How much is too much tylenol/ibuprofen

[laurack]

I think every night in the past week matila has had 1 dose of tylenol or ibuprofen. I save it for the night time as I don't mind dealing with fussing in the day but I need sleep.

Usually I put her to bed drug free, feeling hopeful and then she wakes up crying less than an hour later, and won't settle (like will go back to sleep easily enough after a snuggle and a bit of patting, but just wakes again 15 minutes later whining until I give the tylenol which buys a good chunk of sleep usually maybe 4-5 hours).

Last night we bought ibuprofen and I just gave her 1.25ml right before bed instead of waiting. A magical night where she woke only once at 3am then at 615am.

But I'm concerned about poisoning her with too much drugs?!

How long per tooth do they complain/need drugs? it's definitely through the gum but it still doesn't look like a full tooth.

[jaime183]

I asked the ped that because I felt like we gave it once a day for a month. She said as long as your following dosing correctly it's ok and safe

[dixeedeluxe]

What does the bottle say? They usually say only to take for x amount of days before calling your doctor.

[Deleted]

I think most bottles say "contact a doctor if using more than x days" Usually 5-7.

I don't think with one dosage a day you are going to have any issues though. There were some stuidies recently though that said long term exposure to some pain medicines, as in using the full recommended dosage everyday, for like a month, was as bad as overdosing. BUT one dosage a day does not fall into that category.

[laurack]

well the bottle said not to give more than 4x in a day, I remember reading that. I only give it once a day. I'm not sure what it says about how many days before calling the doc though... Anyone at home and have a bottle to look at right now?

[mikehoncho]

We are dealing with this now as well. I finally broke down and called the pedi because he was having screaming fits during the day and through the night for three days straight. They said if we think he needs it we can do the alternating route (motrin then three hours later tylenol then three hours later more motrin) but she said not to do that for more than a few doses. Sooo.. through the night we give him motrin (I think it works better) at bedtime around 5:30/6 then he usually wakes up screaming at midnight so he gets tylenol then. If he wakes up at 3 he gets more motrin but lately it's just been the midnight wake up.

I hope they break through soon and you can get some rest and Matilda can get some relief! I hate seeing him in so much pain.

[laurack]

What makes me worried is, this is only tooth number ONE! How much tylenol and ibuprofen will she have consumed by the time she has a full set of chompers? Ugh.

[jaime183]

teeth suck. he was in so much pain with the top 2

[mikehoncho]

Jan 9, 2013 9:10:09 GMT -5 laurack said:

What makes me worried is, this is only tooth number ONE! How much tylenol and ibuprofen will she have consumed by the time she has a full set of chompers? Ugh.

I can't speak for everyone, but for us once his first tooth was in all the other ones were easier. Until it switched sides. So.. after his first bottom tooth was in he was fine and the rest just came in and I didn't even notice he was teething. When he started getting top teeth, all hell broke loose again. Does that make sense? I'm tired!

Annnnd I look at the tylenol thing this way: it's such a small dose. And think about how much advil/tylenol/whatever we take when we have a headache/backache/cramps/whatever. I don't think a few doses when he really needs them are going to hurt him. If he is in so much pain that he wakes up screaming then he needs it, it's not like we are giving drugs just to get them to STTN or anything, ya know?

[mikehoncho]

Jan 9, 2013 9:10:16 GMT -5 jaime183 said:

teeth suck. he was in so much pain with the top 2

The top two have by far been the hardest for us too. They are so big!

[devonpow]

My pedi said a week was fine. One of my good friends who is a dr (family practitioner) said ibuprofen in general is safer than Tylenol in terms of overdosing/giving for a long time, etc.

[laurack]

Jan 9, 2013 9:13:38 GMT -5 mikehoncho said:

Jan 9, 2013 9:10:09 GMT -5 laurack said:

it's not like we are giving drugs just to get them to STTN or anything, ya know?

please tell me which drug is for this? heh ;D

[mikehoncho]

Jan 9, 2013 9:16:31 GMT -5 laurack said:

Jan 9, 2013 9:13:38 GMT -5 mikehoncho said:

Jan 9, 2013 9:10:09 GMT -5 laurack said:

it's not like we are giving drugs just to get them to STTN or anything, ya know?

please tell me which drug is for this? heh ;D

LOL my mom mentioned benedryl the other night. I was like yeahhh I don't think he's supposed to have benedryl but thanks..

