Double dosing with ibuprofen and acetaminophen

[connor_mommy]

Do you still double dose with ibuprofen and acetaminophen when kids are older? DS#1 (8 years old) has had a fever since yesterday. I've been giving him just ibuprofen, but it only seems to last about 4 hours and his temp goes back up to as high as 103F. He has no other symptoms other than loss of appetite.

[dogmom]

You can alternate dosages of acetaminophen & ibuprofen in anyone that does not have contraindications for medication. Generally I find ibuprofen to have better fever control in most people. You may be under dosing him. The weight based dosage for kids for ibuprofen is 10mg/kg for higher fevers evert 6 hours. So the directions on the bottle will say 2 1/2 tsp, which is 12.5 ml. The children's ibuprofen (not the the infant one) is 100 mg=5cc (1 tsp) or 20 mg/ml. So the 2.5 tsp/12.5 ml dose is 250 mg. My 9 year old is 75 lbs or 34 kg (1 lb=2.2 kg) so he can take up to 340 mg of ibuprophen, which is 17 ml vs. 12.5 ml which the bottle would recommend. It can make a difference depending on the weight of your child.

Here's the Dr. Sears chart: http://www.askdrsears.com/topics/childhood-illnesses/medicine-cabinet/ibuprofen

Oh, and have him take it with some food, even crackers, to protect his stomach.

[connor_mommy]

You can alternate dosages of acetaminophen & ibuprofen in anyone that does not have contraindications for medication. Generally I find ibuprofen to have better fever control in most people. You may be under dosing him. The weight based dosage for kids for ibuprofen is 10mg/kg for higher fevers evert 6 hours. So the directions on the bottle will say 2 1/2 tsp, which is 12.5 ml. The children's ibuprofen (not the the infant one) is 100 mg=5cc (1 tsp) or 20 mg/ml. So the 2.5 tsp/12.5 ml dose is 250 mg. My 9 year old is 75 lbs or 34 kg (1 lb=2.2 kg) so he can take up to 340 mg of ibuprophen, which is 17 ml vs. 12.5 ml which the bottle would recommend. It can make a difference depending on the weight of your child.

Here's the Dr. Sears chart: http://www.askdrsears.com/topics/childhood-illnesses/medicine-cabinet/ibuprofen

Oh, and have him take it with some food, even crackers, to protect his stomach.


Thanks for the link. I had a little feeling that I was underdosing him. According to the weight chart on the bottle it said to give him 1 1/2 tablets. DS is about 47 lbs. I'll give him 2 tablets next time to see if that helps keep the fever down longer. Thanks again!

[Katigre]

Do you still double dose with ibuprofen and acetaminophen when kids are older? DS#1 (8 years old) has had a fever since yesterday. I've been giving him just ibuprofen, but it only seems to last about 4 hours and his temp goes back up to as high as 103F. He has no other symptoms other than loss of appetite.

My ped's advice is not to dose for a fever unless it is over 103 b/c the fever has a purpose and to look at your child''s demeanor more than the actual temperature - if they're acting mostly fine (you can tell they're sick but no scary symptoms) then leave the fever alone.

The old advice to medicate fevers produced a LOT more harm than good so I'd avoid it.

[ellies mom]

Double dosing is beginning to fall out of favor because it is easier to make dosage mistakes (more drugs and times to juggle).

I typically don't worry about fevers that aren't above 103 unless my child is miserable. So, I'll drug a miserable child with a lower fever before I drug a "happy" child with a higher fever. I prefer ibuprofen over tylenol.

[Indianamom2]

Double dosing is beginning to fall out of favor because it is easier to make dosage mistakes (more drugs and times to juggle).

I typically don't worry about fevers that aren't above 103 unless my child is miserable. So, I'll drug a miserable child with a lower fever before I drug a "happy" child with a higher fever. I prefer ibuprofen over tylenol.

:yeahthat:

[jd11365]

My overnight per actually told me to dose them at the same time when the fever is high. They are different medications and can be taken together, without needing to be alternated.

Here is some clearer info. I grabbed off the 'net...

Giving Tylenol and Motrin. It’s OK to use them together. They are separate drugs and don’t interfere with each other. Both work well treating fevers, either alone or together. I usually tell patients to use Tylenol first, as there has been more experience with the safety of Tylenol.

The timeline below gives an example of how to dose the two drugs. In the example, you can give Tylenol every 4 hours, Motrin every 6 hours. Use the full dose of each. Make sure the infant or child is drinking plenty of fluids.

12pm Tylenol and Motrin
2pm
4pm Tylenol
6pm Motrin
8pm Tylenol
10pm
12am Tylenol and Motrin