Medication Doses
Medicine for Fever or Pain Relief
Acetaminophen (Tylenol, Feverall, Paracetamol) is available without a prescription. Children over 2 months of age can be given acetaminophen. Give the correct dosage for your child’s weight every 4-6 hours, as needed for fever or pain. No more than 5 doses in 24hours.
Acetaminophen is also available as a rectal suppository in 120-mg, 325-mg, and 650-mg dosages. Suppositories are useful if a child with a fever is unable to take oral medication.
Ibuprofen
Ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin) is available without a prescription. Children over 6 months of age can be given ibuprofen. Give the correct dosage for your child’s weight every 6-8 hours, as needed.
Alternating or Combining Acetaminophen and Ibuprofen
Combining acetaminophen and ibuprofen is not recommended. Combining can cause confusion, dosage errors, and poisoning. Also, it is usually not important to control a fever that closely. However, if instructed by your health care provider to alternate acetaminophen and ibuprofen, do it as follows:
- Alternate doses of acetaminophen and ibuprofen every 4 hours
- Alternate medicines for only 24 hours or less, then return to a single product.
Avoid Aspirin
Children (through age 21 years) should not take aspirin if they have chickenpox or influenza (any cold, cough, or sore throat symptoms). This recommendation is based on several studies that have linked aspirin to Reye’s Syndrome, a severe encephalitis-like illness. Most pediatricians have stopped using aspirin for fevers associated with any illnesses.
KEEP ALL MEDICATIONS OUT OF THE REACH OF CHILDREN
In case of accidental ingestion call POISON CONTROL 212-POISONS.