doesn`t hate you and of course you know that. Feeding every two hours if he`s taking plenty may be a bit much as you say (though if you are breast feeding is always difficult to tell) as you say keep calm and maintain a routine where you can.

Good on you for the childminding too.

M