5 Compelling Reasons why Infant Tylenol beats Motrin and Advil!
Written: Aug 22 '04
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Convenient dispenser, works so well, flavor is received well by children
Cons: Red dye may be a pain to wash off.
The Bottom Line: I couldn't be happier with the efficacy and easy-of-use of this product. It's also a much better value than the ibuprofen-based alternatives.
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| stlmom's Full Review: Concentrated Tylenol Infants' Drops Cherry Flavo 0... |
With two kids under the age of three, our household has weathered its share of fevers, aches and pains. Having been around the block a few times and having tried an array of infant medicines on the market, I can say with great confidence that I am most satisfied with the performance of Tylenol Concentrated Infants' Drops in the Cherry Flavor.
GENERAL PRODUCT DESCRIPTION
Tylenol Concentrated Infants' Drops is an acetaminophen-based fever reducer and pain reliever; in other words, there is no aspirin at all in this product. This over-the-counter infant product comes in two sizes, 0.5 ounces and 1.0 ounce. The drops incidentally come in two flavors, grape and cherry but since my children prefer the cherry, this is the particular product that I have chosen to review.
When you bring the box home, you will open it to find a small bottle inside along with some instructions. For the safety of your child, each bottle is wrapped almost entirely in plastic which can be removed easily by following the perforated lines along the side of the bottle. Of course, if this plastic is not completely intact, you should return the product immediately to your vendor and report the incident to the manufacturer, McNeil Consumer & Specialty Pharmaceuticals, at 1-800-962-5357.
The 1.0 ounce bottle is approximately three inches tall and is topped with a large white dropper. The dropper is secured on to the fluid container with a child-proof lock that requires the person opening the medicine to press down firmly while turning. If you pull the dropper out of the fluid, you will notice two measurement levels displayed in white, .4ml and .8ml. When the red cherry medicine is actually inside the dropper, the white font is quite legible and relatively easy to read. To prevent messy spills, the container has also been designed to include a stopper of sorts which prevents fluid from escaping as easily as it would without this contraption.
On the side of the bottle, you will note some basic directions and dosing instructions along with the product’s lot number and expiration date. With all medicines, you should carefully examine the expiration date to ensure that it has not passed. (Side note: While some medicines can actually be dangerous after the expiration date others lose efficacy; in the interest of not taking any risks when it comes to child safety, I would recommend reviewing and observing the expiration date carefully. In fact, do examine the expiration date while in the store! I have found on more than one occasion products on the shelves that were within one year of expiration. Since you may not use the full contents of the product in a short time, it’s smart to find a good expiration date.) If you examine the directions on the side of the bottle, you will notice that the manufacturer has instructed that the user shake the bottle well before using, find the right dose, fill dose to the appropriate level and then dispense slowly to the child, toward the inner cheek. The instructions go one to indicate that the dosage can be repeated every four hours, but not more than 5 times within 24 hours.
FOR WHICH AILMENTS CAN THIS MEDECINE BE USED?
According to the manufacturer, Tylenol Concentrated Infants' Drops can relieve minor aches and pains due to the common cold and flu, headaches, sore throat , as well as pains from immunizations and toothaches. My family has personally used this product in all of the instances listed above and I’ve found it to be quite effective in relieving our children of pain and discomfort. We’ve been particularly pleased with the soothing effect it has had on our children which are very difficult teethers. Since the numbing effect of Orajel can be overly tingly at times, we’ve had much better luck with the longer lasting, less irritating impact of a dose of Tylenol.
IS IT BETTER THAN INFANT ADVIL or INFANT MOTRIN?
As promised, I’m going to tell you exactly why I believe Tylenol Concentrated Infants' Drops are better than Infant Advil or Infant Motrin. I’ve tried them all! I remember going to the pediatrician with my sick son, just hoping that the doctor would tell me that he was now old enough to try the fabled wonder-drugs Infant Motrin and Infant Advil. Well, sure enough, he did reach that magic age eventually and I gave them both a shot. In the end, I cam right back to Tylenol for the following reasons:
#1: When your child is really, really sick you want to do something to help them. Because Infant Motrin and Advil last longer (which is theoretically great), you can only dispense medicine to them once every 8 hours. I prefer a product which allows for a dispensing interval of four hours because it allows me more frequent assessment of my kids’ condition.
#2: I’m not a fan of the syringes used to dispense Infant Motrin and Infant Advil. They’re easy to lose track of and hard to keep completely clean when not in use. The screw on dropper of Tylenol is easier to use in the middle of the night, easier to travel with and much better received by baby.
#3: I personally go through my bottles of Infant Motrin and Infant Advil much faster than my Tylenol. Because Infant Motrin and Infant Advil force you to dispense at 8 hour intervals, you may be medicating your child longer than her or she really needed. In addition, dosing for Tylenol requires less fluid per use than Infant Motrin and Infant Advil. For a 12-17lb child, most doctors recommend .8ml of Tylenol, while Infant Motrin is recommended at 1.25ml.
#4: Personally, I have found the efficacy of Tylenol to be more impactful than Infant Motrin and Infant Advil. When my daughter has a fever of 105 at 6 months, we ran to the store and bought Infant Motrin. I can’t tell you exactly why, but it just didn’t bring her fever down. When the 8 hours passed, I was so happy to be able to give her Tylenol Concentrated Infants' Drops. They worked like a charm and her fever broke within an hour. There are always many elements involved in a given child’s particular reaction to a drug, but I know that in the future I will have greater confidence in Infant Tylenol than the others.
#5: Tylenol Concentrated Infants' Drops are less expensive. If you’ve been down the medicine aisle lately, you know what a freakin’ rip-off these drugs are. Walgreen’s currently sells Infant Tylenol (1oz) for $8.49, while Infant Motrin and Infant Advil both run about a dollar more at $9.49.
BUT ARE THERE ANY DOWNSIDES TO THIS PRODUCT?
It can be sticky and I'm not thrilled with the fact that it is red. If a bit spills on my child's collar, it is more difficult to wash off than some of the other product dyes.
OVERALL ASSESSMENT
So there you have it. We love our Tylenol Concentrated Infants' Drops and I would recommend them to anyone with a child under the age of two. For the record, I did taste the Cherry flavor for the purposes of this review (oh the things we do for Epinions) and I found it to be pleasant enough. I guess there is a reason my daughter is so happy to see this bottle when I have to pull it out!
Thanks for taking the time to read through my review. If you have any questions at all about this product, feel free to go to the manufacturer’s website at http://www.tylenol.com/ and please don’t hesitate to contact me.
Recommended:
Yes
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stlmom
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Location: St. Louis, MO
Reviews written: 89
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"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." Martin Luther King, Jr.
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