You may have heard of the recall of several types of children’s cold medicines not too long ago.  You may have even been scared that such dangerous medicine was ever available.  What you might not know, is that the medicines were not dangerous at all.  The problem was parents overdosing their children without even knowing it.

Baby Medicine vs. Toddler Medicine vs. Adult Medicine

The key to all of the confusion is the way over the counter medications are produced.  For an adult, Tylenol, for example, comes in several pill formats.  Each pill contains a certain amount of acetaminophen, typically 325mg for Regular Strength Tylenol or 500 mg for Extra Strength Tylenol.  As an adult, you swallow the pill with some water; no big deal.

For toddlers, asking them to swallow a pill with water is a little too much.  Their small throats plus lessor control over both their swallowing and gag reflex makes standard pills a choking problem waiting to happen instead of helpful medicine on the way.  Instead, toddler formulas of Tylenol, typically called Children’s Tylenol, are a liquid.  The liquid contains 160 mg of acetaminophen in 5 ml of liquid, which equals 1 teaspoon.  In other words, there is approximately 1/2 dose of adult Tylenol in each teaspoon of Children’s Tylenol.  If you give your child two teaspoons of Children’s Tylenol, it is the same thing as giving them one Regular Strength Tylenol pill.

For babies, pills are of course out of the question.  But, babies also can’t be expected to take a lot of liquid either.  So, in Infants’ Tylenol Drops, there is 80 mg for every 0.8 ml.  In other words, there is 100 mg of acetaminophen in every 1 ml of Infant Tylenol.  Another way to put it is that in the same 5 mL that dosage that Children’s Tylenol uses to provide just 160 mg of medicine, there is 500 mg of acetaminophen, which is the equivalent of one whole adult extra strength dosage.

So, what’s the problem?

There isn’t one, as long as you measure correctly and accurately.  But, if you think “close enough” as you measure out a teaspoon of medicine for your child, you might be causing a big problem.

This is exactly what was happening with those children’s cold medicines that got recalled.  Parents who either lost the measuring cup from last time, or those who weren’t precise about their measurements were giving their children “just a little bit” over the proper dosage.  However, as you can see above, just a little bit makes a huge difference in the more concentrated infant formulas.  Even worse, since babies have small bodies, each extra bit counts for a high percentage of total body weight.  So, when a baby that was supposed to get EXACTLY 2 mL got APPROXIMATELY 2 mL, they got the equivalent of 1 3/4 doses or maybe even 2 doses.  Couple that with a parent impatient to wait the full amount of time in between dosages and you have a recipe for a big overdose of cold medicine, so rather than run the risk, the FDA pulled these types of medications.

Medical Measuring Syringes Used For Baby and Toddler Medications

The good news is that you aren’t really missing out on anything.  Most pediatricians recommend against giving babies or toddlers medicines with multiple ingredients like most cold medicines.  The bad news is that even with something like Children’s Tylenol or Children’s Motrin, you still want to be very precise with your measurements.  Since babies and even some toddlers aren’t all that good at making sure everything in the little cup ends up in their mouth, you need something better.

If you get a prescription medication for your baby or toddler, the pharmacy will include a little oral delivery syringe with the medication to measure it with.  These syringes are made of a clear-ish plastic and marked on the side with amounts indicating how much liquid is held in the syringe at each level.

The syringe works by placing the tip into the liquid and then drawing back the plunger.  This sucks up the liquid medicine.  Then, using the lines on the side of the syringe, you can push the plunger back down squirting the liquid back into the container until you have EXACTLY the right measurement.  Place the tip inside baby’s mouth and slowly press down on the plunger.  This ensures that all of the medicine ends up helping the baby, and none of it ends up on his face.  It also ensures that she does not get any extra medication.

But, what if you don’t have a prescription and you need to give some Tylenol or Motrin (ibuprofen) to your baby or toddler?  The syringe is still the best way to go.  You can buy them as some pharmacies like Wal-greens or Rite Aid.  However, you can get them for FREE at your local Target store.  I found this out after wandering through the over the counter medicine area looking for children’s dosing syringes to buy and couldn’t find any.  When I asked the pharmacist, he wandered over to an area behind the counter and came back with two syringes!

Tips For Giving Baby Medicine

By now, you know that the only way to give a baby medicine and do it right is with a medical syringe.  Make sure you have some on hand, because you never know when a 2:00 AM trip to 7-11 to buy Children’s Motrin is coming.

Here are some other tips for giving babies and toddlers medicine.

• Aim the syringe so that it squirts into baby’s cheek and not directly into their throat, otherwise they might choke.
• For older children, press the syringe slowly and steadily and they will instinctively drink from it like a bottle.
• Replace your syringes every couple of months.  Drop by a Target store and get new ones.  Do it while you are filling a prescription (yours or anyone’s) to make it twice as nice, since they certainly have no trouble giving them out to paying customers.  (I’ve never had a request refused, nor gotten even the slightest bit of attitude about it, but you never know.)
• Clean your syringes after every use and leave the parts unassembled on a plate to dry out.
• Throw away syringes after a bout of illness is complete.  No sense keeping something around with germs on it to re-infect baby.

Make sure you use a baby syringe and follow your pediatrician’s guidelines about dosing.  Generally, dosing based on weight is better than based on age, so make sure you ask about both Children’s Tylenol and Children’s Motrin at your next visit.

