I’m sure most of you have heard and responded to all the recalls for Tylenol.  Tylenol has responded back with their changes and improvements they want us to share with you.  The first item is a letter from Ed Kuffner, MD, father of three, and Vice President, Medical Affairs at McNeil.

“As a dad and doctor, I know firsthand how tough it can be when your baby or child gets sick. While we are trying to comfort our children, we are also making sure that they are getting the care and medicine that they need to feel better.  For me, like every parent, safety comes first.

For this reason, as early as this upcoming and flu season, we will be making safety and convenience enhancements to both Infants’ and Children’s TYLENOL products, including a change to the concentration of our Infants’ TYLENOL products.

NEW FEATURES

Infants’ TYLENOL will be available with a new bottle that has a protective opening and a new push-in-syringe which will:

1.  Further reduce the risk of children being able to get to the medicine in the bottle

2.  Provide even better dosing accuracy and ease of administration to your child

3.  Allow for better control when dispensing the medication and reduce spillage

We will also be enhancing the bottles of Children’s TYLENOL with a protective opening that will help make it more difficult for a child to get to the medicine in the bottle.

To help encourage industry-wide adoption of these safety innovations, we have shared our plans with other manufacturers of pediatric acetaminophen products.

Important Changes to the Concentration of Infants’ TYLENOL

Moving forward, there will be one concentration of acetaminophen for single-ingredient TYLENOL products for infants and children.  This change is being made to standardize dosing across our products and age groups.  As always, Infants’ and Childrens’ TYLENOL products will continue to include specially designed dosing devices appropriate to the age of the child.

We have been working closely with other manufacturers of pediatric acetaminophen products to encourage an industry wide transition to one concentration across infants’ and children’s acetaminophen products.

1.  It is important to be aware that there will be a time period when both the current and new concentrations of Infants’ acetaminophen products will be available in stores and parents and caregivers might have both in their medicine cabinets.

2.  Be sure to read and follow the dosing directions on the product that is being used.

3.  Caregivers should contact their child’s health care provider if they have questions about dosing instructions.

Helpful Tips for Giving Medicines to Infants and Children

Simply remember to N.U.R.S.E

Never give adult medicines to children

Use the measuring device (syringe, dropper, dosage cup) that comes with the medicine every time you use it.  Don’t use kitchen spoons (teaspoons or tablespoons).

Read and follow instructions on the label.  Never give more than the recommended dose and do not give the medication more frequently than recommended.

Store all medicines out of the reach of children.  Immediately following use, always restore the child resistant cap and put the medicine back into a high and out of sight location.

Every child grows.  Know the infant’s or child’s weight and/or age to help determine the appropriate dose.

We appreciate your patience as we work to bring these new innovations to store shelves.  Please visit www.tylenol.com to learn more about our products and these changes.”

Here is the TYLENOL Product update page

http://www.tylenol.com/page.jhtml?id=tylenol/children/subfsafety_convenience.inc

I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of Tylenol and received a promotional item to thank me for taking the time to participate.