[laurack]

hmm benadryl. I think not!

Yeah I'll just give her a nightly dose of benadryl, then fill her crib with cheerios and we're all set til 9am !! hahaha

[devonpow]

Watch out for the Benadryl! There is infant/children's Benadryl, and you sometimes hear it recommended for long flights, etc, but for some super special kids (like mine) it makes them super hyper instead of sleepy!

[rxbeth]

Ladies, I think there is WAY too much concern about giving pain meds to our babies for teething. This is coming from the pharmacist of the group. Can you imagine how much that hurts?

As long as you are following the dosing instructions, go for it. If you need to give MAX doses (multiple doses in a day) for several days, yes, talk to the pedi, something else might be going on. Otherwise, once a day? Go for it. I have Madison ibuprofen before bed, every night for 2 weeks when she started teething. I would give one dose of Tylenol throughout the day if I felt she needed it. She never needed more than that.

[mscatra]

I think the studies where there was harm in extended dosing were acetaminophen. Rxbeth, am I dreaming that?

[rxbeth]

Jan 9, 2013 10:52:39 GMT -5 mscatra said:

I think the studies where there was harm in extended dosing were acetaminophen. Rxbeth, am I dreaming that?

Actually, I would think it's the opposite. Ibuprofen can be hard on the stomach and cause ulcers/GI bleeds in some people, especially with long term use.

Usually, the reason the disclaimer regarding when to see a doctor is on the bottle because if someone is using something for 2 weeks for, say, hip pain - that issue should be investigated. You don't want to keep giving/taking meds and masking a bigger, undiagnosed issue.

[browneyedhunni85]

I worry about this too. We try to only give him meds when it's a last resort. I also try to only give it to him once a day if possible.

[laurack]

I went to the doc in Ireland because I thought she had an ear infection or something (she didn't.) Anyway that doctor said that ibuprofen was harder on them than acetaminophen, and that with ibuprofen its best to do full dosage for only a couple of days, and if you need longer to use acetaminophen.

But the ibuprofen worked so much better! Last night (waking only once) was the best nights sleep she's had in weeks.

I'm thinking since it's one dose a day, over four days that's only the equivalent of one days "max dose"...

[Deleted]

I know how much pain I was in when my wisdom teeth came in and I have some frame of reference/coping skills for pain and I was still eating ibuprofen like it was candy. Can you imagine that as a baby with zero frame of reference and coping skills for pain? As long as you follow the dosage/frequency on the bottle, I wouldn't be worried at all about giving your child something that is going to make the pain better.

[rjamz]

Jan 9, 2013 12:15:09 GMT -5 dragonflybelle said:

I know how much pain I was in when my wisdom teeth came in and I have some frame of reference/coping skills for pain and I was still eating ibuprofen like it was candy. Can you imagine that as a baby with zero frame of reference and coping skills for pain? As long as you follow the dosage/frequency on the bottle, I wouldn't be worried at all about giving your child something that is going to make the pain better.

I agree with all of this.

[Deleted]

Jan 9, 2013 12:16:57 GMT -5 rjamz said:

Jan 9, 2013 12:15:09 GMT -5 dragonflybelle said:

I know how much pain I was in when my wisdom teeth came in and I have some frame of reference/coping skills for pain and I was still eating ibuprofen like it was candy. Can you imagine that as a baby with zero frame of reference and coping skills for pain? As long as you follow the dosage/frequency on the bottle, I wouldn't be worried at all about giving your child something that is going to make the pain better.

I agree with all of this.

Agreed as well. I give it to her at bed time so she can sleep, not so I can sleep better. I see no harm as long as you follow the instructions. I give it to her in the day when she's so whiny and upset. I feel bad for her, so I try to make her feel better.

[laurack]

I feel like it affects her most at night. During the day she has spells of time where she gets very whiny and clingy but usually it passes after a few minutes. I figure it just hurts her at random times? And then at night just lying there it must bother her the most as there are no other distractions?

Anyway thank you to all for the input! Now I don't feel so bad about giving it to her. I suppose really we should be thankful for modern medicine and that we can give them these magical things that take pain away! It's sad to think of not having anything at all and to just have them be in pain and not be able to help at all

[Deleted]

My Dr recommended a cold rag when I was there yesterday. When she fussed during the day, if its not bad, you could try that.