how does doctor compute the dosage of medicine that a child should drink according to their weight and age?

Question

for example a 1 yr old child with a weight of 13 pounds drink more dosage than 1 year old with only 9 pounds, specially when it comes to atibiotic

Answer 1

Medication doses are figured by weight, not by age. There is a formula for each medication, developed by the pharmaceutical company that the doctor uses to calculate dosage.

Answer 2

Ideally there would be dosing guidelines from the package insert that has been approved by the FDA:

see:

drugs@fda

for a package insert information, it mainly covers only those drugs whose patents had not expired, but there are a few which are posted for those drugs that have gone generic.

There are many drugs for which no data exist that supports dosing for children, that is data that has been approved by the fda.

It must be remembered that children are not small adults, their abilities to eliminate drugs differ from adults. But even in adults it is common to have a 6 fold difference in elimination rates. So having a calculated dose, especially for drugs that require the liver to break down the drug, is just a guide line.

One rule, is (adult dose)* (wt of child in pounds)/150, I think that rule is called Clark's rule.

Some drugs cannot be given to children, for example the class of drugs called fluroquinones, like cipro. The literature states not to be given to people under the age of 18, since it impedes cartilage formation, making test puppies lame. If it were me, I would wait until at least 21 years. (Note I am going on memory here, I have not checked today on what the current dosing guideline is).

Answer 3

I have ever made...my children are now 13,15 and 18 they are the healthiest children I have ever met...they have gone all through the school system in California without immunizations, I signed a Non-Vaxxing Waiver when they entered Pre-School. Haven't regretted my decision for one second. You have been given peoples opinion both Pro and Con (some good, some not so good) but dont go on opinion..(Research and get the FACTS)Mrs. Ferrari gave some informative sites to look up, now you as the parent must ultimately make your decision for your child...do your Research and I'm certain you will come to a wise decision! We cannot make that choice for you. Source(s):

Answer 4

For most antibiotics the dose is based on the child's weight in kilograms. Each antibiotic has different dosing ie: a total daily dose of 50 mg per kilogram divided four times per day. For a ten kilogram child that would be 500 mg divided by four is 125 mg for each dose. You need to look on the bottle because the liquid will be something like 125mg/5ml. that will tell you how much of the liquid to give

Answer 5

I believe that each medication has its own dosing rules. Some medications will have dosing tables based on body weight, some won't. That's by design since dose should not always be altered.

Answer 6

that really depends on the concentration and how toxic it is to the child/how its system could cope ie its weight

normally they ask a pharmasist, who uses charts and measures of how poisonous/concentrated the antibiotic is. if this has happened to you, there is no way you could find out from yahoo answers/internet sources, a doctor must be seen,

amelia xxx

Answer 7

it really ALL depends on weight. as far as antibiotic dosage, I think each manufacturer has dosing chart with specifications for each weight range, and they prescribe accordingly.

Answer 8

Thru a mathmatical equation known as ratio and porpotion.

Answer 9

If you have insurance he flips a coin. If not he has his assistant take a wild guess. The medicine is placebo anyway so it does not matter.