paracetamol vs. ibuprofen? what's more safe for baby?

cancangirl · October 2010

i heard that ibuprofen is better to give to children because it keeps their fever down for a longer period of time pero may mga side effects daw.

paracetamol is the safest pero not as effective.

actually, the doctor prescribed ibuprofen pero i'm just not sure kasi marami nga akong naririnig about it.

what is your experience when it comes to fever medicine? which one is better?

F-A Soldier · October 2010

Depends on the dosage and depends for what. Anti-febrile/anti-pyretic, acetaminophen (generic name for 'paracetamol'---here the popular name is Tylenol).

Swelling ie if your kiddo hurt herself physically, ibuprofen.

Coughing, DM's and expectorants.

Sometimes parents don't understand that these drugs do different things. Here's a tip: before you go to the emergency, when your kid is febrile give them tylenol--wait an hour or two. Take OFF all their clothes (they're going to be feel cold but DON'T---it'll just keep their temps up, let them cry if they have to but don't cover them up---you're doing much damage than good, trust me), wait an hour or two, take tempts every 30 to 45 mins, see the difference. If by after two hours she gets worse or not really better then come to the ER.

Rectal temp is the most accurate. <====It doesn't hurt them. (My biggest gripe about parents). Esp if taken properly, so dont' fuss over it. It's better to be safe than sorry, tympanic temperature is SO INACCURATE, give or take two degrees depending. And good luck taking anyone under fours' temperature orally.

Another thing as well: MAKE SURE THEY RETAIN IT. If you force them to drink it they tend to **** it out later. Be creative and somewhat forceful. So what if you pinch their nose and squirted it, they might cry but they won't go into shock because you were scared to hurt your kid.

Also maintain hydration. It's easy to tell in children, 1. tears or lack of it 2. dryness of skin 3. capillary refill of fingers---if you pinch their fingers and it stays 'white' for more than a half second she/he is slightly dehydrated (their cardiac output is so much more than adults---they suppose to beat around 110-30/m depending on the age, so if the blood don't get to the capillaries of their fingers, their volume or output is either out of whack or compensating for either one or the other)

Most virals infections aren't going to be 'cured' by antibiotics/antivirals (if so at a great cost as well)----so much usage of antiobiotics/virals are bad for their health, they become less able to fight simple pathogens and strains on their own. (That's how CDIF and MRSA evolved, now we're using Vancomycin---was once thought of as a strong drug for everything because most pathogens are somewhat resistant to all other antibiotics in the market---and guess what? There's VRSA---vanco resistant infection)

Most 'illnesses' are not 'cured but 'treated', in laymen's term: treating symptoms until the body has rid the infection itself.

Dosage are DIFFERENT per drug. 160 mg a dose is big for a young adult acetaminophen, while that's within 'baby range' for motrin. Most motrins come in 200 mg per tab a dose.

NeoDyn · October 2010

Kapag may fever ako,umiinom lang ako ng tubig na marami,iniiwasan kong gamot.pero mas effective sa bata ay yung supposutory for fever dahil may mga batang isinusuka or nangangasim ang sikmura sa mga tabletas.

kim G · October 2010

i always use ibuprofen as my pedia advises,both for grown up and kids.acetaminophen i.e. tylenol here has side effect in long term use.

and in my experience as regular headache person/migraine person,advil/motrin (ibuprofen) works faster but in migraine,nothing beats tylenol 3.

F-A Soldier · October 2010

^yeah study show in most antipyretics that NSAIDs like motrin works better...BUT the studies aren't conclusive. At best the edge of ibuprofen is slight.

Also, what edges with Tylenol: suppository form and advisable for infants 6 months and younger (ibuprofen is used for children 6 months or older).

Contraindication for ibuprofen: 1. shouldn't be taken with other NSAIDs and other blood thinners 2. against cardiac patients (few children have cardiac problems, but those born with abnormal or congenital disorders, it's definitely caution) 3. tendency to irritate bowels 4. I don't have the studies, but I've encountered more people allergic to NSAID's than acetaminophen.

DELISYUS · October 2010

there are some who say that ibuprofen should not be given to a child/baby of a certain age, unless medically necessary

and there are those who don't even give paracetamol all the time, even with fever, but just do sponge baths and other homeopathic therapies... or wait and see muna talaga (esply with bigger kids, sabi nga, if you have to run after them to give them their meds, chances are, they really dont need them)

i've only given ibuprofen when my baby's temp hits 39... and i've only ever used a digital ear thermometer