Has anyone done this? We're taking LO (will be 15 mo) on a 6 hour non stop flight next month. We'll be bringing Tylenol of course, but would love to make him a little extra sleepy if its considered safe to do. I suppose I coud ask my pedi too.
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We haven't done this but we did give him a bottle of milk while taking off and landing (this is to help with popping the ears due to change in air pressure) and with the plane's motion and a full tummy, it knocks him out anyways.
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@Raindrop: I wish! We already bottle weaned! I suppose I could give him a sippy.
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I wouldn't give my LO any medication that he didn't legitimately need.
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@Seattlemom: So we sort of cheat about the weaning off the bottle. We have those sports bottles that are seriously like bottles that we use in a pinch still and that's what we use for flights now. LO is almost 2.5 now. Good luck lady.
Nuby No-Spill Sports Sipper
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My lo's pediatrician actually suggested we give it to our daughter on one of our flights. He also said we should try it beforehand to make sure she didn't have the opposite reaction (some kids get hyper on it). Unfortunately, it didn't make her sleepy at all...it has no effect on her, so it didn't really help on the plane.
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Has he had it before? It has the opposite effect on my DS - keeps him up for hours!!!
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We gave dd her sippy cup on the way up and down. She was fine on an eight hour flight. I'd not be comfortable giving her medicine without medical need especially for the first time so far from home.
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@Raindrop: cool tip, I will check these out.
@Mrs. Rabbit: I will check with our pediatrician too. If we try this I will def plan to try a dose at home to check his reaction. Thanks!
@Mamaof2: He's never had it! I would have to give a dose at home to see his reaction. -
We used a bit of melatonin for my 2 year old in April.
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We tried it, but sadly it did not work. Our pediatrician approved it, do I felt it was fine to try.
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@Seattlemom: If you get these... make sure when you LO drinks from there the air hole on the top of the bottle is up above LO's nose while he's drinking it... otherwise it will leak. Murphy's law always gets us and LO almost always drinks out of it every time with the hole under and we have to twist it in his little hands to move the air hole up.
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my friend and I were just talking about this, and it makes a lot of kids hyper, which would be the worst thing ever.
She sent me this: http://news.healingwell.com/?p=news1&id=533580
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I gave LO benadryl once for a rash and she was bouncing off the walls. Personally I don't think I would give LO medicine to make her sleep on a plane. I nursed LO through flights and it worked great. If you aren't nursing maybe you could ask the flight attendant to warm some milk for you and then play some relaxing videos.
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@Seattlemom: Defintely speak with your ped about it, I gave some to our LO (16 months at the time) on a transatlantic flight as he was riled up, unbelieveably overtired and he needed the rest so it was in his best interest. Two seperate peds advised me on this. Wait and see, you might not need it, but it could make the trip easier on everyone including LO.
I got a little judgement on this but I had 2 Peds back me up - saying he would need to rest, a little bendryl is better than a LO being a mess for days because of no rest (plus I figured that opinions from those who haven't taken an infant on a flight, and I mean 5+ hour flight, can't really understand
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@Mrs. Rabbit: I was going to suggest trying it beforehand too! I've heard lots of stories about kids having opposite reactions.
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@loveisstrange: Interesting, I use melatonin myself but haven't thought about giving it to LO.
@JerricaBenton: yeah, I would def have to try it first at home to make sure it doesn't make him hyper. Not nursing or using bottles anymore, so will have to ask for warm milk and bring videos on the ipad for sure!
@Aimed: Thanks for your thoughts! I feel like benadryl is fairly benign, so not too worried about using it if I feel that its in LOs best interest. -
Heck yeah!
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My friend's ped recommended this for her 2 LOs - 3 and 1. They were flying from MA to Columbia to visit family. I thought it was kind of weird for the ped to recommend extraneous medicine, but I guess benadryl's pretty harmless.
