According to an article in The Telegraph by medical correspondent Stephen Adams, parents are now being told to reduce the amount of Calpol they give young children, amid fears that toddlers could be taking too much of the painkiller. By the time babies are six months old, 80 per cent them will have been given doses of liquid paracetamol, which is sold under brand names including Calpol and Disprol. Many parents dose their children up at the slightest sign of a snivel.

Until recently packaging on bottles of the children’s strength solutions advised that children aged from 12 months to six years could be given the same dose. That was two 5ml spoons, up to four times every 24 hours. However, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has now revised its recommendations, saying that with the “very wide age bands …younger children may have received a dose of paracetamol that was higher than necessary”. It has consequently split dosing into tighter age bands, reflecting the large differences in weight and bodily development between a one-year-old baby and a six-year-old child.

For the full article:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/8902829/Calpol-guidelines-changed-over-dosing-worries.html