Cotton-Pickin’ Days

Wow, really? That stuff drops my kids like an elephant gun! I guess they are just sick, or congested and tired and can finally breathe well enough to sleep! I’ve never tried it just to make them sleepy. We do melatonin for sleepless kiddos, with the doctors blessing. We are a family of night owls so sometimes the kids, and I, need help getting sleepy enough to finally drop off!

Thanks for this post. A mother (of autistic twins) we know gives her them Benadryl before going to the dentist…….. I’ve given it to Charlie and seen him both become “knocked out” and, at other times, so hyper he could not sleep until past midnight.

well, the article states “no more effective than placebo in helping the children to remain asleep during the night” My experience with it is it makes my kids drowsy, so if Miranda has a cold and takes it in the evening, she will fall asleep sooner. She already sleeps through the night, so that isn’t an issue. I’m a little unclear on what the test was in regards to, as I always thought drowsiness was the issue, not sound sleep. Are people really giving babies bendryl hoping they will sleep through the night?

To be honest, there was a few times I was glad they had colds because I knew I could get them to sleep a little earlier…and once when Brian was out of town for a week, I took it a few times because I was so anxious about sleeping alone.

Benedryl consistantly knocks out my son, and keeps my daughter awake. For the record, I don’t take it at night – ever – because it keeps me awake too. I saw this study the other day and thought it was ridiculous, as it seems to be trying to defend Benedryl from some unnamed complaint that it knocks kids out. And are they insinuating that parents are overdosing to get the sleepy effect?

May not help “the children to remain asleep during the night,” but it sure helps them to GO TO sleep.

Hmmm, we use it on our Jacob since he has a skin condition that makes him rip open his skin in the affected areas via scratching. Seems to work quite well for us.

Joan: It also depends on the dose used too. But I’m glad it has a positive effect for you!

Kristina: Lots of offlabel users of Benadryl!

Donna: Yup, I believe lots of people give Benadryl thinking it’s a sedative. It’s always mentioned when people talk about taking long plane trips. The article also implied that adults may react differently to Benadryl.

Christina: I KNOW parents are overdosing to get the sleepy effect!! One popular model in Japan even owned up to drugging her newborn daughter so much on a flight from Hawaii to Japan that she thought she might have killed the baby. People are really unbelievable.

kimmellee: Hi there! Getting them to go to sleep is a big battle sometimes so every little bit helps.

mdmhvonpa: No doubt that Benadryl is a great antihistamine. Might not to be such a good sedative, though. Try tranquilizer darts next time if you need to get these kiddos to sleep. Just kidding!!!

I have heard of using it on plane trips, but even that I feel is different than using it to get your kid sleep through the night. Even though there are some long flights depending on where you are going, wouldn’t a flight generally be around 6 hours? How long would it take you guys to get from Vietnam to the States?

Once when Miranda was 18 months we flew to Florida. The trip was just a few hours. I did give her Dimetapp because an anthihistimine can relieve pressure on the eardrums–it’s good for relieving earaches–and I was hoping it would prevent any eardrum pain while flying. I do have to admit that the drowsy factor made things easier.

Mack and I both have that opposite effects from Benadryl and Sudafed – Benadryl keeps us both up, and Sudafed will knock us out. It’s funny, and we get some strange looks when I say we won’t take Sudafed except right before bed, but Benadryl is okay for any time between 7 a.m. and 4 p.m.

If I want Mack to sleep at night but there’s no need to give him a Sudafed, I try to wear him out with lots of active play.

Donna: Oops. Forgot to write you back. Vietnam to the U.S. via Singapore was about 18 hours? London to San Francisco via Atlanta is about 15 hours…. Fortunately, Stephen was never affected by the eardrum business. I’m far worse off than he is!

jenmcd: Yes, drowsiness after Sudafed is totally weird! /me gives you a strange look

[...] 1. Benadryl. Oh yeah, drug ‘em to sleep. Unfortunately, a study proved that it doesn’t work. Next. [...]