Though I don't have kids yet, and the idea of 'dosing' a child does kind of make me leary - I have been on a few flights where I truly *wished* the parents HAD drugged their little br- er... darlings

Not sure about dosing older children, I do admit to giving my son Tylenol prior to flying. It certainly made it a LOT easier. That said, once they're old enough to really listen to you, drugs shouldn't be necessary.

Though my oldest is a great flyer, and has always been quiet on flights. Of course, we've only had short flights. I'm still a little leery of taking my kids on longer ones...

This just sounds not right to do to a child. But I am also a person who did not even take so much as a Tylenol the entire time I was pregnant.

i've literally flown thousands of miles with my kids, and have never resorted to this. i'll just be honest--i think it's selfish. people drug their kids so they won't be embarrassed by them if they don't behave like angels on a plane. it's cruel, and on top of that, it's illegal in some places.

wow...i think that's my first sugar-rant. =) hope it didn't cost me any friends!

I agree with allyd, it does seem selfish and only for the parents benefit. I would never drug my children to make them behave, it just seems wrong.

Here's the kicker - the ingredient in Benadryl that makes adults sleepy can actually make kids more hyperactive. Dosing them up could backfire on you.

I just plan my flights around naps and sleep times, and instead of resorting to drugging I will keep my son awake to make him sleepy. I have yet to take a flight where there has even been a slight issue with him. I continually have people comment on what a great traveler he is.

I think that people need to coordinate their travel plans accordingly instead of resorting to drugging their kids.

I actually wouldn't be able to look myself in the airplane bathroom mirror if I drugged my child.

wow guys, it's not as if they're suggesting giving your two year old a full dose of tylenol pm or anything, or to make it a regular thing. i don't have kids, but i see nothing wrong with giving little kids a dose of triaminic if the flight is going to be more than four or five hours. this was even recommended to my mom by my pediatrician when i was little! as someone who has flown a lot, including a few trips overseas, i truly think that giving a child some medicine benefits everyone. the last time i flew a two year old screamed for the last two hours of the flight. by the time we landed everyone's nerves were shot. what a miserable ending to an otherwise decent flight.

I still don't know how I feel about this :-/ My son has always been a great flyer, never a peep.

I don't know if I would totally assume it was the parents not wanting to be embarrassed. For me I kept my son out of situations where he might annoy others. I don't necessarily think my right to take my son on a plane trumps others rights to not be annoyed by my crying flailing child. So I guess if I had a bad flyer I might consider a tiny bit of benadryl. The baby's happy, the other patrons are happy that leaves me happy. Flying is stressful enough without adding to it.

My mother-in-law, a nurse, took my husband on trans-pacific flights when he was a toddler and gave him a baby-does of Gravol/Dramamine. It made him more comfortable. Needless to say this has been passed down in the family and everyone is happier for it.

What adults forget it just how uncomfortable take-off and landing can be for kids who can't equalize their ears or who get motion sickness - and they can't verbalize how they feel. (try flying with a sinus infection) Motionsickness, cold and allergy medicine can help with that. But I would talk to your kid's doctor first.

ask your doctor!!!!

You want to be nice to other travelers? Don't travel until your child knows how to behave properly. (Yes I have a child and I will not drug her to benefit others.)

Be careful because the medicine may not work the way you hope. Here's what happened to my mother as she was 6 months and a half pregnant with a two year-old daughter. When flying from Paris to Martinique, the little girl kept moving from her seat to see another little girl on the plane, back and forth. For the return flight, she was given a pill to sleep during the flight. And it worked so much that my mother with her big belly had to take care of the luggage and hold the little girl who was still asleep after the eight-hour flight through the big long airport halls. My mother never gave one of her children those pills once again.
And guess what, I was the little girl. And I have traveled with little kids and sure they can be very painfully noisy and impolite. And I think that's the responsability of parents to make their children realize they are not alone, nor the center of attention. And being polite won't hurt neither.

I've taken Dramamine for flying and road trips since I was very young...and it wasn't for my parents' benefit, it was for mine! I threw up on every plane ride until I was a teenager, and I was MISERABLE on car trips.

