Bye Bye Infant's Tylenol/Acetaminophen

I had Kaiser health insurance for six months and loved their comprehensive services. Since during that time I was pregnant I have continued to receive a series of emails from Kaiser called the "Healthy Babies Newsletter". The most recent newsletter geared toward 2 month old babies informed me that manufacturers are discontinuing infant tylenol/acetaminophen, which is a extra concentrated version of their liquid children's medicine.

Here is Kaiser's description of the change and their very helpful dosage chart. Parents like me who have lots of infant tylenol left in my medicine shelf appreciate the notification of the change and also the clear instructions for the correct dosage of both versions of the medicine. Also I'm glad I read this now, because I can just picture myself searching fruitlessly for twenty minutes in the pharmacy for infant tylenol before finally going to ask a pharmacist only to learn it does not exist any more.

Here is an excerpt from Kaiser's newsletter:

"Before you give your child any kind of acetaminophen* (Tylenol) for pain or fever, we want you to be aware of an important medication change.

Concentrated infant acetaminophen drops are being phased out and will no longer be produced by manufacturers. Instead, a new liquid formula is available.
The new liquid formula has a different concentration (strength) from the infant drops (older formula). Infant drops are 3 times more concentrated (stronger) than the liquid suspension, so dosing directions will be different.

If you give your baby any form of acetaminophen, please use extra caution. You may have concentrated infant drops on hand at home. These drops are still safe to use as long as you use the correct dose for your baby's weight."

And here is Kaiser's handy dosage chart:

Weight Age	Infants' Concentrated Drops (Dropper) 80 mg/0.8 mL	New Infants' Liquid (Syringe) 160 mg/5 mL	Children's Liquid Suspension 160 mg/5 mL
6-11 lbs. 1-5 months	0.4 mL (40 mg)	1.25 mL (4  0 mg)	1.25 mL (40 mg)
12-17 lbs. 6-11 months	0.8 mL (80 mg)	2.5 mL (80 mg)	2.5 mL (80 mg)
18-23 lbs. 12-23 months	1.2 mL (120 mg)	3.75 mL (120 mg)	3.75 mL (120 mg)

Thank you Kaiser!

Here is more info on the upcoming change on the Tylenol.com website.