is this abuse or neglect

I was regularly giving my son Tylenol he started teething had gas and all around wouldn’t be comfortable but his dr recommended it. So I would say no to the abuse and neglect. Pack gas drops into the diaper bag for them, they might not have any and gas drops are more recent years so his family may not know the benefits. You can speak directly or write a note and can say the dr said refrain from giving Tylenol and to give gas drops. I’d try that and see how that goes? Sorry I don’t have more or better advice I don’t coparent. Maybe moms who do have better insight?

@Riley this isn’t recommended by a doctor at all. & this has happened repeatedly.. our pediatrician tells us only for a fever & she has never had a fever. I think parents now like to abuse medications for there well being

Definitely not abuse or neglect. I however would be pissed because I refuse to give Tylenol. It's known to deplete glutathione levels in the body, and there's speculation about a link between ADHD/autism. Not worth it unless NEEDED...like my kids in the hospital.

As her mother, you have the right to dictate medical care for your child. I’m a nurse and I know the dangers of misused Tylenol especially on a little one’s underdeveloped organs. If it is not given correctly, it can cause serious damage. (Not to say to never give it, but the instructions are clear on when it should be given and how often). No where is it listed that Tylenol should be given to help sleep, and there is no evidence that it is beneficial in gas relief. I don’t know the laws or specifics for your state, but I would bring this up to your pediatrician. The pediatrician should be able to give you guidance on this and they are mandatory reporters, so if it falls under any type of abuse or negligence, they will be able to help you and your child. If nothing else, they can educate her father on the correct way and times to give medications and other ways to promote comfort and sleep.

@Rachel he knows I’m an all natural mother too. & I don’t take medication & I have made him aware that I don’t want to give her anything unless needed. I just got my gallbladder removed so he is helping me with her, but I’m not even taking pain pills. It upsets me bc my sister has brought this up to me as well in the past when I was freshly postpartum but I ignored it. But now it’s repetitive now! I honestly thought I was crazy for feeling this way

@Laura thank you for this information I am a young first time mom.. so sometimes I feel like I’m being overprotective but I want to be able to advocate for her. It rubs me the wrong way as a mother.

@Hokulani well my pediatrician is who told me to give it to him for full body discomfort especially for teething so it is doctor recommend.

@Hokulani so like others said talk to your pediatrician. They all do and recommend different things.

@Riley for you not for my daughter teething is different than just giving her medicine for no reason. Our pediatrician tells us only if she has a fever.

@Hokulani your number one job is to be her advocate always! Never let anyone make you feel wrong for doing that! If something feels off to you or makes you uncomfortable, it is your job to do something about it! I am a single mom, too, so I know it’s hard to make a lot of these decisions on your own. You are doing a fantastic job, mama!

@Riley absolutely, if a doctor recommends it, go for it! You want your babe to feel better! And it totally can help with teething pain! It sounds like @Hokulani is concerned because he is giving it more as a sleeping aid or for issues that it wouldn’t help like for gas. Your pediatrician is there for you and will (hopefully) always give you the safest, evidence backed advice!

I would suggest to him that he tries other methods before resorting to Tylenol. If it’s truly gas tell him to try to work it out first before medicine

That’s not what you give a baby for gas but okay

Not being funny but I’d stop my child from being alone with any of those people her father included! A child that isn’t exhibiting any flu like symptoms, teething symptoms or in pain doesn’t need to be medicated… everyone above who has said this isn’t neglect have all listed reason why they use tylenol where as your partner and his family have no reason. They are all essentially drugging you’re child to make their life easier and I’m tellin u this to let you understand that you aren’t crazy or over reacting for thinking this is wrong because it actually is.. To those who think it isn’t wrong ask yourself if you got you’re neighbour to baby sit you’re child and you came back and they said the child wouldn’t go to sleep so they gave her/him medicine to make them go to sleep/drousy ask yourself if you’d still think it’s okay. Drugging is drugging whether the drug is approved or not. If they can’t look after the child without using the tylenol then they shouldn’t be around the child

