Do you give medicine when in doubt?

[isabel]

Lately, DS has really great nights and really terrible nights. We went out last night with friends and DS woke up at 10. The babysitter couldn't calm him down and he was flipping his shit when we got home at 10:30. I nursed him and got him to calm down enough to go back to sleep, but I could tell he was still unsettled. He was then up at 1, 3, and 6. Not sure what time he woke for the day.

H said that DS wouldn't let him hold him at 1, but he did go back to sleep. I nursed him at 3 and he seemed ok, but still off.

I feel like we just give him motrin or tylenol in these situations because we don't know what else to do. Is that an ok approach? He's definitely teething, FWIW. I don't want to over medicate him, but I also don't want him to be uncomfortable/in pain.

[Brie]

Yep. They can't communicate, and I'd rather err on the side of giving too much medication than letting my child remain in pain.

[Deleted]

Short answer...yes I do.

[pooh8402]

I was wondering this myself.

[Deleted]

Oh God, yes.

[amandakisser]

I do, too, and I never wanted to ask the question for fear I'd get judgement for over-medicating. So, thanks for asking

[curbsideprophet]

If I thought teething were an issue, yes. I would not just give meds for multiple wake ups though.

[isabel]

Jan 27, 2016 16:44:15 GMT -5 amandakisser said:

I do, too, and I never wanted to ask the question for fear I'd get judgement for over-medicating. So, thanks for asking

Haha happy to do it. And glad to get answers consistent with what we're already doing. Lol

[pinotgrig]

Yes, between teething and what you've described I would absolutely give some Tylenol / Motrin.

[Ashley&Scott]

If I suspect he's in pain I give pain meds.

[pooh8402]

Related: when do you give Tylenol vs Motrin? We have both and E is 6 months.

[dcn]

Yes totally.

[Deleted]

Yes all the time

[Wonderwall]

Jan 27, 2016 16:37:59 GMT -5 isabel said:

Lately, DS has really great nights and really terrible nights. We went out last night with friends and DS woke up at 10. The babysitter couldn't calm him down and he was flipping his shit when we got home at 10:30. I nursed him and got him to calm down enough to go back to sleep, but I could tell he was still unsettled. He was then up at 1, 3, and 6. Not sure what time he woke for the day.

H said that DS wouldn't let him hold him at 1, but he did go back to sleep. I nursed him at 3 and he seemed ok, but still off.

I feel like we just give him motrin or tylenol in these situations because we don't know what else to do. Is that an ok approach? He's definitely teething, FWIW. I don't want to over medicate him, but I also don't want him to be uncomfortable/in pain.

Yes, this is what I do. Ibu (motrin/advil whatever) usually helps here... 

[dcn]

Jan 27, 2016 16:48:38 GMT -5 pooh8402 said:

Related: when do you give Tylenol vs Motrin? We have both and E is 6 months.

I give Motrin first and then Tylenol if needed after 3 hours. Motrin seems to work better for him for basically everything...teething, fevers etc.

[Jalapeñomel]

Yes

[Wonderwall]

Jan 27, 2016 16:50:04 GMT -5 dcn said:

Jan 27, 2016 16:48:38 GMT -5 pooh8402 said:

Related: when do you give Tylenol vs Motrin? We have both and E is 6 months.

I give Motrin first and then Tylenol if needed after 3 hours. Motrin seems to work better for him for basically everything...teething, fevers etc.

Same here.. 

[melsamoony]

Yes if they seem uncomfortable/I can't get DS to calm in the usual ways I give Tylenol/motrin. I usually give whatever I have closest.

[Susie]

I ask here first and then dose, ha. Last night I gave her Tylenol because she seemed uncomfortable after her 2 mo. shots (but of course I'm only making an educated guess at what was wrong).

[pennylane]

We do the same as @vicmo said. We give DS Motrin during the bedtime routine of he's acting like the incoming teeth are bugging him (which they always are).

[degal99]

Absolutely.

[isabel]

Jan 27, 2016 16:48:16 GMT -5 @vicmo said:

To elaborate, when Bas was teething, we often preemptively dosed him at bedtime vs waiting for him to wake up screaming in pain.

I'm glad you said this. DH texted me and said maybe we should give him motrin at bedtime tonight, which prompted my question.

[isabel]

Jan 27, 2016 16:48:38 GMT -5 pooh8402 said:

Related: when do you give Tylenol vs Motrin? We have both and E is 6 months.

like others, we pretty much always do Motrin unless we're alternating for a fever. That's mostly because DH and I think ibuprofen works better in general.

[Yankees21]

Yep. We often preemptively dose for teething as well..it is usually pretty clear when he's not himself.

[arebee]

I just did this! DD woke up really early, like 1.5 hrs early, from her nap crying so I gave her some advil.

[Deleted]

Short answer, yep.

Longer answer, if the girls start sleeping like shit and I think they are teething then I dose them. They are painfully slow teethers and still working on canines. So I just assume that's it and give ibuprofen. I did the same as babies with all 3 .

[felicity]

How many consecutive days are you guys comfortable giving pain meds?

Because DS has been working on his first molars for a few weeks now. As soon as one breaks through, it seems like another is right behind it where I can feel it under his gums. They seem to take forever to get all the way out. I thought we were done for awhile because he seemed okay for the past few days, but now I see a canine right under his gum. He was not a happy camper last night, so back on the Motrin tonight.

[osulori]

Absolutely.

felicity, AJ got canines and first year molars back to back so I'm pretty sure we ibuprofened him up nightly for at least two months. That was over a year ago and so far he's fine That's the longest stretch we've gone with nightly pain meds.

[jewel]

Yes, always. If we're having a string of bad nights, I'll give him Motrin before bed. If he's randomly inconsolable during the night (or any time, really), I'll give Motrin. I assume teeth are the culprit, but it could be a head ache, or some other pain that he can't tell me about.

I realize it sounds like I'm totally drugging up my kid. It doesn't actually happen often at all, but if I suspect he may be in pain, I don't hesitate to dose him up.

[undecidedowl]

I call it diagnostic medicating. If it works, then he needed it and was in pain. If it doesn't work, then I guess something else was bugging him.