Treating flu: How to piggy back Motrin and Tylenol

[niccig]

DS just started a temp and coughing. I think he's sick, and probably the flu. I know you can piggy back tylenol and motrin to keep a fever down..but I can't remember the details.

Anything else to do/help him get through it.

Anything for me to do to keep myself as healthy as possible. I've already told DH that I'll look after DS to hopefully spare DH.

THanks.

[Momof3Labs]

Here's how to stack Tylenol and Motrin (the second bullet under Dr Sears Helpful Hints):

http://www.askdrsears.com/html/8/T088900.asp

Hope that he feels better soon!

[bubbaray]

OK, flame away, but I actually don't stack them unless it is a truly horrid fever that refuses to budge with either of them separately. I generally don't treat low grade fevers with either drug unless the child is super unhappy.

I have stacked them when I needed to. The trick is to just keep an eye on times. IIRC, its every 3-4 hrs for Tylenol and every 6-8 hrs for Advil/Motrin. I keep a log b/c it gets too hard to remember.

[desertmama]

The every 3 hours rule on Dr. Sears' site is what I was told just this past week for ds's fever. I'm like Melissa and don't typically treat low grade fevers and I'm not sure I've ever stacked the meds for a fever before but ds was at 104.7 in the ped's office, so it needed to be done.
OP, hope your ds feels better soon. It's definitely no fun!

[ett]

My ped. does not do the every 3 hours. She tells me to give Tylenol first, then Motrin an hour later if the fever has not gone down. And then do Tylenol every 4 hours and Motrin every 6 hours as needed.

[niccig]

Thanks everyone. I've never stacked tylenol and motrin before. Like the rest of you, I don't treat low grade fever. I'm worried that DS went from normal to 102 in 2 hours. So, I want to know, just in case I can't keep it down with motrin alone.

[connor_mommy]

I normally don't piggy back unless the fever isn't coming down or staying away long enough. Do keep a log of which drug and when you gave it. Right now my son has the flu. Not H1N1 b/c we had that already. I've noticed that it takes both Tylenol and Motrin over half an hour to work. Tylenol works for about 2 hours and Motrin works for about 4 hours before the fever comes back again. I hope your child feels better soon!

[KrisM]

I hope he feels better soon!

Definitely keep a log with the time and what you gave and put it somewhere everyone can find it (DH).

We used to stack when DS1 got a fever so that he wouldn't have a seizure. But, we were told to do that in his case. It did seem to work.

[niccig]

Thanks. I've only been using motrin and that seems to be working. DS is hot, but complains of being cold and has goose bumps. He wants to snuggle with me and gets upset if I leave the room. So, the two of us are in the master bedroom in bed watching TV, and DH is outside taking down the Halloween decorations. I think the odds of me not getting what DS has are very low, as he's stuck to my side.