Sedatives for flying

D

Dad2b

Registered User
We are going on a long flight with a two and half-year old and are very worried that he is too excited and wont sleep on the flight (mostly night flying).
Are there any mild sedatives you can buy over the counter? We don't want to knock him flat for 12 hours, just help him relax.
 
Our 2.5 year old has never attempted to stay up all night on a long haul flight. Might be worrying over nothing.
 
Anything you get prescribed from the Ped e.g. a mild antihistamine, I would try first at home. Our bub had the opposite reaction to Phenergan which is commonly used - it was like she'd had an expresso.. not a pleasant experience! We now have Actifed which she is fine with, but we use sparingly when flying. Valerian is a natural remedy, as is a specific sort of tart cherry juice (which you can get at 360 in the natural remedy section)
 
hi dad2b
we annually take our kids on 18 hr flights (hk-toronto) and although they stay up later than they normally would, we find they do sleep on the flight.
make sure you pack warm clothes for your son. a sleeper with feet, or cozy socks he won't kick off. a blanket from his cot which reminds him of home. my husband will tuck an airplane blanket from our kids' headrest into the headrest infront of the child to create a darker atmosphere once it is "bedtime".
i agree with leahH, anything you get prescribed, try first at hime.
good luck!
 
i just returned from a long haul HKG-SYD and back with my 3yr9m son and my 1y9m daughter. my daughter, a holy terror most of the time, slept almost the entire flight. she was asleep 5 minutes after take-off and slept until we landed in sydney.

on the return, an afternoon flight, she slept 5 minutes after take-off for about 2 hours, then was awake for about 3 hours then went back to sleep again.

she followed her "home-time" schedule almost perfectly.

i was terrified what she'd be like, but she was really very good.
so good, in fact that i'm now planning a trip to canada in march!
 
I would never buy anything for a 2 and a half yr old over the counter without it being prescribed by a doctor and as the others have said, definitely try it at home before you fly. We've had massive meltdowns when things have backfired on us. Now we just go natural, always get a night flight and our two little ones fall asleep ok.
 
I've had quite a few long haul flights with a 2 year old in tow. Rather than sedate her, I pack a few chocolate treats for myself, so that if I do have to spend hours playing games with her at the back of the plane, while everyone else is snoring, I have the perfect excuse to indulge myself and it keeps my energy levels up.
 
Seems most don't have any problems. Do you know your kids will have problems or are you just fearing the potential?
Our 2.5 YO has been on 8-10 long-hauls (16-20 if you count the return journey) and has never been a problem, And our 7 MO has been on 1 (or 2) without any issues.
 
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