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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to give my 3 year old a dose of piriton before a long flight?

156 replies

gemmalovestiggy · 29/10/2010 22:34

DD 3 is very hard work, stuggles to sit still for longer than 10mins. Whilst getting holiday jabs nurse said "large dose of piriton before take off should do the trick".....kind of thought she was joking but I am very tempted!! AIBU?

OP posts:
booooooooooyhoo · 29/10/2010 23:16

valium i am in no way smug. apologies if what i said offended you. i have two children and both have had their moments. i have endured the horrible glares, believe me, i know what it is like to be that mum. i still wouldn't drug my child with something they didn't need.

Maisiethemorningsidecat · 29/10/2010 23:16

Oh how I'd love to give some of you DS1 for a while Grin

YANBU, but as others have said, try it first as they don't all react the same. Our beloved first born actually got more hyper, which had to be seen to be believed. Fortunately we found out before we got on a flight, otherwise the pilot would have parachuted out. Unfortunately he bounced off the walls for 4 hours instead. Audio tapes and crayons????? HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA ad infinitum

valiumskeleton · 29/10/2010 23:18

Ok smug's not the right word then, but I bet you have no idea how bad it can be for some parents. I'm not talking about 'moments'. It was four hours of screaming from the moment we boarded the plane til after it landed. It was hell. I was shouting fuck off like a fish wife at people who were coming up to me to complain. What the HELL did they think I could do?!?! I still wonder that.

Mutt · 29/10/2010 23:19

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

LessonsinL · 29/10/2010 23:21

Well yes, YABU to expect a child to sit still for longer than 10 minutes... but at the same time I can understand why it might be best for all concerned.

Probably try it out in a small dose to see how he reacts first though :)

valiumskeleton · 29/10/2010 23:22

ha ha mutt. Your child is easy compared to mine. Of that I have no doubt. And you're naive if you think all children are the same Confused do you think that?! Shock

thecaptaincrocfamily · 29/10/2010 23:22

Why? It is very unlikely to make him drowsey if he is hyperactive? Hmm. Wish I knew who the nurse was because that is really unprofessional Angry and not at all recommended.

valiumskeleton · 29/10/2010 23:23

Mutt, I only drugged ONE child because only ONE of them screamed for four hours solid on the outward flight. the other one was mostly/partly/nearly fobbed off with buttons and colours.

Maisiethemorningsidecat · 29/10/2010 23:23

Keep it in perspective Mutt - one dose of something that is sold over the counter is not 'drugging'. If it helps the child have a less distressing journey, then it's serving a purpose.

Or perhaps you prefer them hysterical because they can't get out of their seat, or can't open the door, or hate the noise of the engine, or get terrified of the taking off and landing, love?

valiumskeleton · 29/10/2010 23:24

Exactly Maisie, letting him hyperventilate with distress for four hours is so 'kind'.

booooooooooyhoo · 29/10/2010 23:25

"Or perhaps you prefer them hysterical because they can't get out of their seat, or can't open the door, or hate the noise of the engine, or get terrified of the taking off and landing, love?"

tbh if i had even an inkling that was how my child would be on a plane then i wouldn't be taking them on one.

valiumskeleton · 29/10/2010 23:25

Yes, guess when I found out. On the WAY to Spain. Had to come.

valiumskeleton · 29/10/2010 23:26

HOME. I meant to add.

bosch · 29/10/2010 23:27

I used to get car sick on long car journeys (I even remember feeling a bit sick on a swing once) and took avomine. I think the active ingredient is now prescribed as a sleeping tablet. When we went out on day trips, I slept all the way there and all the way back. If I hadn't taken the drugs, I guess we'd never have gone anywhere at all ever.

OP YANBU (as long as you check the drug beforehand at home and know what effect it will have on your dd - in case of unintended consequences/side effects )

giraffescantdookforapples · 29/10/2010 23:27

i know of someone who gives their oldest child pain killers he the youngest is because they get jealous wtf

Maisiethemorningsidecat · 29/10/2010 23:29

Ditto Valium - guess when we found out Booo? We have a lot of holidays in the UK - at least we can stop the car and get out.

MollieO · 29/10/2010 23:29

valium - to me 'lively' encompasses the crying and screaming too! Still didn't occur to me to medicate.

booooooooooyhoo · 29/10/2010 23:29

giraffes you mean the younger child gets them too because he sees the older one getting them and gets jealous? Shock

nigglewiggle · 29/10/2010 23:30

At the risk of repeating myself - why are you booking flights for your children if they get so distressed?

valiumskeleton · 29/10/2010 23:32

MollieO, nobody who was sitting near my child would have described him as kindly as 'lively'.

If it didn't occur to you to medicate, then your child's behaviour was not in the same league as my child's.

I did use judgement. I have two children and one of them wasn't 'drugged'. I made the right decision, for HIM, for me, and for all of the other passengers. But not for mumsnet. Oh ho ho. It's so predictable it's funny.

Where do mumsnetters go on holiday? Tuscany? I must take my son to Tuscany now I know you're all so understanding about shrieking distressed children.

Maisiethemorningsidecat · 29/10/2010 23:32

No, lively is not crying and screaming - DD and DS2 do that in their 'moments'. Unless you've experienced the kind of child that my DS1 is/was, then you really, with all due respect, know nothing about it. For your sake, I'm really glad that you don't.

bosch · 29/10/2010 23:34

Wow, now I really know why I don't fly with my children. I thought it was because they might be bored and moany. And possibly travel sick like I used to be.

Is crying and screaming for the entire journey considered normal behaviour that you just learn to put up with? I wouldn't want to plan a journey where my children were much more than mildly inconvenienced, much less terrribly distraught. I live in a different world...

valiumskeleton · 29/10/2010 23:34

I hear you Maisie.

I think a lot of people who have text book children just don't get it. They think that all children are the same and can be bribed, rewarded, reasoned with in the same way. All children are not the same. That is lesson one surely???

booooooooooyhoo · 29/10/2010 23:34

holiday? what's one of those? Confused

booooooooooyhoo · 29/10/2010 23:35

arf at 'textbook' children