Parenting, Children’s Tylenol, Children’s Motrin, Baby Medicine, Toddler Medicine

Sometimes I wonder if I’m the only parent alive who doesn’t just drop my kid off at daycare in their designer jumpsuit and think that makes me a good parent.

It is winter.  And, as much as I dislike that fact, there are some things that you just have to deal with, or as I tell my daughter, “I don’t control that, Honey.”

So, I want to build a snowman with her.  Now, I know that she isn’t good for rolling up a 48” ball of snow, but if I put my hands in the snow, she is going to put her hands in the snow.  That means, that she needs gloves, not fleece gloves, not fur gloves, not cotton or velour, or whatever else is trendy.  She needs WATERPROOF GLOVES!

Why am I shouting?  Go take a look at Children’s Place, or Baby Gap, or Old Navy, or anywhere else besides Target or Wal-mart where you buy your baby gloves and point at the real, honest to goodness, gloves that can be used in the snow.

  Find them?  Me neither. (Don’t get too excited about that ONE PAIR OUT OF TWENTY that says nylon winter gloves, they don’t come in Toddler size.)

Hey, trendy baby stores, listen up.  Some of us play with our kids and we would appreciate if you would also manufacture and sell some items for our kids instead of focusing on the my baby is a moving mannequin crowd.

That is all.

I was recently asked what advice I would give first to a new dad.  I didn’t hesitate. 

When you are calm, be calm.

When you are not worried, don’t be worried.

There will be plenty of times when you are not calm and when you are very worried.  Don’t try and add any more.

As fathers we instinctively wonder whether or not the mothers are better.  After all, it has only been in the last handful of decades that society has come around to the idea that men can be good parents, just like women can be good employees.  But, that kind of programming doesn’t undo itself overnight.

Sure, everyone says the right things, but somewhere inside, we wonder if there isn’t at least some truth to it.  Are our wives the better parents, especially with newborn babies?

The answer is irrelevant (though the answer is no, some men are better, some women are better, and mostly, both parents are just as good).  What is relevant is to not give into the temptation to follow along with the mother because you are unsure of your current status as a parent.  The mom will freak out about different things than the dad.  This isn’t a men and women issue, this is a two different people issue.  Some people think tattoos are disgusting, and others love them.  Some people can’t stand the sight of blood, and other people wonder what the big deal is.  Some moms freak out over every baby spit-up (That one smelled like bile) some dads don’t.  Some dads freak out over every red mark (Is that a spider bite?) while some moms don’t.

The point is that there will be plenty of things (very soon) that will worry you, so don’t TRY and worry about something that doesn’t worry you.  It doesn’t mean that you care less, or that you don’t love the little one as much.  It means that what is happening doesn’t seem like a big deal.  Do talk to your partner and tell them why you aren’t worried and see why they are, because these things tend to blow up especially if there is some lack of sleep coupled with some stress going on.

In short, do what you are supposed to do.  Put them on their back to sleep, feed them every 2 hours, and change their diapers regularly.  That will just about do it.  You can worry about spider bites in the morning.  Is is enough to fumigate her room, or should I do the whole house?

It turns out that the secret to baby and toddler nutrition is apple juice.  Can’t get your young one to drink enough water?  Offer them apple juice.  Can’t get your toddler to eat oatmeal?  Make it with apple juice instead of water. 

100% Pure Apple Juice

Let’s start at the beginning.  You want 100% apple juice.  Not apple juice drink, not apple juice beverage, 100% apple juice only.  Juice manufacturers are sneaky and are constantly trying to fool parents (and others) into thinking that they are getting good high quality juice when they are not.  So, the only way to be sure is to check the ingredients list.  It should say Apple Juice, and nothing else.  If it says grape juice, or sugar, or heaven forbid, high fructose corn syrup, put it back on the shelf and buy something else, no matter what the price difference is.  Otherwise, you are buying apple flavored sugar water, and the only thing that does is start your baby on the road to fatty town.

Once you have the right juice (remember Apple Juice as the only ingredient), you are ready to implement the Apple Juice Contingency.  The apple juice contingency works by using apple juice to provide a sweet and pleasant flavor for your baby in a way that does no harm to them.  In the oatmeal example above, the apple juice gives the oatmeal a sweet flavor without using sugar.  As for getting baby to drink, apple juice is a desired drink for most young ones.  Worried about giving them too much juice?  No problem.  Dilute the apple juice.  A 50/50 apple juice water mix will still be just fine for most young ones.  Many will be happy with even weaker blends.  30/70 isn’t uncommon to be fully accepted as “juice”.  The good news is that your toddler is getting plenty of water along with that juice, and at that rate of consumption you have nothing to worry about calories and sugar wise as long as we aren’t talking about 8 cups a day.

The only caution required is getting your son or daughter used to drinking only juice.  You know they are getting plenty of water, but they don’t.  You don’t want them getting it in their minds that they only like juice, so be sure to offer plenty of milk and water as well.  In fact, insist that they drink milk and water on a regular basis.

Other Juices

This technique can be used with other juices, but apple juice is what is considered a “clear liquid".  In other words, there isn’t really anything in apple juice to interfere with absorption of other food stuffs, and it won’t really fill up your baby making them full instead of eating.  You know this from your own experience.  If you just came in from a long bike ride on a hot day and there was no water only apple juice or orange juice, which would you choose to help your thirst?  The apple juice because it is lighter and closer to water.  Same thing for baby.