Medication Dosing Charts

Something you should have on hand as a parent is a list of dosing charts.

Your kids will get sick and it is helpful to know how much medication they will need. On the medication they typically have dosing for over the age of 2. What do you do when you have a kid under 2?

Check out these dosing tables from the ST Louis Childrens Hospital.

I want to highlight some useful things I’ve learned.

1. Read the stuff at the bottom of the dosing table. The information there is helpful.
2. If your child is under 12 weeks old (3 months) and they have a fever: Go to the doctor because that is not normal.
3. Use an appropriate syringe. Syringes are the most accurate way to give a dose. There are various different sizes of syringe sold with different types of medication. For example, infant tylenol will typically come with a 5ml syringe that is marked at 1.25ml, 2.5ml, 3.7ml5, and 5ml. A children’s tylenol will typically come with a different syringe that will handle 10ml, at dosages of 2.5ml, 5ml, etc. Make sure you have the syringe that allows you to accurately give the appropriate dose.
4. Alternating painkillers is very helpful. If your child is old enough to take them, you can alternate acetaminophen and ibuprofen. Give them one, and then 3-4 hours later, the next one. Choose an alternation schedule that will let you get some sleep.
5. Write a note to yourself with the appropriate dosage. If you are going to be giving a medication for more than a dose or two, especially if you are going to do it at night, write a note to yourself that has the dosage (e.g. 40 mg of tylenol) and volume (eg 1.25 ml of infant or children’s strength tylenol). Also note which medication the dose is for. For example, there is usually a difference in the amount of liquid acetaminophen vs liquid ibuprofen you can give a child. Don’t leave it up to chance that you’ll get them confused when you are tired and trying to help at 2am (after not having got some sleep).
6. Only have one strength of a medication per type of medication on hand. If there are a variety of dosages per volume available, buy the one that will allow you to treat your youngest child.
7. Get used to thinking about dosages in miligrams (mg) and milliliters (ml). The conversions tend to be really easy when trying to dial in a dose.
8. Have a sticker with phone number for the local poison control nearby. It sucks when you have to make a call, but accidents happen and they can help you. When making the call, have the following information available:
   • The thing they had too much of.
   • Their age and weight.
   • How long ago it was.
   • What they have recently eaten.
9. Have extras on hand. It is amazing the number of times that I’ve had to travel to the store at 2am to grab children’s tylenol. Much better to always have a spare. You will not need it for half a year, then your $n$ kids will all need it on and off for two to four weeks.
10. Record when you gave medicine in a way you and any other caregivers can referr to later. We use a family timestamps chat

Sick kids are no fun, but hopefully