Additives in baby medicine

lounakin

.

littlemissfixit

You can get sugar free calpol, full of additives and flavouring anyway but I can tell you you would be hard push to get anything into my 2 yr old if it didn't taste nice (I dont blame her!). In her nearly 2 and half years of life we have gone through about 3 small bottles total, so the quantity is negligeable in my opinion. I choose sugar free mainly cause sugar affects their behavior and makes my life hell basically

lounakin

littlemissfixit wrote: »

You can get sugar free calpol, full of additives and flavouring anyway but I can tell you you would be hard push to get anything into my 2 yr old if it didn't taste nice (I dont blame her!). In her nearly 2 and half years of life we have gone through about 3 small bottles total, so the quantity is negligeable in my opinion. I choose sugar free mainly cause sugar affects their behavior and makes my life hell basically

I know but the sugar-free is even worse! I know it ends up being a small dose but she hates calpol, it's like glue and hard for her to swallow, I think the taste is also too much for her.

pwurple

What do you mean by additives?

The way medicines are produced, they all have to contain the same amount and potency of active ingredient per dose. To achieve this when the active ingredient can be variable potencies, some compensating ingredients need to be included to balance each batch out to the same level. Then you have whatever liquids they are in solution with, as it's tricky to get a spoon of powder into a baby. And some preservatives to give it a shelf live, as we don't want any toxic bacteria or fungus in our bottle of medicine. Those certainly account for some of the list of ingredients.

Sugar I'd be fine with. It's a miniscule amount, there is plenty more sugar in fruit, berries etc. I'd be fairly surprised if a GP told you not to give a child sugar, it's in almost every natural foodstuff. It's a couple of grams... unless the child is drinking calpol everyday as part of their breakfast lunch and tea and overdosing on paracetemol in the process it's not going to make them obese.

If it's the E numbers, I'd be happier with something with an E number, as it is regulated for human consumption, rather than something that didn't have one. Again, this is medicine, it's not their main diet.

Suppositories are mainly a mixture of waxes and oils, with some other ingredients as well, so while you may be avoiding the flavouring, you are certainly not putting straight paracetemol or ibuprofen in there either.

Babies seem to hate the taste of anything except milk the first few times they try it. The faces of disgust they make during weaning, until maybe taste 10... when they love it... priceless.

ceadaoin.

My 14 month old has had calpol maybe 3 times in her life in minuscule amounts so I don't really think the sugar content is anything to worry about.

Hobbitfeet

I posted about this awhile ago but my thread was closed. The sugar is my least concern, although someone said that fruit has more sugar probably true but it's a totally different kind of sugar and is broken down by the body in a different way to the processed, refined sugar that is in calpol and nurofen.
What worries me is that some of the chemical additives in calpol have been banned by many eu countries yet we still think its ok to give to our babies.
The fact that there is no other alternative, apart from suppositories which some parents and babies struggle with, is a disgrace. It is possible to get plain paracetamol for babies in other countries but not here...why??

Xdancer

Hobbitfeet wrote: »

The fact that there is no other alternative, apart from suppositories which some parents and babies struggle with, is a disgrace. It is possible to get plain paracetamol for babies in other countries but not here...why??

Really? Calpol is the only paracetamol available for babies? I wonder why. The paracetamol available here for babies is sweetened too, although not to the same extent as calpol.

Surely it's not going to do any harm unless you were giving it to your child every day.

Moonbeam

There are others:)
Paralink is the only one that I can think of.

lazygal

I was given calpol as a child, lived to tell the tale. We've used it sparingly when teething made her miserable. As every other thing she eats, apart from formula, is home made I'm not going to stress. My mother had a book 'E is for additive' when we were children and like me made 90% of our food herself. I think one can over think these things.
As for comparison with EU countries, I'm sure we all have stories of ourselves and others stocking up on expensive medicine that one needs a prescription for here but can be bought in large quantities over the counter elsewhere.

Hobbitfeet

But as oral paracetamol for babies there is only calpol or nurofen, suppository is better anyway.
I agree that if the overall diet is good then the occasional use probably does no harm. But how often do some people use them? A friend had a local girl looking after her son during the day, she found out that she had been giving her son a dose of calpol everyday for his nap because that's what her mother used to do. She didn't know any better, it wasn't her fault poor girl.

Moonbeam

The last thread smilar to this got closed for good reason.
No body is to give medical advise and no back seat modding will be tolerated.

angeldelight

There's plenty of "additives" in adult painkillers too, known as excipients in pharmaceutical language. They all have a function or they wouldn't be included.

Can you give some solid references on Calpol being banned rather than scaremongering?

Mod Note: Editing out discussion on medical advice.

lounakin

angeldelight wrote: »

There's plenty of "additives" in adult painkillers too, known as excipients in pharmaceutical language. They all have a function or they wouldn't be included.

Can you give some solid references on Calpol being banned rather than scaremongering?

I never said I'd take a third of a pill!!! That's crazy. The does in the baby suppository is 60g, that's all I'm saying. In other countries you can get baby doses of paracetamol and ibu. without the additives. That's all.
You get certain ones in little sachets, it's powder, you dilute it with water. What's the big deal? I can't believe the reactions I got!

January

lounakin, I've deleted your posts (pwurple, I deleted yours too because you quoted part of lounakins post). Medical advice (even suggesting what you suggested) is not allowed to be posted on boards.ie. angeldelight, I've also deleted your post because it quoted lounakins original post.

Let's stick to the discussion on additives in the medication and suggesting regulated alternatives rather, evidence of banned ingredients would be nice too!

Moonbeam

lounakin wrote: »

Who is giving medical advice? I started this thread because I realised there were additives in medicine and was surprised. Not my fault the thread went this way!

Please read the forum charter.

Were you mentioned in the warning post?no so therefore nobody was blaming you.

lounakin

Moonbeam wrote: »

Please read the forum charter.

Were you mentioned in the warning post?no so therefore nobody was blaming you.

Yes I was, an my posts were deleted.

January

Nobody is making you feel guilty for not wanting to use Calpol, you suggested something that, without the expert advice of a medical professional, could be very very dangerous if someone tried it. That's why your posts have been deleted.

If you have a problem, PM me as I'm the one that deleted your posts, not Moonbeam.

Orion

lounakin - if you've a problem with moderation on this forum take it to PM - don't question mod actions on thread. That's also in the charter.

Arguing with a moderator
Do not argue with a moderator in a thread after they have given a warning or a ban etc. If you have an issue with a moderator's action then PM the mod in question. They will discuss it with you. You can then, if unsatisfied with the PM route, take things to the Dispute Resolution Forum.

FYI - the warning post that Moonbeam refers to was hers - Post #11.

Orion

And the toys have been thrown out of the pram. As the OP has edited the original post to essentially remove it and actually removed the others ones arguing with mods I'm closing the thread as it's now just a mess.

pwurple

I assume they mean carmoisine when people are bandying about 'calpol banned' hyperbole. Carmosine is a colouring, aka E122. It's regulated as a food colouring in some countries and not in others. It's in calpol. It's also in swiss rolls, jams, jelly, marzipan and hundreds of other foods in your local tesco or aldi.

It's not on a banned substance list, or anything like it.