Nurofen & Panadol - how much?

[Danielle]

Hey there...

Today my little 2 1/2 year old little girl had a terrible accident and fell on our tiles, her foot is all swollen, we took her to the hospital and they said it was only sprained, but they could not get her to hold her foot still to even check her bones in her foot - hence why i am taking her to my GP tomorrow, she cannot put any weight on her foot what so ever it is swollen and purple and she cant walk - its very difficult telling a 2 1/2 year old they cant walk.

So the doctor up there said we could give her nurofen and panadol... I know it is allowed for severe pain cause we have had to do it before with high temps and other bad pain.

I forget though, when and how much of each I can give to her, I know the dosages, but not sure how it works to alternate them again its been a while since Ive had to do it, I called my GP to see but he hasnt rang back and she is in agony...

Can anyone help???

please???

thanks

[Arimeh]

I start with the panadol because it acts quicker, and then two hours later, dose with nurofen. Then two hours after that go panadol, nurofen, pandol.
You shouldn't need to exceed the recommended dose (because sleeps are included) although I know some people don't recommend dosing them with both.
I always dose with both with ear infections or tonsillitis cos he seems to be only calm when I do that.
Sorry that she hurt herself, poor little thing
Good luck
HTH!!

[bigbird2girls]

Try some painstop from the chemist as well. Only for over 2 yr olds though!!
hth
jen

[~Kim~]

You can give panadol NO MORE than 4 times in any 24hour period and
Nurofen NO MORE than 3 times in a 24 hour period.
So whether you give the panadol 4hourly (waking hours only) or 6 hourly (around the clock) the maximum dose per 24 hours remains the same.
Panadol overdoses are quite serious and the antedote is way worse.

[New Dawn]

I always thought when told to double dose its a dose of both at the same time to knock the pain on the head and then like the packet said every 4/6 hrs with one only then the next 4/6 hrs the other one iykwim

you could always ring a pharamcy(sp?) as they would know otherwise ring any hospital and ask them kids ward are always best other the ED

[Schmickers]

There are no specific rules for paracetamol and ibuprofen, as they do not interact. You can give them both at the same time, or alternate them if you wish. Just be sure to follow the directions on the bottle according to age, and that means all of the directions - as pointed out, paracetamol can be given every four hours, but no more than four times in a day.

[Michelle71]

To add to that - if she can't walk and hasn't been able to since she hurt herself there could be a broken bone. Did she have an xray?? It is not usual for a 2yo to sprain / strain an ankle.

As for the panadol / nurofen - follow the instructions on the bottle closely. Painstop is a stronger medication - available from the chemist but I am not sure if they give it to 2yo (we do in hospital) but it also contains some paracetamol (panadol) so be careful with the dosing.

For tonight - ice pack over a tea towel and foot up in the air to try to stop the swelling and help with the pain. Good luck.

[Danielle]

Well, I took her up the hospital and they said it was too difficult to xray her foot trying to lay her down! She was screaming like someone was killing her so they only x-rayed the bone between her knee and foot and I clearly told them it was her foot that was the problem, so the doctor told us at the hospital that she had sprained her ankle without proof of a foot x-ray that there wern't broken bones and told us to go home! I thought this was really cruel, because we have been up all night, and they didnt even strap her foot up or nothing so I booked her into my GP today he referred us to a private x-ray clinic this time and they were great.. took the x-rays with her sitting up no worries at all they got 3 photos of her foot. Turns out there is no breakages but pretty severe swelling on her upper foot, we go back to the GP tomorrow I think he wants to put her foot in a little cast for a week to at least keep it still for her cause we are having so many problems with her bumping it and so on... the poor little bugger she doesnt understand why she cant walk, and its hard carrying a 15kg 3 year old around everywhere.

So thats it anyhow thanks for the replies on the nurofen and panadol thingy, I am just giving her them together but every 6 hours... safer so we know we wont overdose her by alternating them both and loosing track of dosages...

thanks again!

[Arimeh]

Poor little thing.
Hope she starts to feel better soon.

[Mother Goose]

Hi Danielle,

Good on you for giving them together - it does make it easier to remember where you're up to. Also, the Royal Children's Hosital of Melbourne now (since a couple of years ago) recommends when using both neurophen and panadol together, to give them at the same time for better pain relief. When alternating the two, the child does not get the full analgesic effect of with drug. Hope that makes sense.

MG