Tylanol and Ibprofin?

I was told to alternate the ibuprofen and Tylenol when my kids have had ear infections. With the antibiotic.

Just a little more clarity on Tylenol vs. ibuprofen.

Both are anti-inflammatories and fever reducers.

Ibuprofen is a Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) and can have an effect on the the gastro-intestinal system (GI). It hasn't been studied in children under the age of 6 months, so it isn't recommended until children are older than that. It was only available in prescription form until the FDA approved it for OTC use in 1984.
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/drug-information/DR602345

Tylenol is a completely different chemical and also works as a pain reliever, fever reducer. It tends to be gentler on the stomach than ibuprofen (generally). It's been on the market since the 1950s and is generally safe.

There's really no rhyme or reason to why you'd want to alternate between the two. Once the antibiotic is in his system a few days, the inflammation may be reduced to the point you don't need anything (other than for teething).

The people who have recommended talking to a pharmacist/doctor are right on the money. Don't ever be afraid to question their advice/opinions. If I hadn't, I never would have been diagnosed with cancer when the first physician said he wasn't too concerned.

It was always recommended to me (even for myself) that you alternate the ibuprofen and tylenol. The amoxicilin is an antibiotic, tylenol is an analgesic pain reliever and ibuprofen is an anti-inflammatory. Look at the dosing directions for the tylenol and ibuprofen. If you do the math, you will notice that you can't give them quite enough through the course of a day to cover every moment without surpassing the "over dose" limit. So the answer is to alternate the tylenol and ibuprofen. If the tylenol is to be given every four hours and the ibuprofen also every four hours, then what you do to give them a pain free day is to give them the tylenol, then three hours later give them the ibuprofen, then three hours later the tylenol again etc. (this way it's actually 6 hours between doses of the same med. but they are getting some form of relief on a frequent and consistent schedule). Tylenol and ibuprofen can be combined at need without risk of overdose as long as they are the original formulas and not a combo medicine that may already have some of the other one, or some aspirin in it.

Call a local Wal-Greens or all night pharmacy and ask a professional. All of us mom's have our own opinion and who knows if we are telling you what is exactly correct for your baby.

Ibuprofen is an anti-inflammatory drug. It reduces swelling and relieves pain. If he doesn't have a fever then I would say skip the Tylenol all together.

I never give both Tylenol and Ibuprofen at the same time. I would be afraid of a tummy upset or an allergy to one or the other and then not knowing which one it was. But the switching off works well. One reduces the irritation and swelling and the other fights the pain. Ibuprofen (Motrin) is an every 8 hours med and Tylenol is less time apart.

Amoxicillin is an antibiotic so that's a separate issue and you should give it as the doctor directed and finish the bottle that was prescribed to you.

Tylenol and ibuprofen should be alternated but can be used together. You are supposed to give Tylenol first because it is more gentle on the stomach and has less side effects, however, if the fever does not go down within 4-6 hrs, you can go ahead and give the ibuprofen before the 4-6 hrs is up. This is to ensure the fever doesn't go higher. Same thing with the Ibuprofen. If you start with Ibuprofen and 6-8 hrs is not up, but the fever is not controlled, you can give Tylenol.

However, if the fever is controlled, just use Tylenol every 4-6 hrs or Ibuprofen every 6-8 hrs. Don't use both together if the fever is controlled.

One important point is not to exceed the maximum dose you can give within 24 hrs. For Ibuprofen, do not give more than 4 doses daily. For Tylenol, do not give more than 5 doses daily. Every bottle is different though (infant vs children's, etc) so check your bottle for the specific amounts.

My daughter had fever seizures twice and we had to bring her to the hospital so we do keep both Tylenol and Ibuprofen around just in case one is not sufficient in controlling the fever and we do give her both to prevent the seizures if one is not controlling it. Oh yeah, this info was instructed to me by our pediatrician as well as the ER doc.

I would also check to make sure your bottles of medicine are not recalled.

http://www.mcneilproductrecall.com/page.jhtml?id=/include...

I know there are a lot of opinions below, but I would trust your pediatrician...if you don't you might want to consider switching.

