Nicolle Wahl was worried her two kids, Meghan, then age 6, and Erik, then 3, might become nauseated on an eight-hour flight?destination, Denmark!?so she gave them the anti-nausea medication Gravol. ?I didn?t want to risk having them get sick on the flight, and just have that be a horrible start to the vacation,? she recalls. But the medication was helpful in another way as well: her kids slept through most of that overnight plane ride.
Helping with nausea is one of the benefits of Gravol, but it and the antihistamine Benadryl are also known to make kids sleepy. Because of this, many parents choose to give their kids these medications to help them settle and get some sleep on a plane ride.
Having your kid sleep through a long flight is a dream, but is it actually OK to medicate them for a smoother trip" We asked experts to weigh in on whether or not giving kids medication to help them sleep on a plane is recommended. Is giving kids medication to sedate them on a flight a good idea"
Janice Heard, a paediatrician in Calgary and a member of the Canadian Paediatric Society?s (CPS) Public Education Advisory Committee, says the CPS does not recommend parents sedate their kids with medications like Gravol or Benadryl on a flight. There are two reasons for that: first, it might backfire. Some kids have the opposite reaction to taking these medications and actually become irritable and hyperactive.
The second, more serious, concern is there?s a small chance your child could...