For Your Littlest Patient's Fever and Pain Try Tylenol Infant Drops
Written: Nov 11 '06
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: It helped when we needed it most
Cons: Expensive for infant formula, may only last 4 hours
The Bottom Line: Not my first choice in children's pain relief, but it worked.
|
|
|
| mmcphee's Full Review: Concentrated Tylenol Infants' Drops Grape Flavor .... |
We have spent the better part of the last month fighting germs. When we were having trouble bringing down our son's fever with just Motrin, our doctor suggested trying Tylenol as well. My husband brought home Tylenol Infant Drops in grape flavor.
The Basics
Tylenol Infant Drops contain 80 mg of acetaminophen per 0.8 ml, which is indicated for the relief of fever and pains associated with cold, flu, headaches, sore throat, immunizations, and toothaches. Children 2 years and older weighing 24-35 lbs can take 1.6 ml every 4 hours up to 5 doses per day. The 0.8 ml measured dropper also doubles as the cap and you can purchase both 15 ml and 30 ml bottles.
Why Infant Tylenol
My husband came home with that glazed look on his face, like he had been overwhelmed once again by the drug store. I figured that was not the time to tell him Children's Tylenol would have been a better choice instead of the infant formula. I figured at least he got the right flavor, grape. Since the Infant Tylenol would work and I didn't have to be the one to go to the store we were going to use it.
Our Experience
Our son doesn't seem to care for cherry flavored medication, so I was glad my husband brought home the grape flavor. After the first dropper full of Infant Tylenol Bud-Bud was looking for more and happily took the second 0.8 ml for a full dose. Following our doctor's instructions we continued with the Motrin and then followed up with Tylenol 3 hours later, repeating both medications 6 hours from their initial dose. Finally we got his fever down and he got a good night sleep, as did I.
Infant Tylenol is usually dosed every 4 hours, which can be inconvenient if the pain or fever relief runs out in the middle of the night. Although the dropper is marked with both .4 ml and .8 ml only a 1.6 ml dose is given on the bottle. Other doses must be calculated using 7 mg per pound every 4 hours or requested from a health care professional even though acetaminophen has been shown to be safe for babies weighing as little as 5 lbs.
The Difference Between Infant's and Children's Tylenol
Despite the word "infant" in its name the box of Infant Tylenol Drops is labeled for children 2 and over, hardly infants anymore. The minimum dosing age and weight range for Children's Tylenol is exactly the same as infant formula. However a does of Children's Tylenol is 1 tsp while the infant dose, although providing the same amount of medication is about 1/3 the size. Both are available in grape and cherry flavors.
While children need to swallow less medication with the infant's formula you do need to fill and dispense the dropper twice. With the children's formula they do have to take more medicine but you only need to fill a dispenser once.
Price per dose is something else to consider. Infant's Tylenol is about $.54 per dose for a 2 year old, while Children's Tylenol is only $.22 for the same amount of pain and fever relief.
The infant formula is only for children up to 35 lbs and approximately 3 years of age where as Children's Tylenol includes dosing information for children up 95 lbs or about 11 years old. Since the including measuring device for the children's formula is a cup that you pour into it is easy to wash and use for several patients. The infant dropper is actually inserted into the bottle and the child's mouth, so you may not want to use the same bottle for more than one child.
Final Thoughts
It worked, it's safe and my son seems to think it tastes good. Although I prefer to give Motrin since one dose can last twice as long as a dose of Infant Tylenol, we really did need both to make my son feel better. Be sure to check with your pediatrician before trying this at home.
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
mmcphee
|
 - Top 50 |
|
Member: Mary Ellen
Location: Nutmeg State
Reviews written: 1079
Trusted by: 216 members
About Me:Can you lose 55 lbs and still be cranky? Apparently so...
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.