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Safeguarding children against accidental acetaminophen overdoses
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Acetaminophen (which goes by the brand name Tylenol, among others) is a medicine cabinet staple, especially for parents of young children. After all, illnesses seem to strike at the oddest hours, and experts, from the American Academy of Pediatrics to your family doctor, say acetaminophen is safe for infants when delivered in the correct dosage. We all know that medicines should be stored out of children’s reach and never confused for candy or another kind of treat, but parents can never be too vigilant about safeguarding their families from potential overdoses.
Making sure you give the correct dosage of medication is always important. After all, if you give too little, the medicine may not provide any relief, but too much will result in a dangerous overdose. For children under the age of three months, your pediatrician should be your only source for determining how much – and what kind – of medication to dispense. Most medications don’t provide dosage instructions for children under the age of two – and some only list instructions for children ages six years and older. Your pediatrician will be able to tell you how much medicine to give your child, based on her age and weight. (It may be wise to write down these in a notebook to keep for future reference.)
There are several tools on the market to ensure measuring proper dosage, including syringe droppers, spoon droppers, and tablet crushers. Depending on the type of medication you need to dispense, you’ll soon find that a combination of these is good to have on hand in your medicine cabinet. Most Walgreen’s and CVS stores in the Orlando area have these in their shops.
It’s also important to make sure you give your infant or child formulations designed for their age. Children under the age of two should only receive the infant’s formula, and children under the age of 12 should not take adult formulas. Additionally, you should always make sure you are giving your child the correct dosage for the formulation.
When giving your child medicine, it is also important to make sure you keep track of when and how much medication you dispense. Even correctly measured doses will be harmful if given too frequently. Concentrated infants’ drops can be dispensed every four hours, but the label on the bottle also states that you should not give your child more than five doses in a 24-hour period.
The greatest risk of overdose, however, comes from mixing medications. When acetaminophen is combined with a cold medication that has acetaminophen as an ingredient, a dangerous overdose that could severely impair the liver can occur. It is so important, then to always read any medication’s ingredient. It may be wise to mark with a marker or bright sticker all medications containing acetaminophen to guard against accidental overdoses from combining medicines.
Interestingly, a 2008 study has shown that ibuprofen (which goes by the brand name Advil, among others) is more effective at reducing fevers in children. The study found that ibuprofen works faster than acetaminophen and typically lasts longer, requiring fewer doses.
Regardless of the type of medication dispensed, it is always important to properly follow dosage instructions (verifying with your pediatrician when in doubt) and keep all medicines out of the reach of children. And carefully reading the labels on all medicines, whether for children or adults, is absolutely necessary to insure against overdoses and other complications.
For more info: Acetaminophen and children: Why dosage matters
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