Gave my 3 year old too much ibuprofen. Panicking

[aleenaa]

Hi. My child has been ill going on day three. Ear infection. Painful tonsils. Conjunctivitis. Just the lot. He's on antibiotics and I've been giving him Calpol and ibuprofen. Honestly Calpol really doesn't do much only ibuprofen helps. After taking him doctors I stopped by the chemist. Without realising I was giving the 7-12 years one instead of the 3m to 7 years. He was due a dose so I gave him 5ml only to realise it was the wrong packaging. I instantly rang the pharmacy and they said I'd basically given him a double dose and he should be fine as long as I don't give him any more today. This was a 3pm. 5 hours on he seems fine and I obviously haven't given another dose. Out of fear I've not given Calpol either and would rather just weight until 8am when 24 hours are up. He's on the small size for his age.

I've never messed up like this . Any advice ? I can't stop worrying even though he seems fine

The pharmacist would have told you to get to a&e if there was ANY risk of harm so try not to panic

The pharmacist told you he’d be fine and not to worry. They have significantly more medicinal training than the average MNer.

He will be absolutely fine. The doses in OTC meds are below the limit that is actually safe to avoid accidental overdosing. You haven’t given him another dose as told so he will be perfectly fine. If he was in hospital the dose administered would possibly have been higher but still under the safe limit so don’t worry (I’m a nurse)

So we have done the same thing with an adult- husband didn't realise the new tablets were twice the strength of the old ones and took his usual two, so double dosed.

Medical advice was the hospital can give twice what they say on the packets for home use and not to worry- the usual home doses are playing it very safe and are half what you could take under doctors orders and be ok.

He will be fine. There is room for human error with OTC medication.

Trust the pharmacist and give calpol if needed tonight. Start the day a fresh tomorrow.
Don't stress, we live and learn.

Thank you so much! I've been such an anxious mess. It's definitely a lesson learned. I threw the whole bottle in the bin 😭 thankfully my partner bought the right bottle after work. Could I please ask how long I can keep giving ibuprofen as he's on day 3 right now. I heard it's recommended to only give 3 days? The antibiotics should be finishing tomorrow but fever still hasn't broke. Thank you

Thank you! What a relief . It's for sure a lesson learned .

Don’t worry. My partner gave our baby double the dose. 111 said it was fine. Ibuprofen isn’t like paracetamol and overdose isn’t that usual

And do give him paracetamol if he’s in pain. They don’t interact!

Yes I will be doing. I think I was just being paranoid since he's having so many things at once bless him. He's doing fine so far but I'll be keeping an eye out thank you

I double dosed my DS with Calpol once, rang 111 in a panic and they said kids could tolerate a double dose once in a while. Hope your DC improves. Definitely take him back to GP if needs be

His antibiotics finish tomorrow so I'll give it another two days and if the fever isn't gone back to the docs we go. Just went with my eldest child today. Must be something viral going around 😩

Should be fine, give them plenty of water and call 111 if worried

You can keep giving Ibuprofen for longer than 3 days. The recommendation is to speak with a doctor if you get to more than 3 days (but it's not going to hurt if you speak to them on day 4 / 5 / 6 or even 7) as taking it longer term can be bad for your stomach so the GP might consider prescribing something to help protect the stomach lining.

If the fever is still going and DC is still in some discomfort once the antibiotics are finished it's probably worth a trip back to the GP anyway just to check they have actually worked / if something else needs doing or if you just need to wait it out.