Benadryl?

Netty_3

So, we're going on a fairly long flight with LO for the first time for Labor Day.  He will be 10 months at the time. The only flight we could make it on is at 7:05 pm...so I've heard giving Benadryl helps.  However, I'm not keen on medicating for no reason, and our Pedi isn't either, and won't even give a dosage amount just in case, we feel we may be "those parents" on the flight. LO can get cranky right before bed time. Does anyone have any suggestions?

KathrynMD

your kid will probably surprise you.  I just bring lots of surprises/treats for plane rides and try to be super flexible. 

If you do the benadryl, do a test run at home first - some kids go BONKERS on benadryl and get super wired up but cranky and tired - so be careful.

AZ123

You won't need it. The vibration and sound of the airplane will put him out. Especially, if it is his usual bed time. Just be sure to bring a blanket to cover his head to block out noise and light. Also, don't wash your blankets beforehand. bring one that smells like him, you and home.

natalee36

Since its a late flight they usually have the lights low on the plane when in flight. The lull of the plane should put him right to sleep. If you are really anxious about it we give our LO 1/2 teas of infant benadryl. He takes it nightly for allergies. A tip: If LO doesn't have his own seat take a pillow to put in your lap. It will make both you & LO more comfy. He can lay across it and sleep.

pitterpatter129

It's 1/2 tsp of Children's Benedryl (no such thing as baby benedryl.)  I think it's weird your doctor won't tell you a dosage - ours told us to give it to him for a runny nose at that age.   Dramamine (sp?) is actually just an antihistimine too, and it's made for motion sickness/planes issues!  I agree with pp to test it out at home first though.  Benedryl makes me hyper and I'm up all night if I take it!

 

karleegirl

pitterpatter129:

It's 1/2 tsp of Children's Benedryl (no such thing as baby benedryl.)  I think it's weird your doctor won't tell you a dosage - ours told us to give it to him for a runny nose at that age.   Dramamine (sp?) is actually just an antihistimine too, and it's made for motion sickness/planes issues!  I agree with pp to test it out at home first though.  Benedryl makes me hyper and I'm up all night if I take it!

 

pedi won't and shouldn't give a dose since it's deemed unsafe for children under age 4 by the FDA and aap. It can be very sedating for children. As well as people giving it for non medical reasons the risk did not out weigh the benefit. Before FDA changed the age/dosing requirements it's based on weight. I can give my 15lb child 1.9 ml. My child was having a possible allergic reaction so I got one of the pharmacist I work with to look up old dosing.

saraboston

Call the pharmacy and ask them for the correct dosage. The first time I flew with DD, the pedi suggested it. I'm not sure it really helped, but we definitely tried it. If you decide to go with it, you should try it out once before the actual trip, just to make sure she tolerates it--some kids turn hyper instead of sleepy. GL.

hansa11

Our oldest is one who cannot sleep away from his crib and the pediatrician said Benadryl is fine as long as I tried it on him ahead of time to make sure it didn't make him hyper.  She felt it was more detrimental to not have him sleep than give him something that would help him sleep.   

The Benadryl ended up being a godsend. We boarded a flight an hour and a half past his bedtime and he was already a mess and then we waited on the runway for a half an hour and even after take-off it was still a half an hour until they dimmed the lights.  He fussed and cried in frustration and couldn't sleep no matter how much I tried to soothe him.  Finally I caved and gave him the Benadryl and he was out less than five minutes later and stayed sleeping until we landed and they turned the lights on again. 

The_Jen626

We did give DD some benadry on her first flights, because she was 11 months old and we were flying Portland-Heathrow-Madrid and it was about 13 hours total, at night.  I did have a medical reason for it though, I have to take Sudafed when I fly because I have really bad sinus pressure, and so does my Mom, so we thought the baby might have it, and didn't want her to be in pain.

My pedi told me how much to use, and we tried it a week before the trip.  We gave it to her about 90 minutes before her normal bedtime to see how it would affect her, she was normal for about 45 minutes, then drowsy for about 5 minutes, then literally passed out.  So we timed it for the flight and gave it to her right when we got on the plane, and she was sleeping within the hour, it worked perfectly.

Since then we have taken several short flights and not medicated her, and she doesn't seem to have the same sinus pressure problems that I have, so that's awesome!

laurakaz13

We've flown many times with DD from 5 weeks to 15 months.  She's fine on every flight sans medication.  Can you get him his own seat?  That helped us tremendously.  DD would just sleep in her carseat. 

kita09

i'm probably going to hell but, yes, i've used benadryl for travel purposes. i used for car travel and would definitely use for air because of the pressure. my LO either sleeps well or is up but "chillin", so to speak.

as someone mentioned, you should test it out first. i had to look up dosage by weight on the internet. use a few different sites because one or two seemed to be a bit off.