Medicating kids for flights

Melissa,

I'll give MY opinion for you!

I have given my babies medicine to "make the ride enjoyable".

1. Sitting in a plane for eight hours will make ANYONE cranky, and Jon and I do not like to be cranky and we don't like to deal with cranky and the kids (I know somewhere deep down) do not like to be cranky either.
2. Clogged ears are NOT fun for baby and the medication helps to ease the pain.
3. Sitting in a plane for eight hours will make ANYONE cranky...
4. Did I mention an eight hour plane ride with two children under four can be pretty hectic and make everyone cranky?


Now, for you all your martyrs out there, don't get your panties in a bunch because you wouldn't do this to your kids. I slip mine a Benadryl if I see that they need to calm down and take a nice four hour long nap until our next meal. If YOU can take your kids being fidgety and the screaming and whining, Good for you! I can't and I won't.

I am not a bad parent! I just like to save my sanity and I have heard both sides of the story...and the funny thing is, I hate to medicate my kids unnecessarily but in some cases, I have no choice and neither does my migrane.

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We've done it, mostly because the flights have been night flights, and the LAST thing I, or anyone else on the plane wants, is a toddler zooming up and down the aisles. Lord knows I always want to drug myself with some Nyquil...

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I slipped my daughter some sleepy meds when we flew to San Diego and back to visit my husband a while back. Believe me, it was for the greater good of humanity. I'm terrified of flying anyway, and as his ship hadn't returned from deployment when we got to Cali, I got to drag EVERYTHING around myself. The sedated toddler was a happy toddler.

So many people have so many ways of parenting, I'm just glad to see I'm not the only one!

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We tried the benadryl once or twice on cross-country flights. Morgan did, indeed, sleep, but it did not stop her from screaming herself to sleep. And she always woke up after about 45 minutes with a huge GRUMP on. Ugh. Like Thordora, I was wishing I'd drugged myself instead! Benadryl did not make our traveling any easier, so I doubt we'd try it again.

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We've thought about it, but I don't have a problem with anyone who's done it. My husband seems to have more issues with giving it to them. Personally, I don't want to have to subject other passengers to the torture of listening to miserable children. Luckily, any misery has been short-lived, and now that they're older it's not even necessary.

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Look at it this way, if you'd give them an over the counter drug to feel better if they have a slight fever, or congestion do you really think that 10 hours in an airplane is any less uncomfortable for them?

I can see how the perception could be that you are drugging them for your convenience, but from my experience it's as much about the kids as it is the other passengers or the parents.

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I look at it like Draminine on road/boat trips. Some kids are more sensitive to certain types of movement and it makes them really miserable. For whatever reason, flying makes my 5 year old niece miserable. She's obviously in pain and whimpers the whole way. If a little Benadryl helps keep her pain to a manageable level, why is it any worse than giving Draminine to you kid with motion sickness?

It's not like kids can self medicate on flights like adults do. I have plenty of friends who buy drinks or get a prescription sedative from their doctor when they fly. Kids depend on us to help them find something that works. So long as the doctor doesn't have any concerns about how the child in question will react to Benadryl, I don't see the problem.

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Orange triaminic is pseudoephedrine. Generally, a stimulant, but if the kid has some congestion, it very well could make a flight less miserable. And while benadryl (Diphenhydramine) normally does make one sleepy, it does indeed cause hyperactivity in some people. So maybe "on the plane" isn't the best test case. :)

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I get about 20 hits to my blog each week on people searching for dosing information for Benadryl for their toddler, so I know many people are considering this.

We tried it, based on the pediatrician giving the OK. Not only did she not sleep, she was a hyperactive mess and didn't sleep until nearly 6am. That day she was a cranky toddler all day.

Personally, I'd never take the chance again, even with another child. I don't want to find out a child is one of the few who react the opposite way most do. It was such a miserable experience, and I don't think I could go through that again.

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I read this article in the WSJ yesterday. I found it very interesting that the AAP doesn't have an opinion, which leads me to believe that its not a serious concern--in the manner that it is described in the article, and as the previous posts have described their limited use and in this particular context.

For most families, long plane rides are not a common enough occurance to enable a young child to be familiar enough with a plane and its atmosphere to be comfortable and anxiety-free during the ride. For this reason, if it makes the child more at ease and calms their nerves so that they are not upset, I think that it is not an irresponsible action by the parent. Yes, a crying child is an irritant for other passengers, but it is also the child that is so uncomfortable that they cry for what can be hours on end. When my child is teething, she typically has little problem, but when she is very uncomfortable, I do give her something to ease her pain. I think its a similar situation--not that I condone the use of Benadryl anytime a child feels anxious and afraid, but in this context it seems reasonable.

I have never been on a plane ride with my 1-year old, so I've never been faced with this decision, so my current opinion is merely theoretical. However, in a futures situation, if she was very upset, I would have to say that I might consider it.

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Ok, do I have to be the one who comes out of the closet and admits to drugging the kids for reasons other than plane flight?

I didn't drug them on the cross-country flight to Vancouver because the idea never occurred to me. And they were both lovely. Zen Baby enjoyed playing with the seat belt, and Diva Girl was so enamoured with the in flight movie and the attention of the flight attendants that behaviour was simply not an issue. So I didn't drug them on the way back either. And was told by the flight attendants that they were the best behaved children she had ever flown with.

