Saving money at the pharmacy: Children’s Tylenol VS. Tylenol Infants’ Drops

[momsfirststop]

My son has been teething and I needed to get another bottle of Tylenol for him so I made a run to my local pharmacy. At the pharmacy I start to analyze the different Tylenol options and I was trying to figure out what the difference was between the Children’s version and the Infants Drops.
For a 1 oz bottle of the infants drops you pay $7.60
For a 4 oz bottle of the Children’s Tylenol you pay $6.89
I grabbed both boxes and asked my pharmacist what the differences were. He said they were the exact same thing the only difference was the recommended dosage. Naturally I bought the Children’s Tylenol since it was a much better deal and I know what dosage my pediatrician recommended for my son’s weight. Bottom line, if you already know what dosage your doctor recommends for your child and you want to saving some money go with the Children’s Tylenol.

*This money saving advice comes from my blog at http://momsfirststop.com/tips-and-tricks/

[lucille]

That is always good to know. We also notice that the chewables of various kids medicines were cheaper than the liquid versions. The chewables also have appropriate doses listed for fairly young kids. So as soon as our kids were old enough we swapped to the chewables and bought the store brand if available. It is a lot less mess than liquids too.

[Julie Rains]

Just be very careful about Tylenol (acetaminophen) b/c it is toxic to the liver. Here's an article from the Mayo Clinic about Watching Dosage for your Children.

I might not be that clearheaded with a sick and/or fussy child so it was helpful for me to buy the kind that was suited for my kid's ages.

[abh5e8]

hmm...i'm pretty sure the infant version is much more concentrated than the childrens. and if your dr is recommending a dosage for your lo (i'm assuming they are under 2, and thus doasage is not printed on the package) they are most likely giving you a dosage of the infant drops.

i would just double check the actual concentration of acetaminophen on both bottles and match that up to your drs recommended dose. (check with the dr for an actual concentration and amount of the drug, not just a volume).

like the pp said, this is not something you want to be mistaken about, as it is quite toxic in the wrong dose.

all that said...way to go for saving $$!! i'll definatly look into this for dd, who is getting more teeth every day, it seems.

ETA: i found a couple more links. http://www.marshallbrain.com/cp/tylenol.htm this one talks about the dangers of acetaminophen overdose to the liver.

on the tylenol website they have a dosage guide and the dosage is NOT the same amount for a child in the infant and childrens version. http://www.tylenol.com/page.jhtml?id...n/subchild.inc i'm guessing the pharmacists didn't realize exactly what you were asking. it is the same drug but the infants and childrens come in different concentrations.

a 1.6 ml dose of infant is equlivilent to a 5ml dose of the childrens, so if you compare dose to dose the infants bottle at 1 oz is still cheaper

HTH!!

[momsfirststop]

Thanks for the information.
I agree that the concentration of Tylenol is different however you can modify the dosage accordingly by working with your child's health care provider. I just took my 1 year old for his check up and the pediatrician gave me the correct dosage for using children's Tylenol.
With any medication you should definitely talk with your health care provider first.
Thanks.
Angela

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