to think that if you are considering giving your children over th counter cough medicine to drug them on a flight...

[Greythorne]

...you should seriously think again?

Two friends both about to fly home (longish flights) had a detailed debate about which cough medicines to dose their children with in the departure lounge. Yes, they were apparently very serious.

Toplexil and Benadryl were both debated.

Their children range from 3-8.

AIBU in thinking this is very poor parenting?

My dd 4.6 SN, I would consider asking her paed if there was medication that she could take to calm her down on a flight, when she gets bored she starts to meltdown and on a long haul flight that would be a problem. Even with other distractions as her understanding is not all that great.

I would not like to inflict dd meltdowns and trantrums onto anyone else in such a confined space either, so yes I would, but I would ask dd Paed as she is under him.

Itotyear so they should just stay at home then! . My dd loves Disney, and would love to go to Disneyworld Florida but dreading a long haul flight which she would not respond well to because of her SN. Of course I would bloody consider giving her something to calm her down, for her own good, our good and the good of all the flight. Some people are so judgey, its a legal medicine, you give the correct dose so what. As dd is under the paed I would consult him to see if he would prescribe anything.

YABU. I would be more worried if parents were overheard discussing prescription drugs to sedate children on long journeys. The sedative effects of most OTC meds are very mild.

Mine is not an 'odd argument' - I wouldn't take sleeping tablets that stopped me being able to get up to my children in the event of fire in the home. Nor would I drink so much alcohol that I couldn't look after them either.

Emergency landings happen - you need to be confident that you and your family can exit a plane in safety and quickly if necessary. Check out

www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1706188,00.html

You could argue that it is far more difficult ti haul a screaming, frantic child out of an aircraft than a fairly docile sleepy one.

Ah yes the wanders of inflight entertainment. With touchscreens so useless you practically have to hit them to get them to work which really annoys the people trying to sleep in the seats in front, who then turn around and accuse you of being a bad mother for letting your child use the damned things. I bet they wish my children had been drugged, in a way I'm glad they were not, people with that sort of attitude deserve a little discomfort.

Lots of people do this well maybe not lots , It calms kids down for the flight I gave my dd travel pills for the flight home from florida when she was 5 as she had such a tough time going over , and on the way back she slept and wasnt so jet lagged ,

@Gonzo33. What is a drug though? I'd argue that if the lavender oil is "relaxing" your daughter, then it's having some kind of biochemical effect, so it's acting as a (very mild) drug. What is the difference between using lavender oil to help a child sleep and using an OTC medecine to do the same thing? Why is one "drugging" the child and the other not?