I understand it's a touchy issue, but if you're not against OTC meds in general, I don't see it as too offensive. Plane rides can be horrible for little ones- they're uncomfortable, they don't know what's going on, they can't move around, they feel ill, and, worse, no one can make it better for them. So I see nothing SELFISH about giving them an OTC counter drug to make it easier on them (especially since it's likely to be a very rare occasion).

I don't think it's just for the parents' benefit. The kids are bored and grouchy and miserable as well.

That said, I wouldn't do it. We've traveled a lot during my kids' first few years. I'm exhausted by the time we get off the plane, but on the plane I just focus completely on keeping the kids comfortable and entertained so they don't bother other people.

Don't travel until your child knows how to behave properly.

I don't think there has ever been a child on the face of the earth who behaved properly at every single waking moment of their life. And, drag a child through a tiring and overwhelming situation like an airport and an airplane, and they're more likely to have an off day. It's just a fact of life.

if the child is prone to motion sickness or in pain because she can't pop her ears, that's a different matter. lilsugar's question was about "preventing a midair meltdown," i.e. using drugs for behavior modification. for me, this is where it becomes an ethical issue.

"Always ask a doctor before giving a cough or cold medicine to a child. Death can occur from the misuse of cough or cold medicine in very young children."

Not a risk I want to take for just the possibility of a happy flight

What the hell? Sorry for being so judgmental but I just find it really creepy and Brave New World-esque to drug your kids into submission. They don't need Benadryl, they need Vitamin N-O and parents who respect them enough to make an effort to schedule travel plans around their kids' routines, instead of willy-nilly at the parents' convenience, as much as possible.

Planes are tiring and stressful for everyone, especially small children, and I've had to deal with a crying baby on a plane before myself and know how completely awful it can be, but drugs should NEVER be a first resort. A little planning ahead with snacks and toys goes a long way for the vast majority of kids and situations.

After flying to Cairo with a 9 month old child who refused to sleep and stayed awake for 20 hours straight, I can completely understand giving them a little something to quiet them down! It's a good idea to make sure that it's a medicine that will make them sleepy rather than hyperactive though, most OTC medicines make my kids hyper rather than quiet.

Clearly, if there's a reason to use medicine, you should. For example, my sister's son gets very motion sick on long car rides and on airplanes- she gives him something so he doesn't get sick and my son had some tube problems when he was young and couldn't get his ears to pop w/ swallowing a bottle so my dr. gave me something to clear up his sinuses.

However, as the question was related to "avoid a meltdown" and not dealing w/ a child's discomfort/ sickness, etc.... dosing your child is NOT ok. I understand the desire as I've had to take my son on several long flights, but drugging him to sleep just isn't safe or right.

As for waiting to travel until the child "knows to behave properly"... I'm not sure what this means.

An 5 month old may cry on an airplane.... he/she is just a baby and babies cry. It stinks for everyone else, but what can you do?? Try and comfort the child and bring things to anticipate this as best you can.

However, it is NOT ok for a 3 year old to kick the seat of the person in front of him/her, yell, etc. But in that case, it's less about the child's ability to behave and more about the parent's ability to be a respectful person and is also clearly not teaching their child to be a respectful person.

To me, this is example is more about a parent avoiding their responsibilities to teach their child what's ok and what's not ok and so it's easier for the parent to drug the child rather than deal w/ being a parent

My father in law, a doctor, used to give my husband and his two brothers some medicine before long car trips. I don't see anything wrong with it. It's not going to affect them if you do it once or twice a year. It's not like he drugged them on a daily basis. I'd do it in a heartbeat. Long trips can be stressful for the whole family!

If you're a good enough parent then you would know how to control your kids and keep them from terrorizing the rest of the people on the plane without resorting to drugging them. Only if they need to be medicated i.e. colds, discomfort, ear aches. Not to shut them up (tho at times I truly wish parents would )

Some things are unavoidable like a baby crying, but please, try to keep them quiet the best you can. It's okay in my opinion. I'll just crank up the volume of my earphones but DON'T hover the baby next to my face. :scream:

Now if your kid is running up and down the aisles being a terrorist, and he happens to trip on someones foot , it's his fault for not being respectful and your fault for not being a parent and teaching him respect.

