Comments on: Benadryl Doesn’t Help Babies Sleep

By: Flu Patrol » ‘Tis a long flight home (how to manage the travelling toddler)

Fri, 02 Mar 2007 05:40:59 +0000

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

By: Cottontimer

Cottontimer — Mon, 24 Jul 2006 10:07:38 +0000

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

By: jenmcd

jenmcd — Fri, 14 Jul 2006 03:25:57 +0000

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.

By: Donna

Donna — Thu, 13 Jul 2006 22:13:29 +0000

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.

By: Cottontimer

Cottontimer — Wed, 12 Jul 2006 18:14:28 +0000

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!!!

By: mdmhvonpa

mdmhvonpa — Wed, 12 Jul 2006 18:03:10 +0000

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.

By: kimmellee

kimmellee — Wed, 12 Jul 2006 17:22:22 +0000

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

By: Christina

Christina — Wed, 12 Jul 2006 14:00:38 +0000

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?

By: Donna

Donna — Wed, 12 Jul 2006 02:42:30 +0000

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.

By: kristina

kristina — Wed, 12 Jul 2006 00:24:30 +0000

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.