Medication Dosing by Weight

(and some important information on fevers)

For most children:

• Tylenol can be given at 2 months old

• Motrin can be given at 6 months old

Some notes on fevers:

• You do not have to treat a fever with medication. Generally if a child is playful and eating well, I recommend leaving the fever be.

• Studies have shown pre-treating fevers does not prevent/lower risk of febrile seizures.

• There is not an unsafe fever temperature: in other words, you do not inherently have to go to the ER or urgent care for a particular number unless your child is a newborn (ie// less than 1 month old); how your child is acting is SO much more important.

• You do not need to pre-treat for vaccines. In fact, giving tylenol prior to vaccines blunts a child's immune response which can lower the efficacy of the vaccine.

Dosing

• these meds can generally be given every 6 hours for pain or fever

Infant and Children's Acetaminophen are interchangeable because they are the same concentrations.

Infant and Children's Ibuprofen is not interchangeable! (they are different concentrations)

You should always ask you child's doctor before starting them on medications. This article is for educational purposes only and should not be regarded as medical advice or replace the advice of your physician.