I am not telling you that to gloat (well, maybe a little) or to come down on parents who Benedryl. Because you see, I have resorted to Benedryl in the privacy of my own home. When I am the only one being inconvienced by the screaming and the sleeplessness. Yeah, I'll say it, I have drugged my children to get a little peace and sleep (Diva Girl more than Zen Baby. Zen Baby is A) Zen, and 2) has scary flashbacks to the hospital and general anaestheia. Not so Zen when she awakens from the drug induced slumber.). And I do not feel guilty or like a bad parent when I do it. I am not hitting them, screaming at them, or curled up in a fetal position rocking and crying. Sometimes, Benedryl (or Orange Triaminic) is Mommy's Little Helper. And sometimes, Mommy needs all the help she can get.

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I never thought about using it on long trips either. DANG! lol We drove from Florida to West Virginia last year (and back 10 days later) and BOY, a little "Benny" woulda been the trick.

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When visiting family in Iowa we had a ped recommend Benedryl for our 1000 mile drive back east. However having used Benedryl for its intended use on DS#2 - I know - it makes my talkative kid even MORE talky - scarry thought trapped in a mini-van for hours on end!

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Maybe I am naive,,, maybe I am missing something... my baby is only 6 weeks old and most of my family(including me) can NOT take most decongestants or anti-histimines....

BUT...

Isn't there some other drug, prescription or not that is just a sedative that could be used? Wouldn't if have less chance of side effects? Isn't it bad to give a decongestant to someone who isn't congested?

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Brenda, I imagine there are other options, but you'd have to ask your pediatrician. But to answer a couple of your questions, Benadryl is an antihistamine, not a decongestant. Sometimes decongestants are mixed with antihistamines, but they aren't interchangeable.

Antihistamines are also used to treat motion sickness (dramamine is an antihistamine too), which I think may be the secondary reason people use Benadryl for long trips. Also, Benadryl has been around a LONG time (I'm 40 and I took it for bee stings as a child) so it is known to be relatively safe and have minimal side effects. Newer drugs haven't had the chance to be tested on children. My cousin is a pediatrician and she gives her kids Benadryl for overseas flights. I'm not that keen on it for my kids because I remember taking it as a kid felt like being hit with a brick, but I think it is fairly safe.

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Personally, I agree with the philosophy of whatever works for you. My husband has experience with seadting children (pediatric dentist) and has colleagues who have used prescriptions to help their children through long flights. Those colleagues know about those drugs and use them daily, so I don't feel it is dangerous. I am not above a bit of Zyrtec or Benadryl or whatever works to get some sleep, be it on a plane, in a car, or in the bed. We used Zyrtec to teach my very snotty, congested child to sleep for any longer than 1 hour at a time when he was over a year old. Worked like a charm. Another, more benign, option is Hyland's Calm Forte, although it didn't work for my little wild things.

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I'm inclined to avoid it, but it has it's place. But if you are considering using Benedryl for your kids on a trip try it out at home first, since I'd say the reverse reaction is really common, way more than the 10% in the article. The child I nannied for got totally whacked on it when her parents took her to Hawaii. Last summer my whole family was attacked and stung by a swarm of bees. We used the Benedryl as a precausion as the stings were swelling up and my 3 got keyed up. It shouldn't surprise me since my DH flips out on that stuff. Meanwhile, I was half dead; that stuff bakes me.

FWIW one thing that really helps kids sleep on planes is their car seat, they just can't fall asleep in those plane seats with no support,and sleep in a parent's lap is also likely to get disturbed.

Good Luck to those dealing with this!

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As a child with serious ear, nose and throat issues, my mother would have to dose me up before we went in the air just to keep the pressure, pain, and inflammation from nearly driving me mad. I suffered two ruptured ear drums as when I was little, and going up in a plane would nearly kill me. A lot of people don't even know their kids have ear issues until they subject them to some sort of high-pressure situation. Make it easier on your kids. A little something won't hurt them unless they already have established negative reactions.

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Well, I usually get in trouble for giving my opinions but I will anyway.

I have never drugged my kids for travel. But I have thought about it, a lot. We ended up getting a DVD/TV for the car for long trips and that seems to work just as well, lol.

Our plane trips are usually short, 5 hours of less. The kids do pretty ell on a plane and they keep busy. With five kids they tend to entertain each other.

Then on the other hand, I used to take dramamine because I get air sick. I also get bery bored on the plane and tend to freak out a bit because of my flying phobia. I would take it, doze off and wake up several hours and be there. No fuss, no muss, just there. It made the trip so much more enjoyable for me.
So maybe giving kids a safe med for them to sleep the flight away isn't such a bad thing. The kids arrive being refreshed and the parents aren't all frazzled.

A personal choice for sure!

I will also admit that when my kids are sick I give them pediacare just so they will go to sleep. Not only for thier own relief but for mine too. That backfired on me with my second child. It actually kept her awake, all night long...

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I have no idea if benadryl works or not or whether it works for all kids or not. I also didn't think I had an opinion but I should have known better.

When Elcie had to travel the winding road from here to Yosemite on a school bus, I sent dramamine with her and never gave it a second thought. Why would I want the kid vomiting all over herself during the most exciting event of her life? She didn't need it but it was there.

If there is a medication that won't harm the child and will make a trip more comfortable for both parent and child, go for it.

I'm saying this as a parent/caretaker that believes our children are quite often overmedicated in this country but every situation is different. This, to me, is just common sense.

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