Benadryl won't keep them asleep, but it does take the edge off fussiness for most little kids. Our dr. recommended it and we tested it a week before our trip for our one-yr-old twins.

I think parents should remember that they chose to bring their kids onto planes and other paying passengers deserve peace and quiet. When my kids are disruptive, I'm not just embarrassed--I feel badly for the people near us. They don't deserve to have a toddler scream in their ear, puke on them, or kick their seat.

i guess i'm not convinced other paying passengers "deserve peace and quiet." even if they do, i'd feel like my own kids' right to experience life outside of a drug-induced haze consistently trumps others' rights.

i feel like the practice teaches kids, "when life gets a little stressful, take medication." keep in mind, these are the same kids who are one day going to decide how to deal with *you* when you require their care. "You know, Mom would be a lot easier to deal with if we just put her on a little Percocet."

Interesting comments. I haven't used meds to chill out my two-year old, but I do have some tips I've learned.
-Check your luggage. You already have your hands full with your child.
-Don't be the first ones on the plane. Why make your kid sit on the plane any longer than necessary?
-Wear them out at the airport. I try to find an unused waiting area and we chase each other until boarding.
-And of course, fresh diaper or a toilet visit right before boarding.

I think there is a huge difference in a small crying uncomfortable child and one that needs discipline. I recently was on a flight where an empty milk carton flew over my seat and hit me in the head. Did that child need meds to keep her from doing that and kicking and pulling on my seat? NO, she needed discipline and better parenting. So if you look at the picture with this post that kid needs discipline not benadrl.. but that's just my opinion and nothing I would shove down anyone's throats.

haha my mom told me she used to do this to me. i don't think it's a bad thing. you don't wanna be the person on the plane that can't contorl their child.. so a little won't hurt

"you don't wanna be the person on the plane that can't contorl their child."

why not?

I've flown with my son quite a bit, and he's a good flyer so I've never had to drug him. However, when kids get out of control it's not just the parents that feel frustrated. The kids feel frustrated because they can't run around. It makes it miserable for them. And you don't want to be the person on the plane who can't control their child because today people feel like they have the right to say anything to you. It's really hard to have people call you a bad mother because you can't control your kids, or to know that everyone hates you at the moment. If you've never experienced that then you can't really know, but when someone criticizes your mothering, it's worse than anything else they could say about you. It's far easier on everyone, even the kid, if you give them a little dose of something.

I'm sorry, I just don't see how giving a child a dose of Benadryl once a year qualifies as forcing them to "live life in a drug induced haze".

For me, I know I used to FREAK OUT on planes when I was a child. It wasn't just about getting sick, but about the fact that I was too small to understand what was going on, and I was SCARED (despite my parents' best efforts to reassure me). Planes can be hell for children- scary and uncomfortable. So IMO, and it's just my opinion, I would see it as kinder to just let them sleep through it all.

YES!!!! Of course, I do not have kids, but it just makes sense to me. I first heard about the practice from a father of one of my nephew's friends; and, I just thought - wow, will you marry me?? - of course he was already married, but I digress. Yes, I think that it's okay to use a little benadryl or something similar on small children when flying. I do agree with the other poster that this practise should cease once the children are old enough to discipline and you do not have tell your children that you're giving them benadryl to relief stress. Also, the way I see it there are so many germs and bacteria flying around (no pub intended) in an airplane cabin, it's better to give them a little benadryl to rest and help their system if they do 'catch' something.
Allyd - please tell me your last post was a rhetorical question. And that you do not truly believe your children are more important then other people. Also, just so you know, some airlines are removing disruptively children from flights prior to take off. So, for your sake hopefully children are not obstreperous, or you may want to start reconsidering your view on pre-flight medicating

bastille_75, i truly believe my children are more important than other people.

i'll clarify. i have flown thousands and thousands of miles with my kids--we have four, and lived in Europe for seven years with them, flying all over the continent and back and forth the the States several times a year. They have sometimes been angels on airplanes, sometimes little devils, and usually something in between.

on one occasion, we had to fly while my three-year-old had an ear infection. he was already on medication, and obviously we continued that regimen while traveling. Legitimate medical or emotional problems aren't the issue here.

