I’ve got many parents asking me if it’s OK to alternate Tylenol with Motrin and so I thought let me post about it.
Tylenol – image licensed from Shutterstock
First few basic facts; Tylenol is the most common brand name for the generic name of the medicine which is Acetaminophen. Motrin and Advil are common brand names for the medicine Ibuprofen. Ibuprofen should not be prescribed for infants younger than six months.
Tylenol can be given every 4-6 hours. Motrin can be given every 6-8 hours. Tylenol and Motrin have different mechanisms of action and different toxicity profiles so they are OK to be given to the same child for the same illness (fever). Fever is defined by a body temperature that is 100.4 F or more.
Fever medicine – image courtesy of Shutterstock.com
You can alternate Tylenol with Motrin every 3-4 hours. The interval should never be less than three hours in between.
So if you give Tylenol at 6 AM you can then give Motrin at 9 AM then Tylenol at noon then Motrin at 3 PM and so on.