About Dr. Frederick Blount Expertise Pediatrician, retired. I trained at Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia some years ago and I did private practice here in Winston-Salem for 30 years until I went full time to the Wake Forest Medical School until retirement.
Pediatrics - children's tylenol and benadryl dosing question
Expert: Dr. Frederick Blount - 1/21/2005
Question Our daughter is 7 months old and 17 lbs 5 ozs. She has a runny nose and slight fever. This is the first day of her cold. Our pediatrician is not reachable until tomorrow morning.
What dosage for children's tylenol and benadryl should I give her?
Answer The dose of the Tylenol is .6cc every 4-5 hours. The dose of the Elixir Benadryl is 1/2 teaspoonful every 4-6 hours. There are perfectly safe and may make her feel better but they do not shorten the course of a cold. The Tylenol will reduce the fever and relieve pain. The restlessness is helpful to treat but there is no harm in fever; that is part of the illness and a child with fever will usually sleep more and be more quiet when awake. Just be sure she drinks a little more liquid of any kind. The Benadryl may make her drowsy, but that isn't bad for a sick infant. A good thing for a normal child but especially for a sick child in the winter time is to see that the air is saturated with moisture so all the mucus in her nose and throat will stay loose so she can get rid of is. A nasal aspirator (from any good drug store) will help a lot if her nose is stopped up. It is a way of blowing her nose. Put the glass tip of the rubber bulb against her nostril after squeezing the bulb and let go suddenly. As the air rushes into the bulb it sucks the mucus from her nose. These illnesses will last 5-7 days so don't get impatient and tell youself that you have to get some medicine to get rid of it. Nothing will hasten the process.
