Nurofen for children

[Miss E]

For the last couple of months my DS has been sleeping brilliantly, going down without a problem and if he wakes during the night it's only once. I can usually settle him without having to get him up and if I do a quick BF and he's ready to go back to sleep.

But that has all changed in the last week or so. He's started waking within an hour of going to bed and then waking up every half an hour after that. When he wakes he's crying and DH can't settle him, he only wants me. When I go in he'll settle in the cot, but a lot of the time won't go back to sleep. The night before last I fed him again around 10pm and then we gave him some Nurofen because we thought he might be teething (the only real symptom being the sleep issue, a little nappy rash and occasional pulling at ears and hair). After that he went straight back to sleep and slept through to 6am.

Last night I wasn't convinced that he was teething so didn't want to give him nurofen (I really only like to use it if I'm sure that's what he needs). After the ups and downs early in the night he slept till 11pm when I BF him and then slept till 2.30am. From 2.30am to 4.30am I couldn't get him back to sleep. He would settle in the cot when I went in, but within 5 minutes would be grizzling again, so I was back and forth for the couple of hours. I BF him and did everything that normally works but he wouldn't go back to sleep. So at 4.30am I thought maybe it is teething so gave him some nurofen. He went straight to sleep and slept through till 7.30am.

So I guess what I am asking is nurofen a sleep aid? It seems to be the only thing at the moment that will let him go back to sleep, but I don't want to be giving it to him unless he needs it for teething etc and I'm still not 100% convinced that it is teething iykwim.

ETA I forgot to add that he is very close to walking at the moment, so I am wondering if that could be the reason for his bad sleep rather than teething...

[Pandora]

Have you taken him to the gp? My kids are normally sick or teething for such a big change in nighttime sleeping (ATM have 1 teething with a cold/viral infection and having sleep dramas here too )

[butterfly_warrior]

Nurofen does not make kids drowsy. Neither does panadol.

I would imagine that if he's settling after taking it, then he does have pain of some sort... Just make sure you don't give nurofen on an empty stomach!

I've found with nurofen that if we use the pink one Sam gets so hyped up it's not funny. We stick to the orange one - sure it's not as concentrated so we have to give twice as much, but we have a strange boy that LIKES to take his medicine so it's not really an issue for us.

BW

[ShootingStar]

Like BW said, it wont make you drowsy, but it can calm you, or obviously, if in pain, take it away. When ive been emotionally upset or something, ive taken a couple panadol and it does help to calm you down a little.
At that age, i would say it is most probably teething. I tend to give panadol before i give nurophen though as you have to make sure theyve eaten with nurophen.
Hopefully if it is a tooth, that it comes through soon for you.

[Miss E]

Thanks Ladies, I guess it must be teething. It's just so hard to know for sure until you can feel that little tooth pushing through though... I have been giving him the Brauers teething relief today to see if maybe that will help tonight (I usually find it works wonders).

Pandora I have been toying with the idea of taking him to the GP, but he really isn't showing any signs of illness, no cold, no temp etc. I did wonder about an ear infection cos he is fine during the day when he's up and about, but then I would think that he would have a temp if there was any kind of infection.

BW, we've got the orange one too, I find he doesn't mind the taste of it so it's not too much of a hassle giving it to him, Panadol on the other hand is a nightmare, he can't stand it! I always give him a BF before we give it to him to make sure his tummy isn't empty, hope that's enough though...

[ShootingStar]

Hey hun re the panadol.. we get Dymadon. Its in a purple box. Its exactly the same as panadol just a different brand.. and is orange flavour. My kids cant stand the panadol flavour, but dymadon is nice, similar to Nurophen.

[Miss E]

Hey hun re the panadol.. we get Dymadon. Its in a purple box. Its exactly the same as panadol just a different brand.. and is orange flavour. My kids cant stand the panadol flavour, but dymadon is nice, similar to Nurophen.

Oooh thanks for the tip, I'll have to try it because Panadol is such an ordeal to give him.

[MamaPan]

yeah i also use the dymadon...
both boths have preferred that
i also find brauers good for teething

i personally dont use nurofen - my GP does not recommend it for kids...

DS2 is also d0ing similar sleep patterns - i know he has never been as good as your DS but he also wakes, onlhy wants me, sometimes BF works and sometimes not. he had some bad teething but to be honest i think it is more a stage/developmental... hjope it passes soon...

[leckert]

yeah me too to the Dymadon. DS would spit out panadol (or most of it) so you couldn't tell how much he actually got so we couldn't give him any more for the 4 hours just in case but he doesn't spit out the dymadon. Even have to send the Dymadon to CC when he's not quite happy/right/teething just in case they need to give him some because they have panadol but not the dymadon. (He spits panadol out for them too)

I only rely on the neurofen if the temp is really high for DS (or like I accidently did one day, drop the dymadon and smash it and only have neurofen left on a public holiday whiile out and about at rellies and didn't know if there were any open chemists - none on the way home either)