Is 9 mls of amoxicillin 3 times a day too high for a 4 year old ?

[Irishmomma14]

Hi there ,
Just checking to see if anyone else was prescribed a high dosage . My son is 4 and def under 40 kilo . Seems a bit high and they gave me 3 bottles for 10 days ??.

Check with your pharmacist

Without knowing a lot more clinical information there is no way anyone on MN can advise. As PP suggested - ask your pharmacist, this is their exact area of specialism

Is there any way that you could check with the Dr who prescribed it? My DS has been prescribed 10 ml doses a couple of times since the age of 5, and I was told by the Dr that children should be prescribed the adult dose from that age. The pharmacy that I've taken the prescriptions to has always questioned the dosage when I've handed it over, so I'm not sure that they would be the ones to ask. 9 ml does seem an unusual dose too.

The NICE guidelines are here
AFAIK the recommended dose for children was increased within the last year or so which may be why it looks a lot

We got prescribed amoxicillin 2x 5ml 3 times a day for 5 days by a locus.
We queried length of prescription with GO surgery as it was for Scarlet Fever and we though a longer course was needed.
GP said that was almost Iv strengt antibiotics and reduced it down to 1 x 5mls for 7 days.

She also confirmed that it wouldn’t do any harm ( we had been giving him that for 2 days)

If unsure I would definitely check with GP

PS my DS is 3 so younger than your child

What is the dosage in mg on the bottle?

Just checked in the BNF and if it's the 250mg/5ml suspension then it is perfectly fine. 9ml would be 450mg. Standard dose is 250mg for 1-4 year olds (500mg for 5-11 year olds, so he's on the cusp really) but he can have up to 30mg per kilo (so if he's 25kg, that would be 750mg) three times a day so absolutely fine.

Generally dispensing pharmacists are very good and pulling up if anything looks wrong dosage wise.

It in doubt does no harm to double check with the prescribing doctor or a pharmacy though

DS2 has just turned 5 and has just finished a course - 10ml 3x daily. GP checked the dosage in her book before prescribing, so 9ml for a 4yo sounds about right.

it depends on the concentration of the medication as WHO has pointed out.