Should Kids On Airplanes Be Sedated?

Only if the child has a phobia of flying and there is no other way to travel.
 
No way, I wouldn't do that to my child. I already flew to Alaska with my son who was at 8 months old at the time... he slept most of the way on his own, and I flew to Washington with my son who was 14 months old and step daughter who was 12 at the time by myself, and it went good most of the part but at the end, he was throwing fit because his sleep was disturbed. I flew to Florida with my son who was two years old, and that was 6 hours flight.... it was hard to keep him entrained most of the time, to keep him in his seat but I managed and thankfully he slept the last two hours of the trip to Florida. On the way back home from Florida, which was 8 hours trip, he slept most of the way there but still, I managed to keep him seated and entertained just with DVD player and DVDs.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that You don't need to put kids to sleep with drugs... you just have to give them your attention and keep them entertained. With Young kids, I would take Red Eye Flight... which I did most of the time with my son, as the kids would most likely sleep most of the flight if it was Red Eye on their own.

However, if I was to travel to Europe which is likely to happen in the future, I would most likely give my son like allergy medication that would make it drownsy, and perhaps he'll fall asleep due to drownsy.
 
Sedated? Not needed.

Two months ago I went aboard a Air Canada flight for a long trip to Australia and I saw a couple of couples with kids. One of them had five kids with them and both couples brought alot of books, DVDs and toys. They sat not far from me and the kids seem to be comfortable and fine.
 
I remember, one time I was flying from KY to Minnesota. I will never forget this lady and her daughter. Passengers were so rude, bec the daughter had a disability and was hyper. She wouldn't sit still for a second. I don't think sedating her would be ideal. Just the people around were so rude and making ugly faces. The crew were very nice and helpful. I was the neighboring passenger sitting next to them. Eventually, she calmed down and was ready to take off.
 
It's a sad commentary when people are mean to a special needs kid just because it inconveniences them a little.
 
Yes, it is sad for people to be so rude.
 
then and now

As a child flights out of Alaska were long gruelling events, lots of turbulence, long layovers, long flights. My sisters were stuck with being adult supervision of me while they were kids themselves. We had a lot of- well- lets just say we all did the best we could except me- I was a major brat. This one trip I am recalling upon reading this; the idea of something to kind of power me down a
little was tried. My sisters were packing, a new secret weapon to get through another nightmare journey from hell with, who me? Their orders were to give me a spoonful of this stuff out of the little brown bottle if I started getting to be too much. It was not long into the journey that little brown bottle came out.
And again. And again. When I went down at first my sisters I am sure were just simply relieved but later I heard that they got mighty worried - little brother was down and out solidly unconscious for several hours, had to be carried off the flight and through the whole baggage process and woke up in my grandparents car. That was the end of that idea. It was another soul searing experience for my sisters - they really did think they had caused me damage. And who knows maybe they did? I know I didn't pass by many brown bottles until I finally did altogether another 20 some years later. :lol:
 
The effects of drugs are likely to be different in an airplane due to the air pressure.

I know that alcohol has a different effect as well.
 
Oh jeez, no way. Children should be allowed to enjoy the plane journey, if they scream/shout, it's the parents responsibility to keep that child entertained with books, movies, colouring books etc. The parents are just being lazy and making the child go to sleep because they can't handle the child whilst on a plane journey!
 
i do think that very very mild sedation could be helpfull for kids with abundant amounts of energy just making it easier for them to sleep away a few hours of a flight, but i dont think we should just knock them out so they cant wake up through out the whole flight. if done with very mild sedatives (mild enough to alow them to walk, wake up, and funtion correctly wile conscious but gives them a little bit of tiredness) it could help

i remember wen i was alot smaller i couldnt stand flights. and almost all of my opinion is based on what i think the children would prefer. personally i dont find babies crying or little rambunctious ankle biters runnin around, all that annoying.
 
N-O and that spells NO

parents been giving their children bendadryl to make them fall asleep.
 
Babyblue said:
What if the child has a fear of flying... or get motion sickness?

Or if that child has a disorder that will produce a major scene on an airplane that the parent knows that the child will be disruptive.

People always complain of disruptive kids in restaurants.. Those parents can always leave with their child.. But once you are on a plane... some trips are very, very long!!!

Something to ponder.... I would say... it depends on the situation.
Click to expand...

If a child have anxiety problems, they usually already have medication for it.

I know a solution... TV, MOVIES, etc. kids love to watch tv and will watch it all day
but some children can't calm down because of bad ear infection and air pressure. My son cried all the way to his trip because of his ears. Then one woman offer him chewing gum (pretzels didn't help because he was sick of eating them) , and it helped him.
 
miles11we said:
i do think that very very mild sedation could be helpfull for kids with abundant amounts of energy just making it easier for them to sleep away a few hours of a flight, but i dont think we should just knock them out so they cant wake up through out the whole flight. if done with very mild sedatives (mild enough to alow them to walk, wake up, and funtion correctly wile conscious but gives them a little bit of tiredness) it could help

i remember wen i was alot smaller i couldnt stand flights. and almost all of my opinion is based on what i think the children would prefer. personally i dont find babies crying or little rambunctious ankle biters runnin around, all that annoying.
Click to expand...

at my son's dentist, they tried to give him a mild sedatives, and he NEVER could relax from it. he cried and threw a fit at the whole time so they called me in, and when I came in, he calmed down. Now they ask me to come with them everytime he need a filling or anything like that because he does alot better when I'm with him.
and it is alittle dangerous because a child could die from it and a plane is not a hospital.
 
Sedating a kid on a plane is a big NO NO!!!!! I would rather bring something fun for the kids to do to keep the kid busy on a long flight. It's not for the employees to decide, it's for US to decide the situation, depending whether the kid has a mental disorder.
 
sequoias said:
Sedating a kid on a plane is a big NO NO!!!!! I would rather bring something fun for the kids to do to keep the kid busy on a long flight. It's not for the employees to decide, it's for US to decide the situation, depending whether the kid has a mental disorder.
Click to expand...

Makes me wonder how much of a hassle airport security would give parents re: toys and things of that nature.....
 
Tousi said:
Makes me wonder how much of a hassle airport security would give parents re: toys and things of that nature.....
Click to expand...

Why not let them play in the cargo hold???? They might need a jacket down there
 
Back
Top