Ibuprofen better than aceptaminophen for children's fevers?

With the start of the school year, I'll wager that my preschooler will bring home a cold or throat infection in a week or two. A runny nose isn't a cause for concern, but a high temperature can make a child feel miserable.

Like many parents, I keep two common fever remedies on hand: acetaminophen (Tylenol) and ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin). A new study has looked at which of these drugs works best to bring down children's fevers and whether taking both drugs together might be better than taking just one.

The study included about 150 children between 6 months and 6 years old. It found that ibuprofen worked faster and for longer than acetaminophen at reducing high temperatures. Taking both medicines together didn't seem to be any better than taking ibuprofen on its own, although children given both medicines might have had an extra couple of hours without a fever on the first day.

Read the rest of this post on our Health blog.

Also see our expert advice on thermometers, taking baby's temperature, and what's a normal temperature for a baby? for more information.

Comments

[John]

Shouldn't a discussion of ibuprofen/aceptaminophen for fever in children include mention of Stevens-Johnson syndrome, a very severe allergic reaction to ibuprophen, rare but disastrous when it occurs. In Europe there are warnings about this included in the packaging...in this country, only in the prescription version of ibuprofen. Consumers purchasing ibuprofen over the counter are left in the dark. Consumer Reports should not ignore this problem, no matter how uncommon it may be.