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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:
Quattrocento · 30/10/2010 00:12

What do you think? You gave your son medication that he absolutely did not need in order to deal with your anxiety. The person who needed the medication was you. Not him.

23balloons · 30/10/2010 00:17

YANBU I did it for a flight to Australia on the advise of a Doctor. Of course tested it out before we flew. i only gave one dose throuought the 24+ hour trip each way & eveyone was happy.

the only drawback - i got home exhausted having not slept one wink but dss were fully rested and ready to go for another 12 hours!!!

ShirleyGarrote · 30/10/2010 00:21

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

ShirleyGarrote · 30/10/2010 00:23

*your

booooooooooyhoo · 30/10/2010 00:23

shirley that language is abusive.

23balloons · 30/10/2010 00:24

now you mention phernegan that is what we had. Dss had 2 spoons 5 years ago, they have never had it since I'd even forgotton the name of it. I would hardly call that unreasonable.

23balloons · 30/10/2010 00:26

I actually remember an in law telling tales of dosing the kids up with phernegan before the babysitter arrived (years ago) now that is unreasonable.

Quattrocento · 30/10/2010 00:26

When I posted on this thread, I'd only read the OP, but of course I'd heard of this sort of thing before.

So no, the comment wasn't directed at you. But your behaviour was not appropriate. You caused an adverse reaction in your child. Had anything worse happened, you would CERTAINLY have been culpable in law. I'm glad you regret it. I'm also glad you posted it.

ShirleyGarrote · 30/10/2010 00:26

You're right boo - have reported post for that final line.

Will repost rest of it here because, to be fair, being called an abuser is pretty fucking offensive to me.

No, I'm asking you.

This is interesting to me. If you're comment "vile vile behaviour. Abusive IMO" was directed at me then I am flabbergasted.

Actually shocked, I have made the point in my post that I was pretty unaware of the effects of anti-histamines on children; I have made the point that I was stupidly taking the advice of a friend who had children and that I believed her, and I have made the point that I was young at the time.

I related my BAD EXPERIENCE and re-iterated the fact that I would NEVER do it again and that I also highlighted the fact that this was a scary experience for all of us. I also made it pretty clear that tghis was a mistake I have never made again.

Oh, I related a mistake I made as a young mother over 14 years ago.

Call me abusive again.

LittleMissHissyFangs · 30/10/2010 00:26

agree with quattro's last comment. It's your decision to take a child on a plane. It's not right to drug them into behaving to make you look good. I speak as ex expat. 3yo can understand you very well when you tell them it's not right to be loud. If you have to engage with them, what's the problem? You're their parent, it's what you do! I'd regularly do 5.5 hour and 11 hour flights with my ds, from 6m to 3.5 yrs. I've never drugged him.

ShirleyGarrote · 30/10/2010 00:28

Jesus, x-posted with a load of stuff.

I am going to stick to stupid threads about hair or smells or ice cream from now on.

Fuck this.

LittleMissHissyFangs · 30/10/2010 00:29

lummy meant post of 00.12...

ShirleyGarrote · 30/10/2010 00:33

So that's directed at me yes?

00.12 was directed at me. Regardless of the points I made, regardless of the fact that I was advocating NOT using drugs, regardless of the fact that I was sharing a MISTAKE I made.

Good for you.

Glitterknickaz · 30/10/2010 00:36

It's like Ritalin is it?
I take it from that comment that you consider parents who really don't like giving Ritalin to their children but have to to ensure their safety to be lower than low too?

janajos · 30/10/2010 08:15

I would just say that I experienced the opposite effect when I gave my son phenergen on one occasion when we were about to set off on a 12 hour train journey - it was a nightmare; not only did he not get sleepy, he became hyperactive and also had diarrhea for the duration of the journey - I changed his nappy on average every half hour!! I never went for the easy option again, or tried it with any of the others.

If you are going to give it a go then I would try it at home first.

janajos · 30/10/2010 08:23

God, not quite awake yet, just read the rest of these posts, some of you are rather extreme are you not? Very quick to point the finger at parents who are trying to do the best for their children. I would like to bet that some of the more negative comments come from parents who have never taken their kids on long haul flights or very long train journeys!

None of us believes that drugging our children is a good thing to do, and for the record, I have never tried it other than the one time I have shared. However the judgy pants, do gooding attitude sickens me tbh, none of us is a perfect parent and those that think they are generally have a wake up call when their children hit the teens!! Those of us that are willing to grow up with our children and learn from our mistakes (indicating flexibility), generally cope better with them as they grow up.