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is the flight during the day or at night? I feel like even if you gave your LO Benadryl I doubt they would sleep for a full 6 hours anyways if it were during the day. And if its at night, they would probably be tired anyways and fall asleep from the white noise of plane/etc. We've had to give LO Benadryl a few times due to allergies/reactions and it's never made her more sleepy than normal or hyper- just no reaction.
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@Seattlemom: I have a friend that travels a lot and swears by liquid Melatonin for babies. They sell it at CVS I think? I've never used it, but we share the same pediatrician and she said he approved it.
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Agree with everyone that you should definitely make sure it actually makes your LO sleepy!
That said, I would not judge you for giving a small dose. It's not as if you are doing it every night before bed.
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My ped suggested a dose of benadryl to help lo sleep when he had a really nasty virus that we couldnt treat with anything but rest. So there is definitely a safe dose. I would probably skip it though if possible. Lo will probably sleep a lot anyway. But if your kiddo gets anxious in new situations or has trouble sleeping in the car, i would consider it with the ok from my ped.
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We've taken a lot of flights with DS (21 months) - I think 18 flight legs at last count - including a 10 hour daytime flight and 4 overnights. I haven't given Benadryl, I didn't want to introduce another variable (or give him something that might still affect him when we arrived, not sure how long it takes to wear off).
He ends up sleeping when he wants to sleep - he'll take a couple naps on the daytime flights, and usually sleeps okay on the overnights (though he didn't sleep much on one of them, at 17 months - he just kind of sat quietly in his seat though, which was pretty amazing).
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When we've given DS benadryl for allergic reactions, it's never made him sleepy/drowsy so we'd probably opt to not try it for a flight. We're flying next month when he's near 22 months and plan to stock up on Daniel Tiger episodes and new snacks to carry us through the flight.
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Has your LO flown before? If so, are they a good plane sleeper?
I wouldn't for a flight that long; 6 hours isn't a super long flight, especially if you can get a nap and feeding time in there.
I'd just bring a variety of activities for the ride; but I don't think it's a big deal to give them a little Benadryl either, if that's what you want to do.
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We've done lots of long haul flights with our DDs between Australia, the US, and the UK, but have never given them anything to make them sleepy. DD1 has done long flights at 6, 7, 8, 15, 18, 19, 22, and 25 months and she's always been fine. As long as we have her lovey and some pacifiers, she would usually sleep at some stage. Other than that, lots of activities and snacks!
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There are cases of infants dying after being sedated with Benadryl or other OTC medicines. http://www.tampabay.com/news/health/infants-death-shines-light-on-practice-of-medicating-kids-to-sleep/1191735
The above article states that Benadryl can have toxic effects in children under 2.
What is really scary is this article about the practice in daycares! http://www.cbsnews.com/news/deadly-dose-of-daycare/
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What is the time difference involved, when are you flying, what is your plan for your day 1?
I personally haven't done it, but we tough it out for about 4 days on each leg when we fly 6 hours (6 time zones for us).
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Benadryl doesn't make DS sleepy so that wouldn't work for us. However, he does generally well on flights. Maybe bring snacks/toys/lovies to keep your LO entertained if Benadryl doesn't work? Or pick a flight around your LO's nap time so he'll sleep most of the flight?
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@Seattlemom: It is the same ingredient in tylenol pm for adults. I would feel comfortable with my peds recommendation to give it to LO to get some rest.
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We asked his pediatrician and she said sure. She actually advised us NOT to underdose as it would (or might?) cause the opposite reaction (tired but not sleepy thus being cranky).
For our son (roughly 27lbs and 22m), she advised 5ml of children's regular Benadryl, NOT D!!! Just the original kind. I had already bought the Benadryl D and asked if I could just use that and she said "noooooooo, not until he's at least 4.That being said: I used Benadryl per my ob's advice for my entire 3rd trimester (had a pregnancy induce rash) and LO had already had it once to try to clear a diaper rash which we initially though was a allergic reaction. So, I wasn't overly worried.
P.s: it worked only OK. He slept! But it wasn't like an awesome deep sleep. It was just ok; but we survived the trip!
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