I’ve seen people do this - put patches on their kiddos’ legs (damned if I can remember the name of the product now), and they often do it in the wrong spot. Besides the fact, with most of these shots, it’s the needle penetrating the muscle (for an IM) that’s the nasty part, and topical anasthetic will do SFA for that. I’m not convinced that predosing with tylenol does anything either (the doctors in my clinic are divided on this), but each to their own.
There are tricks one can do before doing a shot that can decrease the perception of pain for the shot itself - we often put pressure on the spot for approximately 20 seconds before the injection. It doesn’t always work, but works often enough that it’s always worth trying.
I don’t have any kids myself (yet), but I don’t see anything wrong with giving children OTC pain relievers, as long as you give them the proper amount of the medication. And make sure you READ THE LABELS of the drugs you give them, make sure you are not giving them two different medications that contain the same active ingredient.
For the record, the proper dosing of Ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin, etc), and Acetaminophen (Tylenol) are as follows:
Ibuprofen: Do not give to children younger then 6 months of age. Older then 6 months: 5 to 10 mg (milligrams) per a kg (kilogram) by mouth every 6 to 8 hours. Do not exceed 40mg/kg in 24 hours.
Acetaminophen: 10-15mg/kg by mouth or rectally every 4 to 6 hours, DO NOT EXCEED 5 doses (75mg/kg) in 24 hours.
Do not give Aspirin to children under 16 years of age due to the risk of Reye’s syndrome.
Some parents aren’t above using ibuprofen to mask a fever so that they can leave their child at daycare. Toddlers will sometimes run a low-grade fever without any symptoms of distress, and it’s frustrating to use up sick leave that will be needed for more acute illnesses in the future.
But otherwise, I don’t see how a painkiller will save a parent much bother, except that it’s very bothersome to see your child in pain. Cold medications have more potential for abuse. I’ve read long discussions about whether or not it’s appropriate to give your child an antihistamine to sedate them for a long plane trip, for example.
If I have a headache, I don’t try to distract myself from it, I take some ibuprofen. Why wouldn’t I offer the same relief to my child?
They do work for many people. I am so dopey on Benadryl that I am afraid to drive when taking it. My sister on the other hand has a perverse reaction to Benadryl: it makes her hyper. Really, really agitated and keyed up. I presume people like my sister are what folks are talking about when they say “try it on your child before the flight” – I would not want to be locked in a tin can at angels 30 with my sister in that state.
But my ped in the US offered to work the doses for my when we flew to Europe when the kids were under 2. She did not recommend it or recommend against it, just offered it. I sat across from a doc on a flight one time who said she had given her kid paregoric for the flight, and I am pretty sure that isn’t recommended either.