On the occasions when the problems have been strictly behavioral (and there have been many), I've sometimes felt embarrassed that my children were behaving like children. I've been given dirty looks and heard snide comments made about my parenting abilities. I'm sure some people thought I was a terrible parent. But you know what? I couldn't have cared less. My sense of worth as a parent doesn't arise out of what other people think, and I don't need a complete stranger's approval or validation. For me, to medicate my children so they will behave in a manner other people approve of or are comfortable with is disloyal to my kids. I can't do it.

So, in this sense, I think my kids are the most important people in the world.

Drug 'em. My mother always gave me a little medication to make me sleepy, and, because take-off commonly hurts the child's ears. I always get so mad at parents who just have babies SCREAMING the whole time with kids. I think it's ridiculous. Jesus, what will a little medication do to them - screw up their entire development? Flying sucks for kids. It's not fun, it can be painful...why not just help them sleep it out? Parents are getting to be such "babies" nowadays.

My grandma, who is a retired nurse of 45 years, said it was fine. My uncle, who is an OB/GYN, says it is fine. My aunt, who is a pediatrician, says it is fine in those limited circumstances.

We travel quite a bit and our oldest is now afraid to fly, so we sometimes give her a little medicine because our doctor recommended it. We will NOT be driving all the way to California from Michigan to visit her grandmother.
I traveled by myself with my 1 year old son and it was a nightmare. Not because he is not well behaved. He behaved perfectly well for a 1 year old child. I actually did plan my trip around his naptimes, but the 1 hour delay at the last minute and then the additional 1 hour on the runway, destroyed that notion. I say, do what you feel comfortable with, but be careful.

I seriously can't believe drugging your child is winning this poll! People voting on this cannot all be parents because like allyd said her kids are the most important people in the world. I hate to sound like a horrible person, but my daughter is by far the most important person in my world and her health and well being is leaps and bounds above making someone a little uncomfortable with a little crying on a plane.

I honestly look back to before we had our baby and I was on a plane with a baby who was being a little bad and yes it is a little annoying, but never would I have suggested to give the baby medicine she really didn't need.

Don't travel until your child knows how to behave properly.
Sometimes you don't have the luxury of waiting until your child can behave properly before flying with them; e.g. overseas moves or rushing home to see a dying parent.

Luckily my kids have turned out to be great little travelers so, eventhough I've carried Bynadril with me just in case, I've never had to use it.

The number of 'yes' answers greatly disturbs me. I agree 100% with JennyJen. Even before I had Brody I would never have expected or even -wanted- someone to drug their child to get them to 'behave.'

This is a child! What's next? Drugging them for car rides, trips to the store, and so you can sit through a movie at the theater? I really am disappointed in this poll.

'i feel like the practice teaches kids, "when life gets a little stressful, take medication."'

Unfortunately, this is how a lot of people deal with life. I guess all the answers to this poll really show where people's priorities are.

I'm not at all sorry that my son is my number one priority, trumping even the peace and quiet of those around him if need be.

JennyJen - Most pediatricians recommend the practice. Flying is stressful and scary for kids and giving them Benadryl to help relax them is no more life threatening than giving them Benadryl to help them deal with allergies.

It can backfire, though. My mom did it once when I was young and I was incredibly hyper throughout the flight.

I have never heard of doctors recommending this other then here. I amactually going to bring this up at the next appointment just to see what he has to say about it.

It just sounds so crazy. I mean if the child is in need of the medication because of a condition diagnosed by the doctor I could understand, but I don't get just giving it to them. I even panic that when Baby Girl is teething - that is she really teething - should I really be giving her tylenol thing.

