Yesterday, I listened to a terrifying This American Life show, “Use Only As Directed.” It details how frighteningly easy it is to overdose on Tylenol (rather, acetaminophen). You only have to take something like 2.5 times the recommended dose over the course of not that many days in order to cause severe liver damage and/or death. (In comparison, you have to go something like 20 times over the recommended dose of aspirin to have similarly horrific effects.) **
Even more scary to me is how easy it is to give your children an overdose of acetaminophen (such as with children’s Tylenol). The dosing recommendations are confusing (particularly for under 2, which simply says, “Ask your doctor”). They shared the story of one little baby girl who died of catastrophic liver failure after her parents were told the wrong dosage.
Having always thought that Tylenol was super safe, this was particularly scary for me. I’ve always been wary of giving my kids Tylenol. Mark has never had it and Ellie only once or twice. I’ve avoided it because even the dye-free stuff contains artificial flavoring. But now I’m particularly leery of giving them anything unless I absolutely have to.
Acetaminophen is in many other products besides Tylenol and so, even if you’re not going over the recommended does with Tylenol tablets,it’s still pretty easy to take too much.
If you use Tylenol or any other product with acetaminophen in it, please listen to the story and be ultra-extra careful when taking it and/or giving it to your children.
**I don’t remember the exact numbers and I couldn’t find the transcript to verify them. If you listen to the show, you’ll get the correct numbers.
Salmon and Souvlaki 
It’s important to note that the way tylenol is delivered has changed recently. The old “infant drops” that were very concentrated are no longer made, now it is “infant liquid” which is the same concentration as “childrens liquid” but comes with a dropper instead of a little cup. Annoying to have to get a larger volume into a baby, but it’s a change that is saving lives. In any case, you need to be careful that the dosage matches what you are using.
I usually give ibuprofin anyway because it works better. For all drugs, I use Dr. Sears’ website for dosages:
http://www.askdrsears.com/topics/parenting/childhood-illnesses/medicine-cabinet/acetaminophen
I believe Babycenter also has a chart you can download.
I always check up on what doctors tell me. My young, well educated pediatrician recently told a friend to give her infant “half a dropper”. This was a good dosage for a newborn back in the day when they were making infant drops, but 1) as a dosage, it never did made any sense and 2) this is way too high a dosage for the infant liquid that is currently on the market (comes with a 5mL dropper).
THanks Tory! I’m glad to know about those places to check. The artificial flavoring and sugar in it creeps me out too but definitely it’s good to have on hand in the event of absolute necessity. And I’m glad that there isn’t a difference between infant/child now because that was crazy.
You need to get yourself some oils 😉
Which ones do you recommend for fever and pain relief, o expert sister of mine?