Baby Fever: How to Safely Use Medication for Your Infant

What do mothers fear most after becoming a mother? Many mothers answer: their children’s colds and fevers! They say no child grows up without a fever, and when a child has a fever, most doctors will prescribe
Motrin or ibuprofen. Let’s know how to treat baby fever?

It’s no secret that Motrin (ibuprofen) is a highly acclaimed children’s fever-reducing medication, but some parents wonder what exactly makes Motrin so effective. In this Drug Review column, we’ll take a deeper look at Motrin.
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Fever is the body’s defensive response to pathogenic factors. Sustained high fever increases energy consumption and can even cause febrile seizures in some children . Therefore, cooling measures are necessary clinically. Common cooling methods include physical and pharmacological cooling. It is generally believed that patients with an axillary temperature below 38.5°C and a good mental state do not need to use medication to treat the fever; physical cooling can be used initially. However, patients with a history of febrile seizures require more aggressive cooling.

Table of Contents

Do you really understand Motrin and Ibuprofen for Baby fever?

Ibuprofen Suspension (100ml/30ml): Suitable for children aged 1-12 years, used to treat fever caused by the common cold or influenza. It is also used to relieve mild to moderate pain in children, such as headaches, joint pain, migraines, toothaches, muscle pain, and neuralgia.

Ibuprofen suspension drops (15ml): specially designed for infants and young children, used to reduce fever in infants and young children, and relieve mild headaches, sore throats and toothaches caused by colds and flu.

03. What are the adverse reactions and precautions of Motrin Ibuprofen?

Adverse reactions

A small number of patients may experience nausea, vomiting, stomach burning or mild indigestion, gastrointestinal ulcers and bleeding, elevated transaminase levels, headache, dizziness, tinnitus, blurred vision, mental tension, drowsiness, lower limb edema or sudden weight gain.
Rarely, rash, allergic nephritis, cystitis, nephrotic syndrome, renal papillary necrosis or renal failure, bronchospasm.

【Notes】

This product is a symptomatic treatment drug and should not be used for a long time or in large quantities. It should not be used for pain relief for more than 5 days; it should not be used for antipyretic for more than 3 days. If symptoms do not improve, please consult a doctor or pharmacist.
Use with caution in patients with the following conditions: bronchial asthma, liver and kidney dysfunction, coagulation mechanism or platelet function disorders (such as hemophilia).
Patients in the following conditions should use this product under the guidance of a physician: history of peptic ulcer, gastrointestinal bleeding, heart failure, and hypertension.
Children under 1 year old should use it under the guidance of a physician.
Do not take other medicines containing antipyretics and analgesics (such as certain compound anti-cold medicines) at the same time.
In case of overdose or serious adverse reactions, seek medical attention immediately.
People who are allergic to this product are prohibited from using it, and those with allergic constitutions should use it with caution.
Do not use this product if its properties change.
Keep out of reach of children.
Children must use under adult supervision.
If you are using other medicines, please consult your physician or pharmacist before using this product.
This product is equipped with a child safety cover. Please refer to the diagram in the instruction manual for how to open it.
If gastrointestinal bleeding or ulcers, chest pain, shortness of breath, weakness, slurred speech, etc. occur, the drug should be discontinued and a doctor should be consulted.
If a rash or allergic symptoms occur when using this product for the first time, stop taking it and consult a doctor.

Things to note: What are the drug interactions?

When this product is used together with other antipyretic, analgesic and anti-inflammatory drugs, it may increase gastrointestinal adverse reactions and may cause ulcers.
When this product is used together with anticoagulants such as heparin and dicoumarol, it may lead to prolonged prothrombin time and increased bleeding tendency.
When this product is used together with digoxin, methotrexate and oral hypoglycemic drugs, it can increase the blood concentration of these drugs and should not be used together.
When this product is used together with furosemide (furosilamide), the sodium excretion and antihypertensive effects of the latter are weakened. When used together with antihypertensive drugs, the antihypertensive effect of the latter is also reduced.
Drug interactions may occur if used with other drugs. Please consult your doctor or pharmacist for details.

Pay attention to the standard use when taking Motrin Ibuprofen

There are two dosage forms of Motrin antipyretic drugs. Motrin Ibuprofen Suspension Drops are mainly suitable for reducing fever in infants and young children aged 6 months to 3 years. They are absolutely pigment-free. The dosage table on the instructions for Motrin Ibuprofen Suspension Drops is as follows:

💊 Pediatric Dosage Guide

Age	Weight (kg)	Dosage	Notes
Under 6 months	—	—	Follow doctor’s advice
6–11 months	5.5–8.0	1 dropper (1.25 mL)
12–23 months	8.1–12.0	1.5 droppers (1.87 mL)
2–3 years	12.1–15.9	2 droppers (2.5 mL)

Merlin Ibuprofen Suspension is suitable for reducing fever in children aged 1 to 12 years. The orange-flavored suspension makes it easier for children to take the medicine. The dosage chart on the Merlin Ibuprofen Suspension package insert is as follows:

If pain or fever persists, repeat the medication every 4-6 hours, no more than 4 times in 24 hours. If the baby’s age and weight are not in the same dosage range, the dosage range corresponding to the weight shall prevail.

Therefore, every package of Merrill Lynch comes with a dedicated dropper, allowing parents to choose the appropriate dosage based on their child’s age and weight, and then use the dropper to accurately measure the medicine for their child. The more accurate the medication, the more reassured parents are.

Children should not exceed the recommended dose in the instructions for ibuprofen. Take ibuprofen every 6 hours, up to 4 times a day. Do not increase the dose or shorten the dosing interval at will. Generally, the dose should not exceed 3 days.

Ibuprofen suspension is used to reduce fever in children. It has the characteristics of fast onset, long duration and large temperature reduction. The fever-reducing process will cause the body to sweat profusely, so a large amount of water should be replenished to prevent dehydration, and the excretion process should be accelerated to help remove heat from the body. Patients with dehydration symptoms are not suitable for using ibuprofen.

Advice to parents

Do not “cover” your child when they have a fever, and make sure the child’s bedroom is at a moderate temperature;
The use of ice packs/cold showers is prohibited, and alcohol sponge baths are not recommended;
Give the child plenty of boiled water. If the child has vomiting or diarrhea, they need to be supplemented with an appropriate amount of oral rehydration salts .
Different manufacturers have different product names, such as Tylenol, Motrin, and Proflavanol, etc. Therefore, when giving medicine to your baby, you should look at the ingredients instead of the product name, otherwise there will be a risk of overdose.
Combining or alternating antipyretic medications is not recommended to prevent drug accumulation in the body and toxic side effects due to poor dosing. Combining fever-reducing medications with sponge baths is not recommended.
Fever patches cannot effectively reduce fever and have limited effects. Some children may experience increased discomfort or even allergies, so their use is not recommended.
Children should avoid long-term use of such drugs, and the course of treatment should not be > 1 week.

Antipyretics only relieve children’s fever symptoms, and their effectiveness can only last for a few hours. After the pharmacological effects in the body are eliminated, the body temperature will rise again. While reducing fever, the primary disease should be actively treated. If the condition is serious, please seek medical attention in time, and use antipyretics reasonably under the guidance of a doctor or pharmacist.

After reading this article, I believe everyone will have a deeper understanding of Motrin Ibuprofen. The above views are for reference only, and the specific effects vary from person to person.

Everyone is welcome to leave a message on our WeChat backend to share your experience of using this product. If you want to know more about other medicines, you can also leave a message to the editor. We will continue to share other medicines with you in the next issue!