"Drugging" Baby

[Stayathomemommy]

OK so i was at a baby shower the other night and the ladies were talking about getting their 2 year old to sleep longer and how she gives him benadryl. I asked if he had allergies and she said, "No". Apparantly the drugs didnt help him sleep longer like she hoped but when i showed my dissbelief everyone else piped up saying they did the same thing. Some gave tylenol, some triamnic........AHH!!! I said to them that my kids dont even get tylenol till they have a 104 degree fever!

[~member~]

That is scary! : I have heard ppl saying that, but thought they were joking.....or maybe I was hoping they were joking.

[wonderwahine]

ive heard of it...............its awful.......... although today i finnaly gave in and gave ds some tylenol for his teething.

[ladybugchild77]

Wow...that's nuts...I will say that when dd is teething (molars right now - OW!) I give her Motrin at night to help her sleep - she has a habit of getting all four teeth in a set at once: ...but to drug your kid for no reason??? Scary...

[wonderwahine]

Originally Posted by ladybugchild77

Wow...that's nuts...I will say that when dd is teething (molars right now - OW!) I give her Motrin at night to help her sleep - she has a habit of getting all four teeth in a set at once: ...but to drug your kid for no reason??? Scary...

thats why i gave ds some.......hes teething all 4 of his cuspids

[ladybugchild77]

Originally Posted by romans_mum

thats why i gave ds some.......hes teething all 4 of his cuspids

Poor kiddo...I think those hurt my poor dd worse than when she got all her one year molars at once! Hope he gets them all in soon and feels better!!!

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

My parents next door neighbors did this with there dd Till she was like 4-5yo. The mom actually kinda bragged about it to my mom. Telling her how happy she was to find a way to get the dd to sleep thru the night. She went on to say how they always doubled the dose after awhile because the regular dose didnt work any more.

It was tylenol they used.

[OriginalGirlGamer]

Its very common from what I'm hearing. We were at my cousins wedding and one of the kids was walking down the aisle ringing a bell, which freaked out my son, and my family was fussing saying he was embarrassing and I should have 'given him some benadryl'. Then they look at us like were crazy when we say we're not drugging our kid. O_o

I work nights and watch Lo during the day and I've been told countless times to give him benadryl to make him sleep so I can get some sleep. >_<

Makes me wonder what mom did to me to calm me down since I was so hyper all the time.......

[ewe+lamb]

I've heard of lots of folk giving this sort of thing to kids to make them sleep for NO APPARENT REASON, it's different if they are miserable with a high fever or teething but giving it so that they can get more zzzzz time is unacceptable and is child abuse IMO. I don't even know people who are severely sleep deprived due to their child's sleeping or non sleeping habits that do this. It is appalling.

[tinuviel_k]

My dather tried that with me when i was one years old.
It was my first airplane flight. I was a pretty calm baby, so my mom wasn't worried about how I would be on the plane. But dad was one of those new fathers that freaked out over everything. He INSISTED that I be given benedhryl sothat I would be drowsy and calm for the flight.

HA! Instead of knocking me out it made me extremely hyper, and apparently I was all but bouncing off the walls of the plane. Served him right! My mom was so annoyed with him over that one.

[FireFrog]

I have to honest -- I have been soooooo tempted. I mean really, really tempted. Especially when my DS goes on a crying jag and a nursing strike and I am just worn out. But I DIDN'T! Mainly because it feels too much like abuse to me.

Yes, I will use medicine when it is appropriate and I will be thankful that it will help my DS sleep. But to drug him on purpose when he is not ill is a line I cannot cross.

[OriginalGirlGamer]

Originally Posted by ewe+lamb

I've heard of lots of folk giving this sort of thing to kids to make them sleep for NO APPARENT REASON, it's different if they are miserable with a high fever or teething but giving it so that they can get more zzzzz time is unacceptable and is child abuse IMO. I don't even know people who are severally sleep deprived due to their child's sleeping or non sleeping habits that do this. It is appalling.

I agree, I'd rather run off 1-2 hours of sleep a night like I do now then drug my poor kid. Makes no sense to me.

I just IM'd mom, (she's a night owl sometimes) and she admitted she tried to give me ny-quil as a kid to slow me up, but it didn't work, I was 10x more hyper.

Dude, my mom drugged me!! O_O

[cherubess]

giving drugs for non medical reasons

I couldn’t in good conscience do that to my DS.

It has never even occurred to me.