That’s no good my ex did this to his daughter for years and I watched it happen I never gave it to my daughter even when we all lived together , it also really is bad for people with low immune systems like babies and people with preexisting conditions are more likely to develop liver problems stomach problems etc most of which can do permanent damage and your BABY means the world not their opinion and bad practices if you need a court order to do what you need to do for your infant then you get a court order for your infant saying exactly what you want it is called your terms and you honestly could have them lose and get full placement and custody with supervision when they get their visitation If you need any kind of advice lmk

And it’s both abuse and neglect

Endangering the welfare of child

@Hokulani I’m the same as u hun I don’t even take medication for a migraine I’d rather force myself to sleep and with a cold I let it work its way through my system and rely on natural remedies like ginger and lemon etc so I’d 100% hit the roof if someone tried to medicate my child when I don’t use medicine like that myself also using medicine when the body doesn’t have anything to fight of can cause young children to develop things like kidney and or liver failure 😖so they need to stop with all this excessive use of medication on someone who can’t even advocate for themselves

@Shan thank you for the reassurance! When people kept saying it’s wrong but not neglect or abuse… i looked at it as the opposite as well like giving her more than being prescribed! I get so scared to say anything bc his family & him use my PPD/PPA as an upper hand for them. thank you for the advice as well!

@Kelsey Anne this is the main reason I don’t take medication myself unless really necessary it’s not good especially if it is being abused! My parents were like this with us until we hit a certain age to refuse medicine. So I thought maybe I was overthinking it or being overdramatic abt it but it’s starting to bother me a lot. Especially it’s not the first time this has happened! but thank you for the advice & yes if I need more I will for sure be reaching out! I appreciate it!

@Shan it’s also weird bc he is the same exact way with medicine! It hurts my momma heart bc she is my rainbow baby after 3 miscarriages & if something happens to her while she isn’t under my supervision I am gonna be in prison! my mom is in stage 4 kidney failure from abusing pain medication so I know what you mean abt the kidney failure!

@Hokulani it takes 2 people to create a baby but a lot of men don’t realise that they become a dad the day their baby is born where as we become a mother the minute we see that positive on our pregnancy test, I let a lot of shit slide with my first pregnancy, my partners family really tried to take control and crossed boundaries like this but when I became pregnant with our second I put my foot down and reminded myself that I carried both my children for 9 months and that wasn’t so someone can come and take over and act as their mother or even make me doubt myself as a mother. We have to protect our babies at all cost hun and from a young age we have to be their advocate until their old enough to advocate for themselves ♥️ you are you’re child’s proxy and you have to be their voice to speak up when you know somethings wrong. I told my partner and his family that I loose nothing by cutting them off because of them crossing boundaries and repeatedly trying to take over and if they can’t

@Hokulani respect the rules I have in place then they’re not welcome in either of my children’s lives and if it comes to that I’d be fine with it because I know I will cross oceans if it means protecting my children physically and mentally. The fact you’re partner is a natural person yet chooses to give into the ideals of his family sickens me because he’s choosing his family over both you and his child, I’m so sorry to hear that you’ve lost 3 precious angels 💔 the fact that you finally have you’re miracle and they’ve chosen to do this would break my heart to hun, please protect you’re baby at all costs and never feel embarrassed or ashamed of experiencing PPD, we’ve all experienced and the fact they’d try to shame you for it knowing that it’s the bodies natural reaction to having a baby shows that they lack empathy and intelligence

You never give Tylenol unless you need to. It says on the label what it can be used for, anything NOT on that label is a MISUSE and the company will tell you the same thing. Gripe drops would be better for gas as well as bicycles and a tummy rub. Drugging your child because they are being difficult or an “inconvenience” is ABSOLUTELY neglect.

