Calpol is for pain relief (straight paracetomaol) but there is an erroneous belief among some parents that it can also have a sedative effect.
I'm certain the McCanns (as both doctors) were under no such illusion.
In any event, they never used it on that holiday.
From Amarals book. and apart from other misinformation contained in it - IMO a clear attempt to convince his readers that calpol was used on the children as a sedative.
Quote
One of the police officers who went to the McCanns' home in England, reported that a medical monitoring chart for Madeleine was posted in the kitchen. This referred to her sleep problems and made clear that she was waking several times in the night. The paternal grandfather stated that Kate gave the little girl - and also the twins -
Calpol, a medication designed to facilitate falling asleep. That seems to be a common practice in Great Britain; they even talk about a "Calpol generation." In recent years, the possible presence of an antihistamine with sedative effects in Calpol has aroused great controversy. Recently, the same laboratory put Calpol Night on the market, whose ingredients clearly list that it contains an antihistamine.
The mother admits having taken some to Portugal. She insists though that there is no calming effect, its being composed solely of paracetamol, and that she did not give any of it to her daughter during the holiday. At the time of her disappearance, Madeleine was sleeping in the same room as the twins. The latter, in spite of the noise, the mother's screaming and the comings and goings, did not wake up,
as if they had been given sedatives.
Would there not be a link between that difficulty in falling asleep and Madeleine's tragic end?
