My 3 month old son has had an ear infection. He weighs 14.5 pounds. My girlfriends say it is alright to alternate every two hours between tylenol infant drops and motrin infant drops according to their pediatricians. My pedi said not to give them motrin until they are 6 months old. Has anyone received similar advice from their pedi?
Thanks you for all of your advice. I am not giving him motrin. We had a doctor appointment this morning and she is referring us to an ENT. She said she ususually doesnt have to refer 3month old babies but he has been on two different antibiotics and given a shot of rocephin(sp) and still not better. Now he is running a low grade fever. I will wait until he is 6months old even though he does meet the weight requirement now. I appreciate your help.
My Pedi says ABSOLUTELY No motrin until 6 months of age. I alternate between tylenol and motrin every 3-4 hrs.
Both my boys had excessive ear infections which my youngest got ubes in his ears at 13 months which he has only had 1 ear infection since then, he is now 2 1/2 yrs.
I hope this helps.
M.
I have a "pretty color" sheet from McNeil the drug manufacture that I recieved from my pediatrician that states Motrin is for 6 months+. I would wait for 6 months. It is so tough when that get sick the first 6 months.
Alternating is definitely ok. My pedi had me give my daughter infant tylenol from 2 months (when she got her first shots) but did say that motrin was ok as well. But I've never heard anything else about motrin before 6 months good or bad... Also, she told me to give her only half the dose listed on the bottle for 6 months+ since there's not a dose listed for under 6 months (it does indeed say ask a dr) so if your doc says no...it's kind of up to u! Under 6 mo dose was I think .75 (it was half of the tiny size medicine dropper)
My pedi says NO motrine until 6 mos then it is every 3-4 hours, not every 2 hours. Tylenol and Motrine can both harm the babies if they get to much. I forget which effects what organs, but one effects the kidneys and the other effects the liver. You really don't want to mess with either. Check with your pedi if you are not sure. Or if you are in the houston / galveston area there is a nursing # at UTBM that you can get advice from. I think you can get the # from the ER there. I no longerhave it. Good luck.
I personally would only listen to your ped. especially with all of the med. recalls out there. I would not take a chance. My daughter had a reaction to Motrin - still don't use it and they are 5yr and 3yr. She still, to this day will react to it. Keep her on the tylenol for the recommended dosage and time gap. Hope your baby feels better soon.
My son battled ear infections and finally got tubes put in when he was 10 months old. Yes my doctor said no Motrin until he was 6 months old. If your son is in pain which ear infections are so painful ask your doctor to prescribe him numbing drops. They work wonderfully we survivied many nights using them. You can also buy the over the counter ones at Walgreens and alternate between the two. I hope your sweet little boy gets to feeling better soon.
Hi S.,
Absolutely NO motrin until after 6 months! Your baby's liver is not ready to break down the chemicals in Motrin. And give tylenol every 4 hours, unless your pediatrician tells you otherwise. After 6 months motrin can be given safely every 6 hours, hope this helps!!!
Tylenol can be toxic to the liver. Be sure your infant is given plenty of water/fluids to help clear out the drug. Use sparingly if absolutely needed. As for Motrin, follow you pediatricians advice, not your girlfriend. If you are trying to ease the pain from the earache, you can use olive oil, very, very slightly warmed, and place a couple of drops in the affected ear. Gently place some cotton in the ear canal to keep the oil from dripping back out. You will be amazed at how this can help. You might be interested in knowing that vaccines can cause ear infections as well as other serious illnesses. Go to www.vacinfo.org for more information. I am a wellness consultant in San Antonio specializing is detoxifition. I hope you baby is better soon.
C.
Wait until he is 6 mos or until he reaches the minimum weight limit on the motrin bottle. Going by the weight limit is the most accurate since children differ in size. 1 3 month old may be bigger than another 3 month old and obviously the bigger would need a little more "power" than the smaller. I would say hold off on the motrin for sure.
S.,
I was told 6 months for Motrin...if you have a larger baby you could go by weight, but CHECK W/ DR FIRST!! And it's every 3 hours not 2 for alternating between the two. Does he have a fever...I thought the alternating between the two was for fever, but I could be wrong! I would call the pharmacy and ask what they think or call your ped.
I would wait until 6 months for the Motrin, if you can. Another mom posted about the effects of Tylenol and Motrin, but couldn't remember which one had which effects ~ Tylenol in excessive amounts can do damage to the liver, whereas Motrin *may* have an adverse effect on the kidneys.
With that being said, when my 16-year-old was 5.5 months old, he also had an ear infection, and his temperature actually went UP (to a dangerous level) after I gave him the Tylenol. After that, I gave him Tylenol for "boo boo's" (cuts, scrapes, etc.) and Motrin for when he was running a fever, and then it was "by the book" ~ every 8 hours. For my 2.5-year-old, he now gets Tylenol throughout the day, and the Motrin at night, so he can sleep longer, but it depends on what is causing the fever or problem. But we started him with the Tylenol only, first, too.
Hope this helps, and that your baby boy feels better soon! :)
Always listen to what your ped doc says...no motrin until they are 6 mos. It's just not worth it to put his health in danger. Give the Tylenol, but do it every 4 hours like it says.
Also, don't alternate the two (when he comes of age). It's best if you let the fever fight the infection, & the fever will go away faster if you don't suppress it.
If the fever gets above 102, then that's the time to take them to the doc. Good luck!!
The rationale for not giving motrin before 6 months of age is that their digestive systems are still very immature and there has not been enough research on motrin use in infants less than 6 months of age to deem it safe to administer. I would not recommend giving it less than 6 months of age. Give tylenol 10mg/killogram every 4 hours for fever/pain control in infants less than 6 months of age. For example if your baby weighs 11 pounds, divide that number by 2.2 which gives you 5. Your child's weight would be 5 killograms. You then give 10mg per killogram of tylenol which would be 50mg (5 times 10). This may be a little more or less that what is on the over the counter bottle of tylenol because it is age based, not weight based on the label. I do this every day as an emergency room RN and educate parents on proper tylenol and motrin administration. And yes, after 6 months of age you can alternate tylenol and motrin. You can give tylenol every 4 hours and motrin every 6 hours. Hope this was helpful, but always talk w/your pediatrician when unsure of any medications.
