How do ypu dose ibuprofen to your kids?

[Denisemomof4]

Pharmacist said to start with two 200mg tablets for dd12 who weighs 92 lbs to start then 1 tablet every eight hours.

 

Pediatrician has said one tablet in the past but I swear he said we could take every six hours.

 

Children's hospital's website said she can take 1.5 tablets every 6-8 hours

 

Advil's site says one tablet every 4-6 hours.

 

I always thought Advil, or the generic Ibuprofen we're using, was every six hours.

 

We gave dd one tablet six hours ago but just gave her two since her fever has climbed to 104. We will give only one tablet at 1:30 if she still needs it.

 

I can't figure out why there are such discrepancies.:confused:

[TeenagerMom]

I weigh 99 lbs and take 400 Mg every 6 hours.

[vettechmomof2]

piggy backing ibuprofen and tylenol has always worked best for my children with dropping fevers.

you give one med every 4-6 hours then the other med 2 hours into the 4-6 hour time frame.

my daughter is similarly sized to you and cannot take tylenol anymore due to using a cgms but with ibuprofen she normally only needs 200 mg every 4-6 hours. However she rarely,rarely ever has fevers. This is mainly for cramps or headaches.

:grouphug:

[jenn-]

DD strained her back and I started with 2 pills for the first dose and 1 pill after that. She is 96 pounds. On the bottle it says to go with the lowest dose possible to be effective, so I would say that if only one pill lowers her fever enough, stop at one. If she needs the second one to get it down, then give her 2.

[mta]

We use 5-10mg/kg three or four times per day with a maximum daily dose of 600mg over 24 hours. So more like what your pharmacist has recommended. But we tend to be fairly conservative in these things.

[swellmomma]

Depends on what it is for, for pain my kids usually take 400mg every 6 hours. When ds broke his leg we were doing closer to 800mg. Now that said, my whole family has issues with metabolizing pain meds, and needing 2-3x the "normal" dose to get any sort of relief at all.

 

For fever we alternate ibuprophen every 8 hours with acetamenophin every 4 until it comes down to a safe enough level to not treat at all and let the body deal with it.

[Ellesmere]

We always check dosing with a pharmacist. A good pharmacist should be your best resource for dosing, side effects, interactions, storage, and other helpful tidbits about medications, even if OTC.

 

You want to get your dosing in milligrams, not by "tablet". :)

[SkateLeft]

We always check dosing with a pharmacist. A good pharmacist should be your best resource for dosing, side effects, interactions, storage, and other helpful tidbits about medications, even if OTC.

 

We always find that pharmacists are reluctant to give advice regarding dosages in children. They almost always tell us to consult with our doctor, even for OTC questions. I think they probably do it to protect themselves, so I understand, but I would love to find a pharmacist who would actually give us advice when we need it! It would save me calling the doctor's office.

 

My son can't take NSAIDs like Ibruprofen, because it's not recommended for use alongside his other medication. For fever, he has to take Tylenol.

 

My girls both weigh about 100 pounds (as do I), and we all start with 200mg every 6 hours. I generally avoid ibuprofen because it's hard on my stomach, but my girls use it as needed.

[Tap]

For an adult, the max is 3200 mg per 24 hours. OTC pills are 200mg so the max in any 24 hour period is 8 tablets.

 

You daughter is right on the cusp of what is considered an adult for medication.

 

Ibuprofen lasts about 6-8 hours. It varies in what you are using it for and each person metabolizes it at different speeds.

 

If 200mg is effective for what you are using it for, then I would give it every 6 hours if I didn't want the issue to reappear before the next dose....I would give it every 8 if it was ok for the issue to return before te next dose.

 

Lets say she has a fever of 100*. It wouldn't be a bad thing for her to get a dose of medication and then for the fever to return before next dose is given, since it is a low grade fever and likely not bothering her much. In this case every 8 hours wouldn't be a problem. It may even give you a chance to see if the fever is still there, so you would know if she still has the fever. If her fever started craping up at 6 hours...you could choose to dose her then if you wanted.

 

Different scenario. Lets say her fever is 103*and is achy. She is getting ready to go to sleep and she had a dose 6 hours ago. In this case I would give it at 6hours for two reasons. One, I wouldn't want her fever to go back up/for her to be uncomfortable AND Two, I wouldn't want to wake her up in 2 hours to dose her then.

 

This is why you will get a different answer for differnt situations. Anywhere from 6-8 is normal dosing for this med.

 

FYI...Tylenol is dosed every 4-6 hours. Aleve is every 8-12.

[DianeW88]

At 12 years old and at her weight, she can take the adult dose. 200 mg every 4 hours is fine. My ds is 11 and about 95 lbs., and he was taking 600 mg every 6 hours for pain after he got 8 stitches in his knee this past week. It's ok to be a little liberal with a dose of ibuprofen, but NOT with Tylenol. I won't even have that nasty stuff in my house.

[Denisemomof4]

Well..... The ibuprofen didn't stay in her stomach long. She can't eat now but we tried iboprofen anyways and it came back up within 30 minutes. She says she can't eat a THING.

 

You'd think this was my first time dealing with this.:glare: i need to get the meds to stay down to reduce her fever.

[swellmomma]

Well..... The ibuprofen didn't stay in her stomach long. She can't eat now but we tried iboprofen anyways and it came back up within 30 minutes. She says she can't eat a THING.

 

You'd think this was my first time dealing with this.:glare: i need to get the meds to stay down to reduce her fever.

 

what is her temp at?

 

If you can find ways to naturally reduce it long enough for her to take some gravol you should be able to give her fever reducer meds about 30 minutes later. If it is quite high and she can not take it you can either take her to the ER for a shot or pick up tylenol suppositories at the drug store.

[Ellesmere]

We always find that pharmacists are reluctant to give advice regarding dosages in children. They almost always tell us to consult with our doctor, even for OTC questions. I think they probably do it to protect themselves, so I understand, but I would love to find a pharmacist who would actually give us advice when we need it! It would save me calling the doctor's office.

 

My son can't take NSAIDs like Ibruprofen, because it's not recommended for use alongside his other medication. For fever, he has to take Tylenol.

 

My girls both weigh about 100 pounds (as do I), and we all start with 200mg every 6 hours. I generally avoid ibuprofen because it's hard on my stomach, but my girls use it as needed.

 

I hope you do find one. Mine have been important to us.

 

Could be due to living in a different area or something. I've never had a pharmacist turn a question away even if I wasn't a patient or getting a script filled. Part of the job is patient counseling. It's too bad liability (or being very busy?) would get in the way of something like that.

 

Denise, hope she feels better!

[Mrs Twain]

Maximum dose for ibuprofen for children over 6 months of age is 5-10 mg per kilogram, every 6-8 hours.

That would mean maximum dose is 400 mg for a child who is 40 kg.

It is always best to give the lowest effective dose because of possible harmful side effects, hence likely why your MD recommended 1 tablet (i.e. 200 mg).

[Scuff]

When I take it myself, I usually only need 1 200 mg pill, even for mild migraines. I was giving the kids the dosage on the bottle of liquid Jr motrin. Than i noticed that it was giving them more than the 200mg that I take. So I just give them one tablet, like I take. I figure that if it works for me, it should be ggod enough for them, who weigh half+ my weight.