What can I safely give my 9 month old baby as a sleep aid/sedative for a 2 hour flight?

Question

My mother said benedryl is fine but I beg to differ, any insights??

Its not that I can't "handle" my child for a 2 hour flight if he is upset...its just that I would like to be able to keep him peaceful rather than scarred and unhappy if at all possible.

Answer 1

I agree with you, though I have heard benadryl many times as well - I would never use it for sleep.

I would try one of the herbal teething remedies. Most are for soothing a fussy baby, not pain releif, and the main ingredient is chamomile. It's just soothing and relaxing without "drugging" your baby :) And I would probably just take it with me, for if I needed it. Maybe your child will be content to hang out, snack on cheerios, listen to you sing and play with him/her and not need any help "chilling out".

http://www.hylands.com/products/teething.php
http://www.hylands.com/products/calms.php
http://www.anyotc.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=2490
http://www.littleremedies.com/littleteethers_tablets.html

***honey can cause botulism in babies, a lot worse than a screamer on a flight!!***

Answer 2

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Answer 3

I wouldn't give her any sedatives. Why drug your baby? Bring a pacifier that she can suck on cause that will help with pressure in her ears. If she is really fussy and can't settle down then swaddle her and rock her as much as you can in an airplane seat so she knows that she's safe. If worse comes to worse then you can give her a little bit of infant tylenol, but only if she is really screaming and none of the above works. Good luck and a have a great vacation!

Answer 4

NO HONEY FOR THE FIRST YEAR!
For the record- you can give your baby benadryl, but in some infants and children- it keeps them up. It does with our son and we have never given it to our 1 year old.

Does your baby have to sleep on the flight? The problem with making him sleep are numerous: in a strange place- he may not sleep though sleepy because he is interested in what is going on.So, he stays up and you end up with a very fussy baby. Likewise, he is off of his normal routine which will create a nasty case of the "crankies".

We did a lot of flying with our son- and here are some tricks:
1. Get a backpack just for him- and take along interesting board books, toys that are fun yet quiet, and a comfort object. For both of ours it is the blankie. If you nurse, nurse on take off and landing.

2. Don't let your son see the toys until he fusses. Then pull them out ONE. Use it until he gets tired, then pull out another one. We love puppets. You can have a quiet puppet show with baby. We have 3 or for here for our baby and they work well.

3. Walk your baby on the plane- up and down the aisle if fussy. Give your baby a dose of Motrin before take-off as well. This will help the ear discomfort. It is safe to give to babies who are over 6 months of age. See your doctor for dosage info.

4. the flight is short that you are taking- 2 hours goes really fast, especially for a baby. We flew when our son was 8 months, 12 months, 15 months, 2 years, 2.5 years and so on. I was really nervous but it turned out fine. Our longest flight was 10 hours long and he did so well!

5. Take along the carseat for the flight and an umbrella stroller- you can check it above in the compartment. It makes getting through the airport easier.

6. board the plane first, and get off last- it's a lot easier!

Good luck and have fun!!!

Answer 5

My son always seemed to sleep more than the "norm" - at 2 months I'd say he slept around 18 hours...I kept a chart because I thought it was a bit much...even as a newborn he slept more than the "average newborn" (about 18 hours) - I'd say it was close to 22 hours....he pretty much just wanted to wake to feed. My son is a little over 5 months now and that has completely changed. Today, I swear he slept only about 20 minutes during the day. That is extreme for him - but he's mastering a new skill (rolling as a way of getting around) and he didn't want to sleep. Now his sleep is more like "normal". I always brought it up with his doctor and because nothing was pathologically wrong and he was gaining it was just normal sleep...

Answer 6

Do NOT give your baby anything. Wait until he/she is in route, you may not have any issues. Noah (8mths) has been on a plane to Austin, Tampa, Jacksonville, New York, and back...he's done very well every time. I offer a sippy cup at take off and at landing. If he gets fussy in between, I breastfeed. He usually sleeps most of the flight.
Pack smart, instead of a diaper bag, a purse, and a carry on...use one medium size roller for everything. I've become a professional. I pack 4 outfits, 8 diapers, wipes, baby food/spoon, plastic bags for dirty diapers, toys, and 1 king size sheet. Since you have to arrive early for the flight, it's nice to let the little one out of the stroller to cruise around...spread the sheet out in a corner and play :) Remember, if your baby takes Tylenol or gas drops: pack them in the carry on too.
Check your car seat at the counter and roll your stroller all the way to the plane. Relax, you'll do just fine.

Answer 7

Don't ever take the sleeping pills route!!

1. They will damage your liver big time and you can get into serious health problems.

2. You will get hooked up on them and you won't be able to have a normal life any more if you don't take your pills everyday.

The sleeping pills industry is damaging our health by capitalizing on our ignorance, and by distracting people from effective and natural ways to deal with this problem. I had been taking prescription sleep medications [Ambien] for over 5 years. It stopped working and I simply took more. Still did not work. Nights were very difficult - medication put me to sleep but I would wake up after 2–3 hours with a strong sympathetic response (fast pulse, pounding heartbeat, wide awake alert). It was a very difficult cycle to break. I was really in bad shape due to lack of sleep.

After years of struggling I was able to cure my insomnia naturally and pretty fast. I followed the Sleep Tracks sleep optimization program, here is their official web -site if you want to take a look: http://www.insomniacure.net

Ohhh..and Good Luck!

Answer 8

There's a natural homepathic sleep aid for kids. I'm not sure if you can use it on infants. I wouldn't see why not tho. Take like half the dose of the 2yrs + and dissolve it in a bottle?? Here's the website; http://www.hylands.com/products/calms4kids.php
They also have other products, so check em out :) Good luck :)

Answer 9

Speak to your Dr first. Children's Benedryl might be good.

DO NOT give your baby honey like one user suggested. I've heard that honey is very bad for babies because of something they can catch from it. Look it up.

Answer 10

Why would you want to drug your baby to take a 2hr flight??

Feed him/her before the flight if possible if you nurse that will work too. If not able to do that then simply entertain your child and parent him/her, drugs should not be an option to simply sedate the child, 2hrs is not long at all