When is it ok to do this?

Question

when is it ok to begin giving infant tylenol or motrim to a baby? And how do i know whether thats what she really needs? maybe she isnt sick or in pain n just wants to be crabby...so how do i know when to give it to her and what age?

Answer 1

Wow some people get a little crazy over a question.

I'm not sure when it is "ok", but my daughter had shots when she was about 11 weeks old and the Dr. told me to give her Tylenol based on her weight, which was the .4 level.  

I never gave it to my daughter when she was crabby - only the one time when she had her shots.  My daughter gets really crabby when she is tired, so you don't want to give it to your baby all the time obviously.  I guess you'd know to use it if your baby has a fever - or a cold, where it would make her feel better.

Answer 2

You never give drugs to a child who does not need it.  Tylenol and the like are things that are usually used to help break a fever or for pain.  If your child does not have either of those symptoms, then you don't need to give it to them, especially if your pedia. has not said its ok.

If she is cranky, then you need to check to see first what is wrong.  Is she hot/cold, wet/poopy, gassy, hungry, etc?  If not, she might just want to be held.  You can never "spoil" a young baby by holding them, so she just might like to have you rocking her.  If you need to do stuff around the house, invest in a baby carrier (my personal fave is called the Moby Wrap www.mobywrap.com but I made my own for only $3 bucks!)  That way you can still have two hands to do stuff around the house!

She also might have colic.  Look at your own diet and try cutting things out that are suspect such as broccoli, cabbage, radishes, milk, etc.

There are much better alternatives to trying to figure things out than just giving her drugs!

Answer 3

Generally you would give a pain reliever or fever reducer when you are sure that either pain or fever exists.  For example, many parents will give their child tylenol before or after shots because they know the shots will cause a bit of pain.  Motrin (ibuprofen) should not be given to infants under 6 months old.  No one under the age of 19 years old should take Aspirin because of the risk of Reyes Syndrome.  Dosages are based on your child's weight, not age, so ask your doctor for the correct dosage or go to the manufacturers website for dosing by weight.  For fever reduction for babies over the age of 6 months you can alternate every 4 hours tylenol and ibuprofen; this has been shown to be more faster and more effective than either alone.

Answer 4

tylenol and motrin should only be given to break a fever, and then again only with dr.'s consent.

To figure out what your baby really wants ... google Priscilla Dunstan to see what she has to say. It worked for my baby, and when I suggested it to my friends while I saw they're babies crying, I was usually right too. but some people don't think it really works. (Wikipedia) You'll never know unless you try for yourself. and it doesn't cost anything to try!!

Answer 5

... when the child is about, say, over 12 years old.

Seriously.

Mother Nature has worked for 200 million years to make our bodies so that they can fight infection and give us symptoms to tell us something is wrong.

Who are we to tell Nature to take a hike because we have this amazing substance that is all of 50 years old, we have NO idea what it does to a developing brain, but we forcefeed it to our children anyway because they cry.

Crying is children's way of telling us there is something wrong, or maybe they just want to be held.

It's not telling us to put medicine in their mouths.

How about... checking the diaper, checking for fever, checking to see if he's hungry, checking to see if he wants to be held, try a rocking chair (or the car!)... just find out why your baby cries, instead of putting medicine into him!

Answer 6

I wouldn't think so.... I don't know... ask your doctor maybe?

Answer 7

Doctors won't tell you it's ok until at least 2 months. You also need an accurate weight so that the doc can give you the correct dosage, so it's really, really important to see the doctor on this one. It is very easy to accidentally overdose an infant!