Opinions on sedating babies and toddler?
#1
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Opinions on sedating babies and toddler?
I heard a passenger suggest to a mother once to sedate her baby to get it to sleep. She didn't take it too kindly, obviously. I'm sure there's a safe way of doing it. Should parents do it? Would you do it?
#2
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 4,735
The minor side effects of sedation include nausea, vomiting, mild allergic reactions, headache and dizziness.
The more serious adverse effects of sedative medications are slowed breathing, decrease in blood pressure or abnormal heart rate and rhythm and potentially death.
So unless you are a qualified medical professional trained in managing sedation and have access to a full resuscitation kit, no, I don't recommend sedating an infant on an airplane where you will be thousands of feet above and maybe thousands of miles away from help if something goes wrong.
#3
Join Date: Sep 2014
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Propofol. Of course I'm kidding (or am I?).
#4
Join Date: Jul 2017
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Maybe not anesthesia or actual sedation, but something like Tylenol PM for kids, that would help them sleep & lessen the pain from the ears popping? Obviously, the first flight isn't the time to experiment with this, but it could be a relief for the child itself. My parents did it to me when I first flew at the age of 2. I 'sedated' the dog for the 4th of July, cause she went nuts with the fireworks.
#5
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 4,735
From the Tylenol PM info page:
Do not use in children under 12 years of age.
One of the active ingredients in Tylenol PM is Diphenhydramine, aka Benadryl, which has a contrarian effect in many children, making them agitated and irritable rather than sedated.That doesn't mean it was a good idea.
Did it survive?
#7
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: LAX
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Benadryl (kids) definitely helps.. some reported that it may potentially have the opposite effect in rare cases - try at home first..
obviously use common sense
obviously use common sense
#8
Join Date: Mar 2011
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IN my opinion, simply don't!
First of all, babies don't need to be sedated, they're just baby.
Then anyway you never know how a baby would react to any product you might use.
Finally, not sure you might not get in legal troubles for drugging your kids!
First of all, babies don't need to be sedated, they're just baby.
Then anyway you never know how a baby would react to any product you might use.
Finally, not sure you might not get in legal troubles for drugging your kids!
#11
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#12
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I could see an older generation doing this, but today's parents seem to be quite the opposite as they have access to better information.
From what I see, and this is totally non-scientific, too many parents don't care if their children are disruptive.
#13
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#14
Join Date: Mar 2013
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From what I see, and this is totally non-scientific, too many parents don't care if their children are disruptive.
I was surprised to see it, but you're right. I just don't see how people think it's fine to medicate their kids for the purpose of convenience.
#15
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Portland
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Re the OP, someone (not a doctor) once suggested that we give our daughter children's Benadryl prior to a long flight (ORD-HKG). We briefly thought about it and decided not to. Seems unnecessary, and I'm not really comfortable giving medicine to our child unless it is (1) recommended by our own pediatrician; and (2) designed to make her feel better (rather than us).