taking calpol and ibuprofen together

[tamirra]

Hi, my daughter has been giving her one year old 5mg calpol the same time as 0.5 ibuprofen she said she was told by her pediatrician to do so, my mum has asked the pharmacist and he was quite shocked that she has been told this, is there any proof online who is right in the matter please. Thanks.

[tigwig]

I have been told by NHS direct and other health professionals this can be done as long as the dosage is not exceeded.
I wouldn't usually do so though and have only done it in the past to bring down an extremely high temperature.
I wouldn't recommend giving a 1yr old both medicines either unless it was a one off and absolutely necessary.
It is similar to adults mixing paracetamol and ibuprofen it can be done because they are different drugs.
Overuse of medicine can make the child become immune to it eventually I would only give ibuprofen if the child was really ill.

[annie0000]

It is perfectly acceptable to give both, but only if really necessary - for example the child has an extremely high temperature that is not responding to calpol alone. Ibuprofen is excellent for lowering a temperature, but isn't as gentle on the tummy as calpol. You should never use ibuprofen is the child has a tummy ache( except under medical advice of course!)

However what you should do , is give the medecines alternately. ie. give a dose of calpol and if more medicine is required before the next dose of calpol is due, you can give ibuprofen. etc. You must be careful not to exceed the dose of either and if the temerature or whatever is not responding, then you must seek medical advice.

Incdentally, you cannot develop immunity to pain killers, but I would also recommend using them only when absolutely necessary, there are others ways to lower a temperature, sponging with a damp cloth etc.

[carron81]

Hi

I just had to call the doctor out on xmas day because my 6 month old wasn't right at all. turns out she has an ear infection.

She was given amoxacillan (spelling??) to cure it but the doctor also advised that I should give calpol and ibuprofen liquid to ease the pain for a couple of days till the pain eased

She asked me my daughters weight which is 17lbs and then done a huge sum and was talking to herself whilst doing it. she was like X = such and such then came up with and answer.... that my baby could have up to 6mls of ibuprofen each time i gave her it.

She said that the labels on the bottles always say less than what the baby can actually get.... probably so they don't end up getting sued or something like that.

[tamirra]

Hi, sorry to hear about your poor little one hope shes feeling better, i see you daughter is 6 mths old and weighs 17lb, my grandaughter is 13 mths old and weighs the same, she is very small. In tht case does she still mean you can give calpol and ibufrofen at the same time/together one straight after the other? cos my pharmacist said a definate NO! xx xx

[Pottyone]

I was told it is ok to give both as they are from different painkiller families. However you must allow the correct amount of time to lapse between each dose of paracetamol and ibuprofen. For example. if the bottle says 4 hours apart for each, then if you gave paracetamol at 10am, then she can't have any more until 2pm. If you then give ibuprofen at 11am, then she can't have any more ibuprofen until 3pm, but could still have the paracetamol at 2pm. I have done this before when my son had a very high temperature which wasn't brought down by paracetamol. However like other answers, ibuprofen is nowhere near as gentle on the tummy so best to start with paracetamol, and I have also done it only when I have thought it absolutely necessary.

[tamirra]

Yes but my daughter was told it was ok to give one at the same time as the other not an hour or 2 hours after one another.

[carron81]

hi

she's a lot happier today, thanks

my goodness your grandaughter must be really tiny or my wee one is chubby!!!

I suppose their weight is so varied at this age. in a year or so you wouldn't be able to tell the difference probably. My daughter was a big baby when she was born

My friends wee one is 5 weeks older than my daughter and he is bursting out of 1 year old clothes. He is also the same weight as her sisters wee girl and she is 2

I never mentioned in my original post that I didn't bother with the calpol. She seems happy with the ibuprophen and her antibiotics but the thought did cross my mind when the doctor said about calpol and ibuprophen. I shou'dlve asked if she was meaning i could give the antibiotics, then calpol and ibuprophen one after the other

Even though I think the doctor said it was fine to give all at once I've been giving her the antibiotics then her bottle then the ibuprophen after the bottle so there is a break inbetween the 2.

One thing I have noticed a lot of since having my wee one is that there is so many different rules and everyone does things differently. Just like the pharmasist saying a definate NO and other people being told its okay

[tamirra]

Hi Carron, i know exactly what you mean about the medical profession not getting their heads together and telling us the same rules, it is so confusing, but glad your little one is feeling much better today. My grand-daughter was born 3 weeks early maybe that is why she is tiny, plus she has a fobia of food, she wont really eat anything unless its toast and marmite, she is under the hospital with the weight problem, but it is such huge worry when they are so small, se has just grown out of 0/3 months body suits at over 1 years old. Nice chatting with you and take care. xx xx