<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by dhacker:
There's a big difference between medication for teething or a cold and sedation to shut a kid up. IMO, a much more important ethical issue than the moral right to quiet you seem to be claiming.</font>
Usually, it's the same reason. If it's not, where's the harm in a normal dosage to calm the kid?
As for ethics, it's derived from libertarianism. Basically, the individual should be left alone to do as he/she sees fit, EXCEPT when doing so causes others harm.
In the case we're discussing, you and the child can do whatever you like, as long as you're not adversely affecting others. If you are, AND you have acceptable means to mitigate it, then you would have a moral duty to do so.
In short: you leave me alone, I'll leave you alone, and we'll all be happy. You actively try to calm the child, I'll shower and avoid beans before the flight, and we'll both be the better for it.
Now, if a little tyke hurts himself, etc., and can't be calmed, then it's perfectly understandable b/c it wasn't foreseeable.