As a new mom, I’ve become very active in local moms groups ranging from daily stroller strides fitness classes to Facebook support groups and online communities. I enjoy connecting with other moms and making new friends in the area.
While Baby Points Traveler has yet to take his inaugural flight, I have noticed that other moms are starting to plan flights for their little ones, and it triggered an interesting discussion.
I came across a post whereby a mom revealed a “secret she swore by” when it came to taking her infants and toddlers on flights. Intrigued, I clicked it, because I am interested in learning possible ways to keep the baby calm, collected, and thoroughly-entertained. What I read was disturbing, in my opinion. Here was a mom telling the world that her secret was simply medicating her children with Benadryl, Unisom, and other potent sleeping pills.
This was a bit unsettling for me to read, but what struck me even more was the fact that there were dozens of other women commenting that they did the same! Is this a common practice? Am I living under a rock?
I personally use medicines on myself on a last-resort basis, after basic homeopathic methods have failed, and the idea of giving an infant adult medication to simply let them sleep is something that has never even crossed my mind.
No, I won’t be medicating the little guy, in case you’re wondering.
I understand that crying babies on airplanes will always be a hot topic, (and yes, I have wanted to rip my hair out on several occasions when screaming children were seated near me on red-eye flights), but I’m curious to hear other’s opinions about this. I’m especially interested in hearing from other parents who take their kids along on flights. How do you keep your child calm and contained in flight? Have you ever tried medicine? Please feel free to share your thoughts…
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I think this practice is really disturbing as well. I’ve found the following helpful for traveling with infants:
1) make sure parents and baby are as well rested as possible
2) choose your flight time so that it won’t disrupt whatever sleep schedule your child is on or will disrupt it as little as possible
3) keep to your regular feeding schedule (our only really bad flight was when we realized we had missed a feeding!)
4) bring toys and books and anything else that captures your child’s attention
5) do as much as you can to reduce your stress, so that it’s an exciting adventure for all–babies absorb your stress or are excited by your joy
I agree wholeheartedly. Using medications on a child (especially a baby) without doctor supervision is asking for trouble.
My son (10 weeks old) is taking his first plane trip this morning. There isn’t a whole lot to do at this point to keep him entertained. We scheduled the flight for a time when he is usually napping and will make sure that he is fed and changed before the flight takes off. We are fortunate to have a very good baby who was easy to get onto a routine and was sleeping through the night at 8 weeks, but we’ll see how he reacts to the new experience of flying.
One more tip: feed during take-off and landing. This will help with the air pressure changes, which can be uncomfortable for babies.
I would never medicate an infant. I did however, after checking with my pediatrician, give my then 4 year old a VERY small dose of benedryl for an international flight – to help him get to sleep. I agree with Jenny about feeding during takeoff and landing – when he was a baby and I was nursing, I fed my son both going up and going down and he didn’t make a peep.
Short flights are a non-issue in my mind (people should be able to tolerate 30 minutes of crying). Long-flights are a different issue… my daughter’s first flight (at 2.5 months old) was to Europe. As Seth mentioned, not a lot of entertainment options. We picked a night flight and made every effort to have access to the bassinette. Being able to count on a few hours of sleep makes a big difference. On the way back, travelling in the night was not an option, we picked a flight with a connection to decrease the maximum consecutive time spent in the plane. Allows everybody time to decompress…
You should not medicate the infant with adult medicine. That could lead to an overdose. Medicating with the proper dose (ie. dose intended for a baby / infant) is fine.
I’ve tried to make the following point with new parents in the past and have been accused of being a horrible person…but here goes:
Considering the physical demands of air travel in general, perhaps it is best for the child NOT to travel. In the same way that Angelina uses medication as a last result, perhaps air travel for a child should only be undertaken in situations the really merit it. Modern parents take all sorts of efforts to protect their babies, but think nothing of exposing them to the dry air, confined space, and UV RADIATION, that accompany flying at 30,000 feet.
+1 on feeding, but a pacifier is fine also…the main thing is that they’re moving their mouth to help the ears pop.
Make sure you read my post on poop…THAT’s what surprised me the most.
I know a few moms who do this. Though this is not without risks. You should NEVER give the adult dose to your child. You should always consult your Doctor or Pharmacist before thinking about giving your child any medication. Some medications that may cause adults to become sleepy may in fact do the opposite in children. You should also consider any possible allergies or conditions your baby has.
All that said, I personally would only use medicine as a last resort. I have sat next to new moms whose infant behaved really well (no crying or screaming) on a flight with no medication. As some of your other readers have advised, she did her best to keep her child occupied with toys, pacifiers and the like. The only time I would consider using medication is if your infant, you and your fellow passengers are really “unhappy” with the situation that sedation would reduce everyone’s stress levels and improve the quality of the flight for everyone. I would also need to be confident that there are no risks involved with side effects or allergies to the medication.