I did however ask my friend who is almost finished with med school, and he said because they all act differently in the body you can take all three at once. I myself do not love giving my daughter tons of meds, but when she had 5 teeth coming in at once giving her motrin and Tylenol is all that helped. Definitely check into the recalls, but Target brand works just fine for us (and is cheaper)!

he can have the antibiotic ( Amoxacilin) and Tylenol OR Ibuprofen, but should not take Tylenol and Ibuprofen at the same time...a lot of times a Dr. might tell you to alternate Tylenol and Ibuprofen if a fever is involved. I don't know if Tylenol helps with swelling or not, but I Know Ibuprofen does. My pediatrician told me I shouldn't use orajel or anbesol and he told me I could rub the Ibuprofen on my babies gums to help with teething pain. If you are not sure how much to dose your child I would not hesitate to call your doctors office, usually they have a nurse practitioner available to answer questions like that. Don't be embaressed, much better to ask the question instead of over dosing your son.

You can absolutely give them all 3 at the same time... none of them interact with each other (known as "contraindicated"), or "double" each other. (Ex of doubling is taking 2 different med brands that have the same meds in them). Tylenol & Ibuprofen work REALLY REALLY WELL TOGETHER, because they complement each other.

In most cases they're not necessary to combo the 2... but for dental pain, ear infection, and resistant fevers, post delivery, as well as many many others... the standard thing is to give both at the same time.

Follow the doctor's orders. She's on the money. And if you ever have any Q's about meds, ask them. Even if you remember or think of it later, just give a call to the 24/7 nurse hotline.

EDIT: The only reason to "stagger" tylenol and ibuprofen is to see if a fever is responding (aka, it isn't, so you hit it with the other one as well... and then you HAVE to stagger them... or wait until the time has run out for the next dose for the 2nd one you gave), or to see if one is enough to mediate the pain all on it's own. But it really is standard care to not stagger them in the case of high or resistant fevers, ear infections, dental work, etc. There's no need to. Staggering, you're still getting all of both meds in everything except the *beginning*.

Doctors and nurses frequently tell patients to stagger meds, but those are for SPECIFIC situations. In your specific circumstance, your doc told you to double hit.

We were told to do this once for an ear infection. Acctually, the nurse came in and dosed our daughter with both tylenol and motrin to bring down a high fever (her fever spiked just as we came in.) It is not unheard of, but we were only told to do this for a fever above 103 (hers was 105.) I would call the pediatrician to confirm what they said, and if you are concerned, ask them why, that is their job to tell you!

I would follow doctors orders, or find a doctor whose orders you feel comfortable with.

M.

call your pharmacist to ask for the timing of the meds and have the baby's bed elevated a little so the ears will drain or you can have him sleep in his car seat with extra padding. Good luck

Usually you alternate the ibuprofin and tylenol every few hours - don't give them at the same time. You can always call the ped's office back for clarification if you need info about something.

If your son is teething, I would strongly suggest you try Hyland's teething tablets. These are homeopathic - they are completely safe and you can give them while he is taking his antibiotics or anything else. You may not need to give him the ibuprofin or tylenol if these work well for him, though (once his ear infection is better, that is). They worked great for my daughters. You just put a pellet or two in his mouth and they dissolve quickly. You can get them at pharmacies or health food stores or Wal Mart and other grocery stores now. If the teething is really bad, you can give them pretty frequently (like every couple of hours or every hour and a half). I swore by the teething tablets and they are much gentler and safer than the ibuprofin and tylenol.

You actually should alternative the two tylenol and ibuprofin. I believe it is every 3 hrs you switch from one to the other. It will give your little one some comfort for the pain of the ear infection and the teething as well. Good Luck.

my doctor recommends switching up the tylenol and ibuprofeon every 6 hours. you will definatly want to ask the doctor or the pharmacist how often to switch up the meds. I used to do switch every 4 hours, and the doctor told me that's actualy dangerous, as they have too much meds in their body, and every 6 is what they should do. So definatly ask them.

