My 6 yr. old son had his tonsils and adenoids out and tubes in his ears on Wed. Feb. 3. Since then we have given pain meds. every 6 hours around the clock (tylenol w/codeine). My question is when should I stop the dose in the middle of the night? I don't want him to be in pain and if I need to continue it I will. He is not sleeping very much and when we give him the dose of meds. he crys and has trouble falling back asleep. Also when should I start cutting back on the other doses of pain meds.? He goes back to the dr. Wed. Thanks.
Just to let you all know the dr. did not say he had to have it this is just how often he can have it. This is my first time going through anything like this and I was trying to make sure he was comfortable and was giving it to him every 6 hours just to make sure. After reading the other responses I feel like I can cut back on how many times a day he can get it and he should be ok. Thanks!
A lot of people (especially kids) will get hyped up with codeine, instead of drowsy. At this point, he probably shouldn't need anything stronger than Motrin or Tylenol; ask the doctor. This may be why he has trouble falling asleep. He shouldn't still be in severe pain after this long with this type of surgery.
My 4 year old neice had a horrible time with it...the dr's office agreed that days 5-7 are generally the worst for children over 3 and they had her giving niece meds every 5 hours to prevent breakthrough pain. She wasn't eating normally until about the 2 week point.
I'm a rn for an ENT. Usually the scabs start coming off between day 7 and 10 so they will have increased pain, therefore I would continue to give him his pain meds, esp at night to help him sleep. Make sure he's drinking a lot (no sodas or oj), popsicles, icecream, jello are great! We recommend keeping them home 1-2 weeks, and the older they are, the more pain they have. I would just take his cues and trust your instincts and how he says he feels and keep giving his meds. Esp. days 7-10. He should start feeling a little better after that. Good luck and hope this helps. Feel free to ask if you have any further questions.
he shouldn't need it now. my daughter had all three done and she took tylenol only for the first three days.
EDIT: she never had tylenol w/codine, just regular tylenol. i think you should call and have him seen by the surgeon.
well my son went through the same thing, when he did fall asleep i didnt give the medicine until he woke up and then if and when he did i just laid on the couch with him and he finally went back to sleep. Its horrible. my son drooled so bad and was just miserable.
my 6yo had a T&A a year ago. he never needed the tylenol w/ codeine . i would just give him tylenol at bedtime and not worry about re-dosing unless he wakes up. by now he should be past most of the pain! good luck.
I'd call the pediatrician/pharmacist on this one personally.
We have neighbors whose 3 and 6 year olds had to have similar surgeries, and no pain meds were needed, especially not to this extent.
Usually, narcotics such as those are only needed for a day or two. For peace of mind, I would personally make the call this morning to make sure everything is OK.
