Infant paracetamol dosage

[BertieBotts]

I really struggle to get DS to take things like calpol - and now he is over a year, the dosage for his age is 5-10ml, which is nearly impossible. I find myself using baby ibuprofen instead, as the Tesco own brand version only has a dosage of 2.5ml for a 1-2 year old, which is much easier and less stressful to get down him. I noticed that this is less than baby nurofen, which recomends 5ml for 1-3 year olds. I don't really understand this as they are both 100mg per 5ml.

I have just looked on the website and calpol 6+ is 250mg per 5ml (the infant one is 120mg per 5ml) - does this mean that it would be safe to give 2-3mls of this to DS when he is in pain? He is 15 months. I am hesitant because of the 6 years + on the label, is the strength the only difference? I have tried about three or four different flavours, giving it on a spoon and a syringe and nothing seems to make a difference but being able to give less would make it a lot easier.

Sorry meant to add I think that paracetamol is a milder drug than ibuprofen, which is why I was thinking that calpol ought to be the first choice rather than ibuprofen. Is this correct?

I'm no expert, but I would avoid the older version. When at school I had a Saturday job in a chemist and the Pharmacist refused to serve a woman who wanted to buy the older version for her infant.
I wouldn't worry about ibuprofen though, this is my painkiller of choice for my little one, its effective, works quicker and for longer.

You can give 4ml of calpol 6+

We did this on dr advice when we all had giardia and kids were refusing meds

I kept trying as its much cheaper and quicker particularly with my 1yr old. However mine have decided they prefer pink one and i have tasted both and it seems sweeter.

In general, children's dosages are based on a single dose of 10mg paracetamol per kilogram bodyweight, which can be repeated 4-6 hourly, not exceeding four doses per 24 hours. Depends on DS's weight

Oh, really? Sounds like the recommended dosage is slightly too high for his weight then, I will stick to the baby one for now if I can just give less of that. I was worried that it wouldn't be as effective.

Good to know the only difference is strength though, thanks

Jaynie I am aware that a pharmacist would hesitate to sell it to a mother of a baby, however I think this is more likely to be because there are no dosage instructions for a younger child, if that makes sense.

Fair point. Sounds like alypaly knows her stuff

For paracetamol you can give 15mg per kilogram bodyweight every 6 hours - and it doesn't matter whether you use the stronger stuff (usu marketed as 6+ be it supermarket own brand or calpol, as long as you do the maths right.

So for a 10kg baby you give 150mg, which is 6.25ml of the baby solution (120mg per 5ml) and 3ml of the 6+ solution (250mg per 5ml).

The issue with paracetamol is the amount you give in a 24 hour period so you can basically give 60mg/kg within that 24 hour period which basically equates to 15mg/kg 6 hourly or 10mg/kg 4 hourly. Some children respond to a lesser amount more frequently, others seem to do better with a greater amount less frequently. Alternating ibuprofen and Calpol is good for a persistant fever (remember to give ibuprofen only 8 hourly and not on an empty stomach). The strength of the calpol is irrelevant as long as you give the correct dose.
Hope this helps

paracetamol and ibuprofen are different drugs which is why they can be taken at the same time. If my ds has a fever (cold, cough etc) i would give paracetamol first and then ibuprofen if he needs more. If however he was teething i would give ibuprofen first because of the anti-inflammatory properties