[Dal]

As I see it, if it is safe to give for allergies, it seems acceptable to use in certain cases in which it would really benefit the child to get some sleep, or in cases in which it might help save the child from trauma. By what logic is it o.k. to give a drug for runny noses but not to give the same drug (for qualities that the drug is known to have) for a child who desperately needs some sleep? I'm not talking about doing this routinely, but in certain rare cases. Why would it be acceptable in cases of teething or allergies but taken as comparable to abuse when it's to help a child get some desperately needed sleep or in hopes of preventing the child from suffering? Just because of how the drug is labelled? What about the herbal pills that are meant to help children calm down and sleep? A lot of parents here have no issue with giving those to their children. Is that abuse too? If a child needs to wake up far earlier than usual for some unavoidable reason, it is abusive to give the child an unhealthy snack that one knows is likely to pep the child up and help the child cope with the lack of sleep?

I know a woman who was depressed and falling apart because she was having endless sleep issues with her son. In her case, using drugs to help him sleep might have been a good idea.I'm not opposed to adults using sleeping pills on rare occassions when it seems warranted and think it's reasonable to think that in some cases, children might prefer this option for themselves rather than a frazzled parent. It also seems preferable to CIO to me and less likely to cause permanent harm so if one feels compelled to use CIO, maybe a softer method would involve helping the child learn a new sleep habit with the use of some drugs -- and at or below the recommended doses. NOT saying I recommend this, btw!!!

Maybe someone could point me to resources about why these drugs are taken to be so harmful. Even so, I don't get why they would be A-OK for teething but absolutely unacceptable for a totally wound up hysterical child who is so freekin' tired but can't fall asleep for whatever reason.

To add: An aid to sleep can be considered a medical reason, as can medication that is meant to relieve or prevent anxiety.

[ewe+lamb]

I completely agree Dal that if a child is desperately sleep deprived that finding a solution is necessary but under medical supervision, but to drug a child - if I understand the context correctly (maybe the OP can clarify for us) - just so that the parent can have a full 8 hour undisturbed sleep is not acceptable IMO, I understand that with some children sleeping can be a real problem - I had a severe sleeping issue with dd but luckily resolved it with yoga, it doesn't work for everyone but I have never resorted to drugging dd just so that I can get my 8 hours straight - which I haven't had since December 2001 BTW

[Twocoolboys]

Sadly, my sister did this with her girls. She may still, I don't know. It's one of those things I just don't talk about with her anymore. I agree that occassional use, during teething or illness is fine, but I think it is a slippery slope to rely on this medicine (whether it be benadryl, tylenol, or whatever) to get a child to sleep, even if that child is wound up and having trouble settling down. There are other ways to help a child to relax that don't involve drugs. In this society, we have such a double standard of telling our teens and young adults to say no to drugs, yet so many people turn to these over the counter drugs with young children. They are not harmless, especially with repeated or even daily use. Even tylenol was not meant to be used every day! Plus, teaching a child to turn to medicine to help them relax and sleep really deprives them of learning these skills on their own.

And, I am speaking from the perspective of a mom who has a boy who, as a baby and toddler fought sleep with every last bit of him. We found other ways to cope. It just never even occured to me to give him medicine anyway. Then, when I found out that my sister did that with her girls, I was appalled. It almost feels like she cheated. Not only that, but her girls are now 6 & 8 years old. The last I knew that she did this was just a couple of years ago. So, they were fully old enough to be aware that they were being "drugged" in order to settle down. What a creepy message to send your kids.

[liamsmommy221]

I used to work with a girl who would do this with her two boys when her and her hubs needed some undisturbed "alone" time if you know what I mean.

[rmzbm]

It's very common, sadly. I've heard several mothers admit to it. There is NO reason or excuse to drug your child to make it sleep. None.

[dynamohumm6]

Originally Posted by MCatLvrMoMof2

My parents next door neighbors did this with there dd Till she was like 4-5yo. The mom actually kinda bragged about it to my mom. Telling her how happy she was to find a way to get the dd to sleep thru the night. She went on to say how they always doubled the dose after awhile because the regular dose didnt work any more.

It was tylenol they used.

Wow, that kid's liver has got to be in excellent shape.
:

[carolhagan]

I have a severly autistic five year old son who has severe sleep issues. We have often been told to try benadryl to get him to sleep but I generally don't give him any medication. So, I was very reluctant to try it. BUT... he had allergies to cats, and do to an emergency situation we ended up in a house with four cats, so I gave him a dose during the day. It didn't make him sleepy, and it didn't work on his allergies either.

Anywho, my sons sleep issue have really effected our life. It started to cause arguements between my husband and I, and I really started to resent his night waking. He only slept about an hour of broken sleep a night, and cried the rest of the time. We tried several natural remedies, chiropratic care, diet change and even accupunture. And nothing worked. I eventaully had to look more into actually medicating him. I have to tell myself that it really was for his good. Most days he was to tired to do anything, and he was constantly getting sick. We have a homeopathic doctor and even HE was recommending getting medication. So... we did. We don't give it to him every night. But, it seems to have made a huge difference, even on the nights he doesn't get the medication he will sleep at least four hours (broken up) a night.

I have no idea what the point of this post was. LOL