Please try to be less abusive in your reactions to others, you seem to be the perfect mother, Quattro, but you clearly have much to learn about how to respectfully convey your opinions to adults; even in AIBU decency is preferable.

roundthehouses · 30/10/2010 08:30

After a hellish 10 hour flight in one direction with a very bored very tired 3 year old (despite a ton of little toys, crayons, magazines etc) i did give him medised on the way back.

I gave him half the recommended dose for his age and he more or less went straight out and slept for about 6 hours. I on the other hand did not sleep a wink, convinced that there was going to be some adverse effect to strike me down for being such a terrible mother and watched him like a hawk the entire time. And this was before I knew medised was such a controversial (on MN anyway) drug so I had given it to him several times when he was smaller when he was really unwell and couldn´t sleep, so I knew he had no allergy to it, or any weird reactions.

On balance I wouldn´t do it again, my conscience couldn´t take it. But loads of people DO do it and this kind of q on MN was ALWAYS going to get you this kind of reaction. I don´t agree with the people getting all hysterical and shouting abuse, if you were into regularly drugging your child I would be very dubious but I hardly think this is the same thing. Its not abuse, it is something a lot of people might not agree with but name me one area of parenting that you couldn´t say that about!

Rosieeo · 30/10/2010 08:46

I'm really surprised that some people are so very precious!

Are some posters honestly suggesting that giving a child a dose of Medised once a year from the age of 1 - 4 or so is abusive? Grin That's just silly.

OP, test it first (as others have said) but then I can't see the harm. My DC are ok on flights, but if they were unhappy for whatever reason I wouldn't hesitate! As for the toddler behind us on the way home in August who screamed for 4 hours, I wish his parents had considered it too.

sickoftheholidays · 30/10/2010 09:20

Just to be the voice of reason on here, and take the middle ground - needlessly giving medication to a child is wrong.
BUT now comes the question of what defines NEED? I argue that there are not only the needs of the child to consider, but the stress levels of the parents, and consideration of other passengers.
As for those rather hard line folk who recommend never going on a plane if your DC cant/wont sit still and behave, what about the other DC in the family, is it right that they miss out on opportunity to travel just becuase their sib is a nightmare on a plane?
I think you have to consider the impact on ll parties involved, and look at what is an acceptable level of risk, and in this case, I think that giving a dose of an OVER THE COUNTER medication to a child to a child at the recommended dose in order to make the journey bearable for the parents (and anyone else within a 10 seat radius of the child) and which will not make the journey significantly worse for the child then that is an acceptable risk. Its not like she is using cuffs and a gag FFS.

fannybaws · 30/10/2010 09:29

Its called a chemical upgrade in our family, term first introduced by my dad , who is a GP as it happens Smile

savoycabbage · 30/10/2010 09:31

I took medised - with me I mean - when I flew to Australia on mu own with dc who were 5 and 2. I didn't need it but I did give some to a woman who had a screaming child who was at her wits end. She was most grateful and I will be taking my medised with me the next time. Just in case.

It's a fecking long way. I thought it would be not that bad. But it was that bad. It was awful.

fannybaws · 30/10/2010 09:31

I feel I need a [ lights touchpaper and runs off] emotion

ScroobiousPip · 30/10/2010 09:31

Have flown to NZ with a very 'active' 18mo - was dreading it as he had never been known to sit still for more than 5 minutes and, for various reasons, the whole journey was 36hrs end to end.

But, it was fine. The novelty of being on a plane kept him going for several hours, then the new toys that I had in my bag, then the noise of the engine lulled him to sleep, followed by watching the in-flight TV screen and, finally, chocolate and walks up and down the plane for the last few hours. The only horrid bit was the final descent.

Anyway, just wanted to point out that it might not be anywhere near as bad as you think it might be.

valiumskeleton · 30/10/2010 09:40

SickoftheHolidays, glad to read there are some people who can see things reasonably, realise that every situation/child is different. There has been a lot of unbelievably black and white thinking on this thread!

Trust parents to use their own judgement. They know their child better than you do. Maisie (another poster further up and ) gave an OTC medication to one child only. So it's not as though that meant I could take out a book and settle into it with my other child being 'lively' and needing entertaining.

LOL at fannybasw Dr Dad calling it a chemical upgrade. Well I'm laughing.

valiumskeleton · 30/10/2010 09:42

'Maisie and I' I meant to say. I make it sound like we went on holiday together.

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