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long term side effects of baby tylenol.

An acquaintance of mine has a child just over 1yr old. In the past 3 or 4 months that I have known her, I’ve seen her give her son tylenol a lot. I have seen her give it at least 2 times a week, and that’s just the times in front of me. At times it has seemed to me that she is doing it to make him drowsy. Very suddenly, yesterday, he developed a heart problem. I think she is exaggerating some of the problem, because she said his heart rate was 250? Do you think that is a far-fetched rate? Do you think the amount of tylenol she gives him could of contributed to his problem? I am very worried about this kid and asking this question is not only a source of advice/opinion, but also a bit of a vent for me because it is almost 1:30am where I am and I have no one to talk to about this.

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Answer #1

As long as she isn’t exceeding the limit recommended for children–120 mg every 4 hrs per day, which would =1600 mg/day. That is dosing given in hospitals, don’t know what the bottle for infants says to not exceed as I haven’t needed that for years.

Tylenol mostly affects the liver and excessive use that regularly exceeds the daily limit can eventually cause liver failure.

Do you think that if you confronted her with this that there would be a problem? Remember, at this age children are still teething. And those premolars and molars can cause A LOT of discomfort. Is the baby cranky or chewing on everything when you notice her giving it to the baby? Or is baby acting normal and is quiet?

Yes, unfortunately a lot of parents will use Tylenol when its not truly needed because it does tend to help calm baby and they fall asleep. But, again if she’s not exceeding the recommended daily dose, then baby should be ok.

And a heartbeat of 250??? Are you sure she didn’t say 150 ?? At 250 bpm–baby’s heart would have probably exploded from having to work so extremely hard to pump the blood through the body.

Answer #2

Tylenol should NEVER be given to a child who does not have a fever or is in pain. Then it should only be with the advice of a pediatrician. (Especially for a child that young). Tylenol can cause liver failure and other life threatning conditions if it is given to often. Using Tylenol just to make a child sleepy of “knock them out” is down right completely wrong. You really, if you ask me, should confront your friend about it. That is not right.

Answer #3

I worked at a day care, and a baby had colic, and the mother bought baby tylenol on a friday, and by monday the bottle was almost gone.. It’s sad because some parents just do it to knock them out.

There’s a lot of risks, especially for a kid that young. I found a website, it might be useful. :) http://parenting.families.com/blog/children-are-at-risk-for-deadly-tylenol-overdose

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