It can be hard to watch children in pain. Most pediatricians advise parents to give their children Tylenol, or acetaminophen, to combat pain and fever. It is necessary to give the proper dosage, however, because it can be dangerous to give a child too much of this medication. The dosage to use depends on the weight of the child and the type of Tylenol.
Function
Tylenol can be useful for reducing both fevers and pain. Children who are teething as well as those with sunburn, cuts, bruises or earaches can be soothed with this medication, according to the website AskDrSears.
Age Range
Although it is safe to use Tylenol for infants, the Tylenol website suggests consulting your child's doctor in order to get the proper dosage for children under 2. Children under 12 weeks of age should not be given Tylenol without consulting a doctor, unless the fever occurs within 24 hours of immunizations and the child is over 8 weeks in age, according to Children's Hospital St. Louis.
Types
The concentrations of acetaminophen in the various children's Tylenol products are different, so make sure you are using the right dosage charts. Children under 2 usually take the infant drops version, which is more concentrated since it is hard to get infants to swallow medication. Children over 36 pounds should not use the infant version. You can start to use the children's liquid version once your child reaches 14 pounds and the 80 mg. chewables when your child is 21 pounds. You should not give the 160 mg. chewables until your child weighs 48 pounds.
Considerations
Give Tylenol no more than five times per day and not more often than every four hours, according to Children's Hospital St. Louis. If Tylenol alone does not get rid of a stubborn or very high fever, you can alternate Tylenol with ibuprofen every three hours, according to AskDrSears. You also can use ibuprofen if Tylenol wears off before another dose is allowed. However, you should not give ibuprofen to a child under 2 months of age.
Theories/Speculation
If your child has a very high fever, you can give him a double initial dose of Tylenol safely in order to bring down the fever more quickly, according to AskDrSears. But use this dosage only once every few days and only if the fever remains very high; other doses should be regular strength. At the recommended dosages, it is safe to use Tylenol for children regularly for several days.