I guess things brings up the debate as to whether people give the Tylenol before the Vaccines to ward off a potential fever/reaction. I give it to Baby Girl after the shot for her little leg, but just don't feel right giving it to her before. But again - I am one who avoids taking medicines myself if at all possible.

So let get this straight. . . Teaching your children to be inconsiderate, unthinking, insensitive, selfish, self-centered, unsympathetic, uncaring, heedless, unmindful, unkind, impolite, discourteous, rude, and disrespectful of others is okay, but using benadryl to not make theirs, yours and everyone else's flight experience a little nicer is not okay??

I'm the same way, JJ. I rarely give my kids any sort of medication, and I almost never take any myself. I've never done the Benadryl flight thing, but I don't have a problem with it if other people do. Most people know their own kids pretty well and if they think it's necessary, they probably have a better idea than I do.

Every pediatrician we've ever had recommended it, except when we flew with my daughter at 1 month old. Our vet even recommended it for flying with dogs, except dogs with really short hair who could get too cold.

But, I looked up what the AAP had to say about it after reading this post. They don't have an official position on it, but a former chairman said that it boils down to different parenting philosophies not safety concerns. He said "Good doctors can disagree about this, just as thoughtful parents can disagree." I think that pretty much sums it up.

Good point Jen. I think this blog is a good debate and opened some people's eye to a different way of thinking - or at least understanding where people are coming from.

I would never give my kids drugs, even OTC ones, ESPECIALLY for the convenience of some strangers on an airplane. (No, I'm not a crazy nut who lets my kids control everything and run wild, either!)

Just because these medications are "considered" safe and therefore can be sold OTC, doesn't make them safe at all! Everything you give your child effects them, and not just positively like helping them relax.

I found this in my research, because now I nee d to know everything about it:

Pediatricians say it is fine to give Tylenol or Motrin to a child who is likely to experience ear pain from in-flight pressure changes, but parents should use medicine as a last resort. It's better to pack specific food, beverages and toys to distract a child before resorting to drugs.

you guys are making it seem like the writer was talking about full on "drugging" kids. it's benadryl people!!! and while i fully respect any position you might have on giving your kids medicine, you also need to keep in mind that your child is not the only person in the world. when flying there are sometimes upwards of 200 people on a flight. while your child should be the most important person in your life, you also need to be aware that they are not the ONLY people being affected.

if your kid is a good flyer, then that's fine. and i'm cool with normal fussing on planes. sometimes i even feel like fussing on planes, and i'm well over an age where i need to be "drugged" to fly. but lots of kids HATE flying and it's when they start screaming their heads off that i think to myself "why can't the mom give them a dose of medicine!" heck, lots of adults take mecidine to get them through a flight too! all i'm saying is, try to keep perspective of the situation. it's otc medicine. giving them a little bit in extenuating circumstances is not a crime.

end of rant

I don't have any kids, but what is the problem with giving them some drugs to make them feel better and to respect other passengers on the plane??? Parents that say no to drugs...you should respect everyone in the world, not just your kids, you want people to respect you and your kids right??? well its the golden rule. Also, people who are saying no to drugs because they are bad for your children, do you assume to know more than doctors who have been to school forever to know things like this??? Bastille_75, I agree with everything you have said.
For everyone who says using drugs on the kids teaches the kids to solve problems by just using drugs....what does being ok with not respecting and disturbing everyone else on the plane teach your kids??? Those kids are going to be disrespectful uncaring adults just like you have taught them to be. They learn from your example more than your words right???

allyd, you expect everyone on a plane to give you and your kids the utmost respect and to not be bothered by any disturbance you cause, but you don't think you should have to do the same for other people????????

murinea, i guess that's just it. i really, genuinely, honestly don't think i should have to give my little ones meds simply out of consideration for others. That said, my kids have never gone totally ballistic on a flight...and as i've said, we've flown far more than average. if some stranger coniders a child acting like a child to be a disturbance, that's the stranger's problem, not mine or my child's. maybe that person can ask his doctor for a script for valium before he flies next time. =)