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Drugging Kids for Peace and Quiet?
- Nov 19, 2008 at 10:37 AM
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- Comments (9) Total Views (189) Everyone can see this journal post.
Most experts agree -- using cold and allergy medicine to sedate kids is wrong. But that doesn't stop parents.
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If flying is a hassle, flying with kids is a nightmare. As seats get smaller and in-flight amenities fewer, more and more parents are dosing their kids with sleeping aids to make it though long flights hassle-free. According to a poll on the website lilsugar, a whooping 58% of parents think it's okay to use Benadryl, an allergy medicine or other medicinal sleep aids to help kids sleep on a plane.
"Benadryl is not intended as a sedative," warns pediatrician Dr. Cara Natterson. "It is an antihistamine meant to help treat allergic symptoms. It is not a convenience for parents to help with an "extended nap" on airplanes. Additionally," says Dr. Cara, "The FDA came out with a warning earlier this year to change the labeling on many cough and cold medications warning parents "should not give to children under age 4."
And the risks can be deadly.
According to the American Association of Poison Control Centers, cough and cold preparations like Benadryl account for about 27 deaths per year in children under six.
"I'm against Benadryl used for anything other than allergy treatment, and so are most pediatricians and sleep experts," says Dr. Gwenn Schurgin O'Keeffe, spokesperson for the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Regardless, many parents insist drugging kids is "the only way to fly." Some even go further and use the method when they simply need a break.
"Parents do it who are tired and stressed out," explains, Dr. Gwenn. "I hear parents [in my practice] tell me 'she doesn't sleep so I give them Benadryl." Apparently, it's a very dangerous habit. "There is a safety window that can be easily exceeded messing with your kid's clock -- which is what makes us sleep."
At what point does the use of sedatives become a form of child abuse?
"You could argue it's always abuse," states Dr. Gwenn. "There's a very fine line. But a 'normal' parent will call 911 if there was a problem relating to the dosage, a parent who has done something suspicious won't."
There is mounting evidence the high-profile saga of accused murder Casey Anthony is just one of those cases. Momlogic reported last month Casey Anthony's defense team said if Anthony's daughter, Caylee was indeed dead, "it was almost certainly a tragic accident," and she was possibly poisoned by chloroform or she could have died while she was sedated. Basically, they claim it could have been an accident.
While anyone would be loath to compare their own practice of sedating a child on an airplane to Casey's alleged use of chloroform, there are some similarities. As one momlogic reader put it, "I don't think I know any moms who haven't at least considered giving their kid(s) Benadryl for a plane ride, *If* the chloroform story is indeed what happened, it's only a difference of degree. Either action is still drugging your child to make your life easier."
In the last three years, ten daycare centers tried to make their lives easier by workers allegedly sedating children with cold medicines and cough syrups. Four babies died in those cases. Sabine Bieber, former owner of Tiny Tots Day Care in Montana, was sentenced to 40 years in prison for giving one-year-old Dane Heggem a fatal dose of generic allergy medicine (without the parents permission) to manage their nap times.
"Sadly, it could happen to anyone," cautions Dr. Gwenn. "If you're going to use something off-label -- for a purpose other than its intended use -- you could easily be accused of wrongdoing. Benadryl is used for allergies. A lot of parents don't know how to give these drugs properly -- they misjudge their child's weight, for example."
A parent needs to be prepared to answer that if something goes wrong. "Essentially," concluded Dr. Gwenn, "You're taking your child's life in your hands."
Is It OK to drug kids for airplane rides?
Comments:
Dramamine actually was prescribed for my 5 year old for a plane ride. It is a sedative yet it also helps with motion sickness. Yes, I gave it to him, and yes, it was nice that he fell asleep for the entire plane. I wouldn't make it a habit, but doctors do give it to parents to help with plane rides.
Good point seelove. My kids don't get motion sickness and I wouldn't have thought of that.
Since mine don't get motion sickness... no. I wouldn't. We've flown and driven many miles with them and, though in some moments it would be very tempting lol, no. I wouldn't.
Interesting point seelove! Your dr. prescribing a child something for motion sickness may be something entirely different than just for peace and quiet.
I think a doctor prescribing something for motion sickness is different than parents just giving over the counter drugs to their kids cause they don't want to deal with them. I just flew alone with my 2 year old on a 4 hour nonstop flight, and I'm pregnant, too. No drugs of any kind involved. He sat in his own seat, and napped for about an hour of the 4 hours. The rest of the time we played with his toys, colored in coloring books, read stories, and looked out the window and made up stories about waht we saw. He was fine and wasn't a nuisance to other passengers or me. I think many parents don't travel prepared with things to entertain their children, or just don't want to put in the effort to find out what the child wants. They would rather take the easy way out with the benedryl. Sad...
I just got back to Miami yesterday from Buenos Aires which is a 9 hour flight. No drugs/sleep aids for my 2 year old. I brought a portable dvd, coloring book, crayons, and matchbox cars which entertained him when he wasn't sleeping.
There is no way that I would drug my child. Foolishness.
It has never even occurred to me to do something like that, I know people have "joked" about it around me when I used to work.. and I assumed it was a joke, like my husband suggesting we should give them a shot of whiskey (we don't even own liquor 99% of the time)... We're living in strange times where parents are pressured by society to have kids that act a certain way. How many posts have you see about people complaining about, well, kids being kids in a restaurant? Store? There are long debates about schools pushing parents to medicate their overactive kids as ADHD kids... I'm not sure who started this trend of feeling like kids should be convenient. I find it worrisome.
We've taken trips with our kids.. 10 hours one day. 13 the next to get up north. We stopped every two hours at rest stops to run them around, we brought a DvD player, magna doodle, lots of snacks, we played games in the car... and sometimes we flat out said, "I know you're bored - Mommy and Daddy are too, we're almost there!"
It's astonishing to me that people actually do this, the thought of drugging my precious babies, who trust me with their lives, just so they will not get in my hair sends chills down my spine. I will not take chances with my kids health, with their lives, just so I can take a break or have a quiet airplane ride. Disgusting! Now my son used to have excema, and we would give him children's benedryl at night to help him sleep because the itching would keep him awake. We were doing that to give him relief though, and when he slept better we obviously did too. I do agree though that a doctors prescription for motion sickness is okay, that too is to give the child some relief, not just to make them be quiet.
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I would never drug my child, whether it is for a plane ride or just to get him to nap. I find it completely appalling that parents do this.
- MomOfAven
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