I agree with contacting the doctor, but thought I'd add a little. My guess is between teething and the ears, you were told to give both (for a dose, maybe 2) just to get ýour kiddo on top of the pain and then start a stagger of the two with after Tylenol set timer for 4 hrs and after Motrin set timer for 6 hrs (I'd do it around the clock and set an alarm for the middle of the night-write it on a piece of paper what med and dose you are on so you remember which med you are on when you wake up in the middle of the night) to help keep your kiddo on top of the pain.You can give all three at once if needed for immense pain or high fever for a dose, meybe 2-ibuprofen (Motrin, Advil) goes through the kidney while acetaminophin (Tylenol) is filtered through the liver which is why you are okay taking them at once and/or overlapping them a bit- I have to do that when I start with migraines on occasion. I will add though to be careful if you or your child are ever taking other meds, such as cold medicine, because they can have Tylenol/acetaminophen in them already and if you start taking more Tylenol, that is something that can be overdosed on VERY easily- so make sure to read the back of other meds you (or your child in the future as he gets older) are taking. Overall, I prefer to use the ibuprofen over Tylenol in general, but do the overlapping quite often with fevers and teething! Overall, any questions you have, contact your doctor...and I would find out if in the future if they have an after hours #-I love my doctor office because their on-call answering service is the nurses at the Denver's children's hospital so I know I am getting quality information for all my after hours emergency questions!

Edit: make sure you check teething tablets ingredients before you buy-some are not as innocent as people make them out to be (some can have caffeine in them)!

My doc has always told me to space it out every two hours. So Amox. first, and since it is an antibiotic you can give the tylenol an hour later, then alternate the tylenol with the ibuprofin or Motrin every 2 hours. I would be a bit uncomfortable with that much medication at one time primarily since Ibuprofin and Amoxicillin both can cause a tummy ache.

Good luck, teething and ear infections are the worst!

I wouldnt attem to administer rolling doses of acetominophen and ibuprofen if you're not sure how to do it.

Your best bet is to all your doc's office and ask the nurse to give you a schedule to follow.

Also - check your medicine cabinets to make sure you dont have any recalled tylenol or advil on hand!!

I have recently heard from my daughter that these meds are sometimes overlapped to deal with severe discomfort or fever. Both act differently in the body, so the results can be additive. Both have different potential negative effects – ibuprofen is more likely to irritate stomach/gut and can cause internal bleeding – acetaminophen can poison the liver.

So be sure you ONLY give as advised by a pediatrician, and only in the doses recommended. If you are not sure what the instructions were, ask the doc again before administering both. It may be possible to find other ways to comfort your poor little guy. Hope he feels better soon.

Wait, wait, wait.... you are getting some interesting info here... Tylenol can be given every 4 hours, ibuprofen every 6 hours sometimes they match up and are taken at the same time and it is fine and other times, they are a couple hours apart and thats fine too. I wouldn't do this for a really long time, under a week, but it fine to do. Tylenol is a fever, pain reducer and ibuprofen is an anitinflaitory that can also help reduce fever. I have found that ibuprofen does nothing for my kids and fever but it is more effective for pain. Give it with food, a snack is fine but make sure he has something in his stomach especially with ibuprofen it can be hard on the tummy. This is info from my dentist and my doctor. I have 4 children and this has never failed me. Hope this helps clarify. S.

Give him the Ammoxicillin and Ibprofin, then in 4 hours give him Tylenol, then 4 hours Ibprofin, alternate approximately every 4 hours and he will be pain free. Write it down to keep track. Give him ammoxicillian at meals to avoid confusion. Hope he feels better soon :(

I don't see why you would use both Tylenol and Ibuprofen together. I have heard of people alternating them in order to reduce the chance of side effects. Ibuprofen will actually work better in your case because it is also an anti-inflammatory and will work better for the teething and ear infection. It is definitely ok to give the antibiotic with either one of them.

I would call the doctor back and ask and make sure they want both tylanol and motrin since they both do the same thing I would assume they want you to do one or the other, not both.

The amoxicilin is an antibiotic, so you can give that as often as your doctor directs. The Tylenol and Motrin can be alternated every 3 hours to keep fever down. Do NOT give BOTH Tylenol (acetomenaphin) and Motrin (ibuprofen) at the same time. You likely will have to get generics of these because of the recall. Start with the Motrin and then 3 hours later, give Tylenol, then 3 hours later, Motrin again. I would only do this for the first 24 hours and then just see how he does once the antibiotics begin to work. Personally, I don't like to give medication just for the sake of giving it, but my son had a virus this week and his fevers were getting above 103 degrees, so I alternated meds for 24 hours just to make him comfortable so that he could sleep some. I stopped them today to see how he would do and he didn't get a fever today, so I would just give that a try and see how he is after a day. Hope this helps!