Giving Advil in middle of the night

[mackmama]

If you are giving Advil to your DC in the middle of the night for fever, do you give any food with it? My understanding is that ibuprofen is best given with food, but I'd prefer not to completely wake up DC in the middle of the night with some food in addition to the meds. (I won't wake DC to give the Advil, but I still think DC will have a harder time getting back to sleep if eating is part of the drill.) DC is 4yo.

[ellies mom]

For an occasional thing, I just give it without food.


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[vludmilla]

I've never given food with ibuprofen in the middle of the night. It has never been a problem, ever.

[SnuggleBuggles]

I've never given food with ibuprofen in the middle of the night. It has never been a problem, ever.

Same. I didn't know the food thing. Still wouldn't change it. I wouldn't wake a kid up for medicine. Sleep is better than meds so if they are resting, I let them be.

[elephantmeg]

no, and this is timely because I'm about to give DD a dose. She's had an earache that has left her crying most of the day.. I'm not letting it wear off! I'm hoping the antibiotics kick in tomorrow!

[mackmama]

no, and this is timely because I'm about to give DD a dose. She's had an earache that has left her crying most of the day.. I'm not letting it wear off! I'm hoping the antibiotics kick in tomorrow!

Thanks everyone, and I hope your DD feels better soon!

[pastrygirl]

I've had a kid vomit during the day from Advil without food, but we gave him Advil without food at 3am last week and he was fine.

[div_0305]

I would NOT give ibuprofen without food. Middle of the night, I switch to Tylenol. I've asked several doctors about it, and they all said the risk of stomach bleeding is not worth it to give ibuprofen without food.

[SnuggleBuggles]

I would NOT give ibuprofen without food. Middle of the night, I switch to Tylenol. I've asked several doctors about it, and they all said the risk of stomach bleeding is not worth it to give ibuprofen without food.

We don't give Tylenol for the liver risks.

[div_0305]

We don't give Tylenol for the liver risks.

You don't give Tylenol at all? We follow our doctor's advice, which I've confirmed with many more opinions from other doctors.

[boilermakermom]

We do not give advil unless fever is high and then I alternate Advil and Tylenol. My daughter will vomit up Advil on an empty/less full tummy within minutes. Tylenol is our go to.

[SnuggleBuggles]

You don't give Tylenol at all? We follow our doctor's advice, which I've confirmed with many more opinions from other doctors.

No, we don't even own any. Ibuprofen lasts longer and works better. There was one illness where I almost bought some so I could alternate (the sore throat pain was unbearable for one of my kids) but it got better right before I hit the store. Our Dr. hasn't said anything one way or the other but dh had already been leery of Tylenol then there was more in the news about it. http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/DrugSafety/ucm239821.htm Most of the problem is the risk of taking too much since it is in more products now. I know neither ibuprofen or acetaminophen is without risks. From what I have read, it takes less acetaminophen to cause trouble than ibuprofen. Anyway, we haven't found it to be necessary in our medicine cabinet but I know we aren't in a risk free zone by using ibuprofen either.

eta- sorry to hijack wth this. It's actually dh's thing, not mine. But, I roll with it and understand his concerns. I also get that for most people, the risks of either just aren't significant to really sway what to use.

[khalloc]

I take those liver risk warnings with a grain of salt. They have to put that there since there is a small percentage of people that might be affected. I give my kids Ibuprofen most of the time (rarely Tylenol, but only because I think ibuprofen works better on fevers) and I have never made it a point to give with food. I myself was taking large doses of ibuprofen and/or aleve when I had swollen joints and waiting to get into the rheumatologist for an appointment and I never had a problem either.

I dont wake kids up to give meds, and I definitely wouldnt be feeding them at night if I did.

[123LuckyMom]

I didn't know about the food thing, and I give ibuprofen without food to myself and both the kids. They've never had any problems, and neither have I. The liver problems with Tylenol happen only with extended periods of use. Multiple one or two time doses won't have any ill effects to the liver. Giving Tylenol at appropriate doses continually over the course of two weeks or more can cause problems in adults as well as children.

[daisysmom]

My dd gets sick and throws up if she takes Motrin on an empty stomach. But his just means, for us, I don't give it to her if she has thrown up and clearly emptied her stomach. If she ate a normalish dinner, I would have no problem giving her Motrin if she were up with a fever in the middle of the night. Because her dinner would still be being digested. But if she has puked, we can't give Motrin. SHe just will throw it right up.

But Tylenol does not lower my dd's fever enough. And she landed in the ER with a febrile seizure last year when she just turned 7 because if this. So we are pretty fever- sensitive snd I always give Motrin now, per our neurologist advice. My own father has kidney disease due to overuse of ibuprofen when he was in the military years ago, so I am sensitive that there are long term risks to having too much ibuprofen in our family.

[Liziz]

My DH is a physician (internal med, not pedi, in full disclosure) and he's always really strict about not taking ibuprofen on an empty stomach. He won't do it for himself, doesn't want me to, and refuses to let DD. So, we don't. When we have to give ibuprofen in the middle of the night (which is rare, but it's happened), we give her a couple ounces of milk, which she drinks easily, quickly, and DH is comfortable that's enough to help protect her stomach. We haven't ever really had a problem with her waking up too much or having a hard time going back to sleep. We do have her drink a couple sips of water after the milk and ibu too, to get some of the sugars from the milk and meds off her teeth.

[gatorsmom]

Yes. If my child wakes me up at night in pain or their fever is so high I feel they need Advil, I'll wake them to give the Advil and food. It isn't often I give Advil at night but it has happened and never fail, if I give it on an empty stomach, they puke. It happens every time for us. So annoying.

I only give give them a couple of crackers and as much of an apple sauce packet as they will eat (at least half). That seems to be enough.

[JBaxter]

We never have had issues with ibuprofen on and empty stomach and like some of the others I havent used tylonel in many years Im not sure Jack has ever had it and he's 6. If they have a high fever in the middle of the night it never crossed my mind about stomach upset.