3YO given DOUBLE the usual dose of penicillin for 10 days!

[ninteeneightyx]

DD (3) just come down with a throat infection.

She had strep 8 weeks ago and was prescribed 250mg penecillin 4 times a day.

This time she was prescribed the same but when reading the leaflet it states that is the dosage for 6-10 year olds! She should be on 125mg. I called the dispensary at my doctors who spoke to the doctor who corrected it.

I am now concerned that she was on them for a whole 10 days 2 months ago. The dispensary team told me not to worry as this can happen if the doctor thinks it’s needed. I can’t see anywhere online where this is the case ? I’m really annoyed that they have basically overdosed my daughter for 10 days when surely they could have just tried another antibiotic if they wanted something to be stronger ?

can anyone help or tell me if I’m overreacting?

thanks

So did the dr think a stronger dose was needed or did they make a mistake? I’d be crosser about the latter though if they’ve said that stronger doses are safe then that’s reassuring. It’s like Calpol I guess, the doses which get given to kids via prescription in hospitals are higher than what the bottle says.

Did they calculate it on weight?

According to the BNF a child from 1 to 4 years old should be on 250mg tds. The leaflet is wrong

Think those are the lowest acceptable doses not the maximums. When DS was post-op the doses of painkillers etc were all much higher than stated on the bottles/leaflets- they were only 1! the drs prescribe and the pharmacists check- pharmacists tend to catch mistakes because they are fair more well versed with dosages.