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

[gemmalovestiggy]

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?

Don't bother. They're too exhausting.

Agree Valium. If we only had DD and DS2, then I guess I'd think exactly the same as some of the posters on here.

I consider all children who can be reasoned with or bribed text book.

My son is on the spectrum which perhaps I should have mentioned earlier, but I didn't want to. Because it's not relevant to his HEALTH. If it's an ISSUE to 'drug' an NT child then it's an issue to 'drug' a child on the spectrum.

But one is acceptable I guess and the other is not. But their physiologies would respond in the same way to being 'drugged'.

ps, all the other text book children swam in the pool. My son cried because of the way the sun reflected off the pool. there was an indoor pool but he cried because of the noise of the filter/heater.

My daughter is no angel! hell no. I think she's borderline AHDH, but she can be reasoned with and bribed.

Well I wouldn't say YABU. We were in the "will not drug" camp when we flew with DD2 at 18 months and I actually wish we did. She wasn't bad as in she wasn't screaming or anything like that, but we had to keep distracting/entertaining her throughout the flight. By that I mean every single minute. And she didn't sleep at all. Not fun on a long haul flight.

I get parents asking my advice on this a lot. I've traveled with various aged charges all over. Sometimes the parents have requested the children be given medised or an antihistamine, I have a clause in my contract saying something along the lines of "the nanny will only administer such medicines as are medically necessary, or approved for specific use by a medical professional" so I can give Calpol for a fever for example. But if they want the children to have an "unecessary" medicine such as medised when flying I tell parents that the choice is THEIRS and therefore so is the responsibility should anything go wrong! Some children are not great travelers and get distressed or hyper or louder than a rocket taking off... but it's not a simple case of saying "if your child is like that then don't fly" - sometimes you HAVE to fly. In my current job we fly transatlantic every 2-3 months. My charge has flown at least 10 return flights in 17 months. She's getting to be a tough traveler, as she doesn't understand why she should be strapped in, and she's still too young to watch tv or be expected to pay attention to something for more than 4 minutes. My bosses asked their pediatrician about drugging and they were recommended a specific medicine and they will use it on night flights to help their daughter sleep rather than scream for 8 hours. Life can't be put on pause til your child is ready to behave like a perfect little angel on a plane.

I generally advise against using meds. But tbh if it helps the child have a relaxed and restful flight, then how is that a bad thing? Plane travel is like spending a few hours in an alternate and seriously claustrophobic world where the normal rules don't really apply. Whatever it takes to get from A to B as safely and sanely as possible is my ethos and that goes for adults and children.

VS you say in one post "all children are not the same" but the in your last post you say you "consider all children who can be reasoned with or bribed text book". surely you are making the same assumptions taht you are accusing other posters of making by saying that? how can you say that any child that can be bribed is textbook? just because it is an issue you have with your son doesn't mean that anyone who doesn't have that issue doesn't have any issues.

No all children are not the same. That is something I realise. I don't really mind if you drug your child or not and I would believe you that you are the best judge of whether that is necessary or not. That is not reciprocal though.

megapixels you wish you had drugged tyour child so you didn't have to entertain her? now, i can understand VS's reasoning but yours?

ah phew, you understand - a bit. I can go to bed now.

Yes booooooyhoo that's right. It gets difficult to do that continuously for 12 hours straight in an enclosed space.

wow

Are these issues specifically relating to behaviour on planes, that would make travelling in this way distressing for the child and everyone else on the plane?

I agree with VS. If a child can be reasoned with or bribed on a plane with chocolate buttons (or a box of healthy snacks, natch) or crayons or a parent reading stories to them, then that's a pretty standard child in my eyes - but then I'm coming at it with a different perspective.

Ps, I don't knwo why I'm bothering to defend myself! but when I only had dc1 adn she wsa 18 months I flew to Florida. That was a very long flight, very hard because she was 18 months. But with some children it's more than just their youngness making it hard.

from a different

Thanks Maisie, I understand that to seem to bracket all other children as 'text book' must seem dismissive but I didn't mean it that way. I include my own dc1 in that band.

?

maisie i was referring to VS's use of the word textbook. not specifically to the issue of medicating before a flight.

Don't sweat it.

Who knows, our kids may be out smoking joints and taking e or passing the bong round in 15 years time, and we won't know about it.

good night all.

Off to bed now - have taken an extra nytol in honour of this thread

I was pretty young when I had my first son (not awfully young, but at 23 I think I was still pretty green) anyway, when he was 15 months we were going on holiday to Greece.

I am NOT a good flyer, I hate it beyond all reason. I was worried about DS and worried about myself TBH. A friend told me (a mother of 2 at this point) to "just give him a dose of phenergan (Sp?) and he'll be fine, he'll sleep and you can get on with it"

I took her advice and did so. I gave him the phenergans and within 20 minutes he was as white as a sheet and just conked out. Not in a sweet "aw, look he's asleep!" way in a "fuck, is he ok?" way.

So, instead of having made a stressful situation easier I had actually made it a million times worse, I was SO WORRIED about him, so, so, terribly worried.

He was fine. Was it worth it? No.

Would I do it again? No.

I have smiled through all of our flights since (this is a lie , I cry and hate every fucking second, but I'm phobic ) and would never NEVER give my children a drug in order to pacify them (unless it was prescribed by a Dr for something serious IYKWIM)

lol

If my kids end up taking mary jane it'll be ALL MY FAULT

arhg!

Vile vile behaviour. Abusive IMO

Would you say I was n abusive mother Quattro?