Brief Answer:
8 hours once will suffice, but can give it 6 hours once also.

Detailed Answer:
Hello XXXXXXX

Thank you for posting your question here.

I have gone through your question and understand your concern.

Your doctor's advice is sound and paracetamol is usually given 8 hours apart because it takes 8 hours or less for the drug to be eliminated to a level that is no longer effective in controlling the fever.

However, it is not a hard and fast rule because the plasma half life of paracetamol varies from individual to individual and ranges from 1 to 4 hours.

It is okay to give paracetamol every 6 hours once as well, but the total in a single day should not exceed 5 doses when calculated at 10-15mg/kg/dose.

That is the dosage for paracetamol, between 10-15 mg /kg body weight/dose, and not more than 5 doses in total in 24 hours.

So, if your child has high grade fever (more than 100 degrees Fahrenheit) in between the doses, you can give an additional dose to bring down the fever, you can also remove the clothes for some time, that will also reduce the fever.

Hope this answers your concern. Please feel free to write back to me if you need any additional information or if you have any doubts.

Best regards.

---

Brief Answer:
Conversion to ml/dose depends on the strength of the syrup/suspension.

Detailed Answer:
Hello again XXXXXXX

Thank you for writing back to me.

Please read the drug information printed on the bottle/container.

In that, you will see something like, Paracatamol IP 100mg per each ml or 120 mg per each 5 ml.

Since I don't know exactly what the strength is in the bottle that you have, I can't tell you the ml right away.

But you can calculate it easily.

If the bottle says, 100mg per each 1 ml, then you know how much drug is in 1 ml, (100 mg),

Your child's weight is 5.13 kgs, so he will need 5.13*15 mg (that is 76.95 mg) each dose.

You can give 75 mg each time.

Now since you have mentioned drops, I presume it be about 100 mg / 1 ml.

Each ml is equal to 16 to 20 drops (20 drops for water, and since the suspension is thicker, it will form bigger drops, and comes up to around 16 drops).

In which case, 100/16 is 6.25 mg, each drop contains 6.25 mg.

75/6.25 = 12 drops.

Your baby will require about 12 drops of the medicine in this case.


For any other strengths written on the bottle, please follow the above example and calculate how many drops will be required based on the dosage per kg that is 10-15 mg/kg/dose.

You can take a dose anywhere between 10 and 15.

If the strength in the bottle is 100mg/1ml, then you should give 12 drops at 15mg/kg/dose or 8 drops at 10 mg/kg/dose.

I hope this answers your question.

Warm regards

---