I think this website does a good job of highlighting the risks and considerations for using medication: http://www.babycenter.com/404_is-it-safe-to-sedate-my-baby-for-travel_7263.bc
I note that the American Academy of Pediatrics does not recommend sedating your infant for long flights. Here are some of their Travel tips: http://www.aap.org/en-us/about-the-aap/aap-press-room/news-features-and-safety-tips/Pages/Travel-Safety-Tips.aspx
Would never use unneeded medicine on a baby or small child. And a lot of kids do have the opposite reaction to Benadryl – they go crazy. My daughter has been on 84 flights in her 5 short years and we’ve only had 1 flight that was really bad (one where I wish we could have had that magic sleeping pill!). The rest were just fine because we followed the same advice that many of the other commenters here have shared – time flights around naps, try to keep baby on a good sleeping and feeding schedule, and be prepared with toys and games.
Obvious no on meds when they aren’t medically needed. Young babies can be tough on planes if they are not feeling well or are just being grumpy, but you just do mostly the same things you would on the ground. Make sure they’re clean, fed, not too hot/not too cold, have some small little toys for them to play with, bounce them, shhsh them, even walk the aisle with them if you need to.
All any realistic person wants is for the parents to be doing their best.
My daughter is 3 years old, has already been on 9 flights, and will be on 4 more before her 4th birthday. She has never cried on any flight. I agree with others about feeding during takeoff and landing. Also try to get the aisle seat because you’ll be taking that infant to the bathroom to change diapers every few hours. Otherwise my daughter was asleep by the time we were at cruising altitude and, other than diaper changes, was still asleep going through customs.
We have a VERY active toddler daughter. She’s been on 8 flights and every single one of them has been a huge struggle, regardless of the fact that we kept sleeping/naps times into count, made sure to feed her, etc. So I would also advise to be realistic and ready NOT to watch a movie or enjoy the flight much, because that child will need 24/7 watch. For us, this means that we always travel together, purchase a seat for her (even though, for instance, in our six hour JFK to LAX flight our 20-month old maybe sat in her seat for a total of 20 minutes!), and trade off parenting duties. It also means, like Mommy Points above mentioned, walking up and down the aisle (A LOT, in our case). And believe me, when the rest of the passengers see that you’ve got one of those “active” children and they see that you’re doing your best, most people cut you some slack. We try not to travel internationally or cross-country more than two times a year. It’s just too exhausting. Also, this too shall pass. We’re hoping once
Bottom line: WE USE NO MEDICATION to “calm” our daugther down, even though it would a ton easier traveling with her if she were drugged up… lol! But, no way.
Couldn’t agree more with Laura — be prepared to be on full time parenting duty from the moment you step on that plane until the moment you step off. If the baby sleeps and you get to watch a movie, that’s a bonus! I found the infant stage to be pretty easy (the hardest part is that you might not know what you are doing as a first time parent!) – the toddler stage is actually harder because of toddler mobility and impatience. Our daughter was a feisty one, especially between about 12-20 months, but as you start nearing that second birthday, things improve a lot.
Our daughter (and only child) is 2.5 years old and has already been on 84 flight segments for 160k miles (most of them an a lapchild). We have a bottle of children’s benadryl with us on the long haul flights from NYC (have been to Asia 3x, Israel 3x) but have only used medication twice.
The first year of their life, they can sleep pretty well. After they turn 1, they get more active and are harder to get to sleep. That’s when we tried giving it to her to help her sleep on a flight to Thailand. Her reaction was usually the same (freaked out because she didn’t understand the sensation, then passed out for hours). While effective, we decided to stop using it, because we decided we were doing this for the benefit of strangers.
Yes everyone paid a lot of money for their flight, but at the end of the day, commercial flights (even in premium 1st class cabins) are flying public transportation. It’s just a flying bus. Analogous to people who don’t like taking a crowded bus can always take a private taxi, they have private flying options. They’re paying much lower fares in exchange for being around other people (including families). Yes, no one wants to be near a crying child anymore than we want to be seated next to smelly person or someone who takes up more than their arm rest should allow. It’s just something we all deal with.
Now, since we stopped using meds, our daughter has definitely had her moments, including 6 hours of non-stop crying at the middle of a redeye flight to Istanbul where nearby passengers would come up to us with “advice” but it’s just a risk you run with travel.
That being said, if we were flying 6-7 hour redeye to Europe and needed to be well rested and “100% alert” when we landed (ie, one of us needed to drive), we’d still consider using it again.
I agree with what most are saying on here – I would never use medicine to “help” my children sleep. Maybe we are lucky that we have good sleepers on planes anyway, we travel often, but even if they didn’t we would deal with it. Medicine is a slippery slope and I wouldn’t go down it.
After a flight from NYC to Korea where I had the pleasure of sitting across from an infant that screamed and cried for at leat 5 hours straight I have a stong opinion on this topic. On long flights crying babies should be medicated with age appropriate doses of Bendryl or substitute. For all those parents who think it is a terrible idea please think about this. How do you think you would feel if you screamed and cried for 5 hours straight? Can you imagine the fatigue/headache/anxiety etc. etc.? Tell me what option is more humane? A dose of baby Benedryl or allowing your infant to feel tortured (not to mention the people around them) for hours on end.