Phenergyn (?) for long haul flight?

[HeyBaby]

I am considering taking phenergyn with me on a long haul flight back to Australia (ie 24 hours all up). My DS will be just 5 m.o. when we travel and a friend of mine suggested this in case of dire emergency.

Has anyone else used this trick before and what are people's thoughts?

Hmm just did an internet search and found this article ...

The Food and Drug Administration is requiring a new warning and changes to dosing information for promethazine (Phenergan ®), a commonly used drug for nausea and vomiting in children and adults. Phenergan is known to cause breathing to slow down or even to stop, and it is a particular danger in children because children metabolize drugs differently than adults. Although we dose most pediatric drugs by the weight of the child, every child is different and some drugs have more variability from person to person in how they are metabolized. There have now been enough reports of side effects and deaths in children due to phenergan that the FDA is requiring the new warnings and dosing instructions. According to the new warnings:

Phenergan should NOT be used in children less than 2 years of age. Cases of respiratory depression and death have been reported, even at correct weight-based doses, in children less than 2 years old.
"PHENERGAN SHOULD NOT BE USED IN PEDIATRIC PATIENTS LESS THAN 2 YEARS OF AGE BECAUSE OF THE POTENTIAL FOR FATAL RESPIRATORY DEPRESSION. POSTMARKETING CASES OF RESPIRATORY DEPRESSION, INCLUDING FATALITIES, HAVE BEEN REPORTED WITH USE OF PHENERGAN IN PEDIATRIC PATIENTS LESS THAN 2 YEARS OF AGE. A WIDE RANGE OF WEIGHT-BASED DOSES OF PHENERGAN HAVE RESULTED IN RESPIRATORY DEPRESSION IN THESE PATIENTS."

Well, that's a bit worrying ....!!!!

Its promethazine hydrochloride and shouldn't be given to anyone under 2 according to current British National Formulary guidelines. Don't think I'd risk it. Sorry.

I would not use it - we had no problem on flights from the UK to australia with dd1 - she was 8 months first time and 22months second time.

We had two night flights - one afternoon departure and night flight from Heathrow with 1 1/2 hours stopover in Singapore and then a night flight into Brisbane. I simply put dd1 in her babygro and her sleeping bag and off she went to sleep in the sky cot. SLept all the way through to Singapore. Took sleeping bag off and then let her wriggle around etc whilst we were on the ground in Singapore. Then again - feed and sleeping bag and back in the sky cot.

I would not risk giving such a young baby - or even a toddler phenergan.

Other babies that were on the flights with us seem to have no problems flying. Just make sure they have a feed - bottle/breast/ on take off and landing - or if they have a dummy - give them that to help their ears.

Maybe we were just lucky but dd1 seems to be a fabulous traveller.

We gave our dd phenergan on the advice of a pharmacist, as it used to be that you could give it to a child aged over one year. I def woulnd't risk it with a child that young tho. At 5 months he should sleep lots anyway.

we gave phenergan to our one 2.8 on our way back from the US a week or so ago.not a much that was stated on the bottle but just enough (1.5 tsp) to help her drop off.

she is a child that goes loopy the more and more tired she gets. plus we were on a flight that had all my family on so she was more interested in seeing them than sleeping!
worked ok but when she woke up on landing she was screaming and a bit confused so that bit isn't so great.
its one of those things with mixed views. but 5 months is too small.

Made my dd super hyper, distressed and frustrated by the whole event.

5mths far too young for drugging! I think traveling with small children is relatively easy until they start to learn to walk and then they become horrific!

Phenergan is only for children 2yrs and older, I wouldn't risk giving it to a child much under this age. And it's good to remember that it can have the opposite effect on a small number of children, i.e. make them hyper rather than dozey, so best to try it on them before a flight. If you're really concerned, pack some Calpol, but at 5mths your ds should be fine if he is an ok sleeper, as he won't be mobile yet and wanting to crawl and explore. That's when it really becomes fun Just have a dummy or be ready to feed him at take off and landing for his ears. dd1 had done 2 flights to Australia and 1 to South Africa before turning 3 and we also had no hassles with her, they will pick up on your mood though so try and stay calm