Been advised to give phenergan - what do you think?

[bluestripes]

We are taking our VERY active 16 month old on a 24 hour flight soon and friends have advised us to give Phenergan to help him to sleep for some of the flight. I haven't come across it before. Does anyone have any experice of this?

Our Ds's are now 11 and 9 next month, but when they were little they had it to make then sleep on flights. I had no problem giving it to them and it worked.

You can buy it over the counter at Boots.

phenergan is not available over the counter IIRC

and is not recommended for children under 2

it is actually for travel sickness but one of its side effects is that it can cause sleepyness (has an anti histamine in it)

perhaps speak to your GP about some other options?

NO - but just got my attention. My Mum used to use it on occasions. It's something I remember from my childhood.

I was always told that with some children it has the opposite effect! TBH this always put me off trying it.

And when I did have it for DS1, to help him sleep and counteract the itchiness of molluscs, it sent him doolally and we had to get the emergency doctor out to see him.

bluestripes IMO use it, its great sends them straight off to sleep, idel for a 24hr flight.

My DD had a reaction to it and became hyperactive...check it out before you fly!!!

Oh gosh, I sound like a really bad mother now ........... but it was a few years ago now and guidelines do change..........eek

Used it 4 years consecutively for both my DS's (but they are now 14 and 12) for 27-hour coach journeys including cross-channel ferry to Spain - fantastic, no probs whatsoever, no travel sickness and yes, they did sleep plenty. Had also used it previously for DS1 from approx 5 months to 16 months as an antihisthamine for excema which he has now grown out of. However, was refused it OTC in Portsmouth this year for a 10 hour ferry journey - used chewable tablets instead - not as effective. Would not hesitate to use it again as it is tried & trusted in our house, but guess I would have to get it on prescription.

Pharmacies are very unlikely to sell it to you if it's sole purpose is to make the LO sleepy. It can only be sold technically for it's anti histamine properties

Go to the doctor and ask.... (choose one with children if possible!)
My next door neighbour is a GP and he doses his children on flights, lots of doctors do. If you get it on prescription, all the better, no charge and the dose worked out by someone qualified .

it's got the same properties as medised without the paracetamol and isn't recommended for kids under 2. i am a pharmacist and i NEVER sell it for any reason. i always ask for a prescription.

a doctor friend of mine used it on her kids and had that paradoxical overstimulation effect happen to her, on a 10hour flight - she had a nightmare! trouble is predicting which kids are going to react in this way. could try dosing them at home first. i must say i am a bit wary of the idea and never used it (despite many 24+hr journeys with the kids under 5 to and from the antipodes)

why would you drug your children?

Take enough snacks, toys, activities and get on with it. You'll never see the people onthe flight again, but if your children are behaving well, you'll get congratulated (it's happened many times). Sorry, but have also heard it making some children hyper, others upset stomach....

We have used it for dd1 (think she was around 5 yrs) and found it to be not very useful. In the beginning she was a bit hyper and upset, then had fitful sleep and then woke up very bad tempered and 'drugged'. I felt a bit sad about it, tbh. and didn't use it again.

I agree with bluecow we are taking dcs to australia for xmas will be the 3rd time we have been and have never drugged them we just stick to our normal routine of bed in sleeping bag etc story cuddle sleep and then watching dvds colouring etc
have you got a seat for them? good luck if not

I am a doctor from the UK living in NZ so have done the flight several times. The reason it is not recommended in under 2s now is that there have been rare cases of it depressing breathing in this age group with serious consequences. This is very rare & is extremely unlikely to be an issue for you but it certainly put me off, particularly as the level of oxygen on a plane is lower than on the ground so if it were to happen it would be a major issue. I decided that I wouldn't be able to sleep because would need to keep an eye on dd so no point. Would recommend wrapping small pressies like books & unwrapping at intervals & second andiem re normal routine.

The lack of oxygen has a magical effect on lively children. There is all sorts of crap in Phenergan - ds had a massive allergic reaction to it - so I would try before you fly if you think it will help.

We did however have some of our best flights with ds when he was on an 18 months trial of daily zyrtec (theory was it prevented asthma in allergic children), but that is supposed to be non drousy).

i was prescribed it by GP when mine were being kept awake with a cough. worked very well, as the cough did not wake him.

he was just under 2 by the way, forgot that bit!

My brother was prescribed phenargan a long time when a hyperactive toddler, it gave him nightmares and disturbed his sleep even more. Don't do it.