@Rachel the link between autism/adhd and Tylenol hasn’t been proved. Unless you’ve done thorough research including looking at studies done by other countries, you really shouldn’t be suggesting such things. And if you have done research and have reputable sources you should link them when you make claims as such.

@Megan I second that

@Megan I didn't claim it was proved. I stated it's a "speculation"...the dictionary defines speculation as, "the forming of a theory or conjecture without firm evidence." I'm aware it hasn't been proven, but it's not worth taking the chance. The depletion of glutathione has been proven.

@Rachel you still shouldn’t put the idea in people’s head unless it has been proven and unless you have credible sources. There’s so many articles from 6 years ago saying that it’s hereditary.

We only give Tylenol for obvious teething paid outside of a fever but my son never needed any until his molars came in. Also, he's 14 mo old. Pain meds can be harsh on the stomach lining is unnecessary. Not abuse or neglect, just uneducated and poor parenting. Although babies do start teething at 5 mo too! Gas and teething are both things a 5mo old is dealing with. I think it's just different thought processes and approaches on figuring out and solving the babies' issue

@Tiffany lmao you’re wild she isn’t teething yet.. it is absolute neglect & abuse i would’ve stayed if she was teething. Uneducated is wild when it says what it’s used for on the label.. it’s obvious you don’t know or understand what is being said & stated next time just don’t say anything at all. Bc it’s obvious you aren’t educated abt the situation or read into it. no thanks for the advice

@Hokulani how am I supposed to know if the child is teething or not if it isn't mentioned? Tylenol is a PAIN RELIEVER so I've used it a handful of times for teething and my son was teething at 5 mo old. So don't get an attitude with me. It's bizarre that he'd use Tylenol for any behavioral reasons. I was just trying to figure out why/if he might use it for it's intended purposes besides a fever. But if he's doing it for no reason, that's a different story.

This is so dangerous and totally unacceptable. I would definitely never leave her alone with him again. Try to collect evidence of him doing that either in writing or recording and use them in case he gives you trouble.

Tylenol is a neurotoxin. It shouldn’t even be used regardless. I would supervise!!!

@Ava it’s not a neurotoxin.

@Tiffany I think you’re missing the whole point it’s abt the misuse of giving my child the medicine. please stop commenting on my post with wrong inform& no advice & you judging other moms like stop & leave

@Hokulani what about all the other people commenting on here that you shouldn’t give Tylenol at all and spreading misinformation. Don’t be shy, call them out on it too.

@Hokulani I'm not judging anyone? 😅 And it's my response to you is all I asked was if he gave it too her because she was cranky from teething? No, then if it was to "calm her down" that is misuse and wrong. I don't get why you're upset with me? It's bizarre that he would do that. I've heard of parents misuing Benadryl for behavior but never heard someone use a pain/fever reliever for that. Yeah, he messed up.

@Megan they have advice & she is being a bitch for no reason I can call you out too if I want to

@Hokulani bro where was she being a bitch? Lmao. But if you wanna “call me out” on the fact that I stated Tylenol is not a neurotoxin, or that it doesn’t cause adhd/autism go ahead. I know I’m right because I’ve done through research on Tylenol as a whole both on effects it could have on me and my baby. But if it’ll really satisfy you then by all means hun. Pop off lmao. The question in your post was “is this abuse or neglect”. 95% of the comments on this post have nothing to do about it so why are you singling out Tiffany? Some of yall moms need to do some goddamn research for yourselves instead of making yourselves out to be a fool on social platforms lol or don’t. Good entertainment for me at least

For the record I do use Tylenol for myself and my child when it's needed, I just was replying to someone calling it a neurotoxin. I'm so lost here lol

That doesn’t sit right at all. Tylenol is meant for pain or fever—not to make a baby sleep. Giving meds just because she’s fussy sounds careless, especially at only 5 months. It might not be full-blown abuse yet, but it is neglectful and dangerous. You have every right to speak up—your baby’s safety comes first. Trust your gut, Mama.