What is "Baby Aspirin"?

Question

What's the difference between baby aspirin and regular aspirin? I thought you shouldn't give babies aspirin anyway lest they develop Reyes syndrome

Answer 1

Just like Daniel said, we call it "Baby Aspirin" these days primarily because it's about 25% of the standard 325mg dose.  Babies used to get 81mg or so before other antipyretics, analgesics (e.g. acetaminophen were deemed acceptable to give children).  We still use "Baby Aspirin" to refer to 81 mg, but typically it's used in a situation where a patient has had a stroke or an MI and we wish to prevent a second such episode by slightly "thinning the blood."  (Aspirin interferes with platelet aggregation in a dose-dependendent manner)

Reyes syndrome (and I'm not a Pediatrician so take this with a grain of salt) becomes more of an issue when there is an underlying viral illness and when aspirin is given, there can be the untoward complication of Reye's.

Before giving ANY medicine to a baby/child I would strongly encourage you to consult a Pediatrician.  I use the same approach when dealing with pregnant moms.  When I don't know something, I like to err on the side of asking for help from someone who knows better than I do.

Answer 2

81 mg. tablets with imitation orange flavoring.

Answer 3

adult: 325mg

baby: 81mg