Traveling with 2yr old, Anyone give their child something to relax them a bit?

[mommymeggie]

My husband and I are flying on a 9hr flight on Saturday with our 2yr old and 4 month old. My 2yr old is quite hyperactive ( like most 2yr olds I suppose) and my husband and I have been worried a bit on how she will handle the flight. A friend of mine suggested giving her a little something like calpol to maybe help her be calm. I'm a bit skeptical about doing that so I thought I would come on here and ask anyone else if they have tried it or something else and if it was a good idea and worked?

And just a little side note: I would never give my children anything that would harm them in any way!!

calpol is paracetemol. it is for pain relief. read the instructions on the bottle. it isn't to be used unnecessarily. i wouldn't.

I have taken DS (2.6) on longhaul flights 6 times now - never given him calpol unnecessarily.

I have taken rescue remedy (always do anyway) with me but never needed to use it - so far! There is one you can get with no alcohol in and it's a 30ml bottle so allowable on the plane.

I found DS slept most of the way on the last flight (when he was just over 2) - the previous one he watched Ice Age 3 on video-on-demand, about 5 times. And Up at least twice.

When travelling with the DC, I take the following:

• box of elastoplast plasters - hours of fun unwrapping, sticking, re-sticking

• small notepad and pencils, all individually wrapped in Interesting wrapping paper (pages of magazine)

• iPhone with toddler apps

• 20 photos of family / friends - DC love going through the photos, asking questions, I tell stories about all the people, fascinating when the stories are about people they know rather than Spot or Thomas the Tank Engine etc

Never had any need for Calpol.

Try engaging with them instead of medicating - 9 hours isn't even that long a flight!

true - missed that bit - try 24 (13+8+ wait at airport in Far East somewhere) hours if you think 9 is a hardship!

I agree that nine hours is not long at all but I did take medised with me when I few to Australia, just in case. I had a 2 and a 5 year old and I did the flight on my own...anyway I didn't need it but I did lend it to someone with a hysterical toddler. It seemed to work and the lady was very grateful. I probably will take it with me again next time, but I am an overpreparer.

have never medicated for longhaul, and spent a good few years doing 9 hour flights with babies/ toddlers/ pre-schoolers (western canada-uk)

it can sometimes backfire, too - some of the meds commonly used (gravol/ medised etc) can have the opposite effect, and you are then dealing with hyper kids...

it's not that scary, honest. the worst we've ever endured was the 11 month old that screamed unless we kept her moving - so had to walk up and down the aisle for 9 hours

this too shall pass . long-haul flights are practically a pleasure with school age kids

Oh for goodness sake. No, you do not need to drug your 2yo to manage a 9 hour flight. Get a grip.

You just need to accept your days of flying as a fun occasion to drink wine and enjoy a film are gone. In my experience you just need to work on child entertainment for the flight - my pet gripe is parents of small kids on flights who ignore their kids "becasue they are fine" untill they get bored and fractious. - bringing them back round in the confines of a plane is far harder than keeping them happy in the first place. And your certainly don't need to go down the ott "one wrapped present for every hour of flying" rubbish i've heard spouted - with a two year old you should be fine with say a colouring book, a sticker book and lots of reading material - combined with meals, tv and general excitement of being on a plane that will be fine.
Make sure you feed the 4 month old on take off and landing so their ears don't hurt (and I actually gave my eldest bottles of water with a small teat for take/off landing till she was nearly three to help her on this too - she used to really suffer and the sucking helps)

In my experience, flying with small children is a relative doddle. No need to medicate - why would you give your DC drugs unnecessarily? - take enought to keep the 2yo entertained (love Greythorne's suggestions). Play with your child. Walk her up & down the aisle with her. Smile at fellow passengers to they are more inclinded to play peek-a-boo with her.

The days of sitting back on a flight with the headphones on and a large G&T in your hand are long gone. You're just going to have to deal with it.

x-posts with Milk.

"You just need to accept your days of flying as a fun occasion to drink wine and enjoy a film are gone."

that sums it up pretty well!

I would add, talk this through with DH BEFORE you board the flight as you need to share the joy! The last thing you want is to start arguing with HIM during the flight!

And ONE single glass of red wine will chill you. Don't make the mistake of thinking you can handle more!

Piriton and Phenergan are over the counter meds that cause drowsiness. Or basically any antihistamine meds will help bring on sleep.
Everyone feels better after a good nap especially Toddlers and Parents.

Yes I have given my DD calpol once, but that was when she had glue ear and the change in pressure caused her to be in screaming agony.
I pack an entire rucksac of amusement colouring books, reading books, a stash of sweeties for when things get really tough, a favourite ted to cuddle, her own blanket to snuggle under. I make the meal last as long as possible and acutally 9 hours in not too bad.

I don't think you've asked such a shocking question! I always travel with Calpol, just in case of painful ears due to pressure, or anything else, but not had to use it in the last year. I do prescribe lots of milk though - dd gets through probably 3 times as much as she would normally drink on longhaul flights.

Rescue remedy for all!!
Also, portable DVD player, crayons, paper, books. You shouldn't need anything else.

I have done a few long haul flights... piriton for children worked for my daughter and rescue remedy. But other than that dvd player and lots of games etc.

I gave mine mediset every time - great stuff. snoozed through the whole fight and everyone was happy.

I just wanted to come back to this, as this morning I happened to be at my GP with my toddler, and mentioned we were flying long-haul soon. The GP straightaway mentioned you can buy over-the-counter medication to make her sleepy and thus help with the flight, but went on to say that if she was getting exciteable or anxious, one dose of paracetamol would be quite ok to relax her and enable her to sleep if she's tired.

I respect the GP, and it sounded like sound advice to me that I'm sure won't be bad for dd. So OP, that's one bit of medical advice I had that says one dose of paracetamol, if needed, is fine for a toddler.

Whoops, just realised this is a really old thread. Oh well, there was useful info and advice from posters anyway, and may be for someone else.