Benadryl and your infant

My DD has a terrible cold. We've done all the following:

1. cool mist humidifier
2. elevated bed
3. vicks baby rub on chest/back
4. steam showers and taking her in the bathroom while we shower
5. saline nose drops and the good old "booger sucker"

We are flying out of town tomorrow night. Due to her congestion I took her to the doctors this morning just to make sure it was nothing more than a common cold. My thoughts were confirmed thats all it is but the doc mentioned I could give her a small dose of benadry based on her weight and that may help her watery eyes, runny nose etc.

Have you ever given your baby benadryl?

I was doing some reading on the internet and it seems lots of people do it to make their kids sleep through the night or to make things easier. I was absolutely appauled! I would never think of doing that. Its like my brain cant even come up with things like that and then I read it and think OMG how could people do that?!

 

Well the Benadryl helps dry up their sinuses. So when my kids get a cold, we do Benadryl, per the pedis advice. The nice side effect, is that they do sleep, which is certainly helpful when they have a cold and are uncomfortable/can't sleep.

 

As long as the pedi ok'd it for a legit medical purpose, I would do it. For her comfort and your sanity. If she sleeps, good so she can get needed rest. Some kids it makes hyper, like my DD. :hug:

 

I have.. For allergy reasons.. My Ped told me too...

 

The only medication my two have ever taken is Tylenol or Motrin.

But I also have never been given the okay from my pedi for Benedryl, if my pedi recommended giving my girls benedryl I would probably give it to them if they were suffering and in need of medication. There's nothing wrong with giving your kids medicine that their doctor recommends when they are sick!

:hug: I hope your daughter is better soon

 

Like Aimee, the only meds I have given my kids have been Tylenol and Motrin. We have never been given the okay for anything else for colds. That being said, if your pedi said to do it, I would go for it! I hope your little ones feel better soon :hug:

 

I've given it to my kids before, but only after talking to the pedi. The best thing for a sick child (or adult!) is sleep, and so helping them sleep really is beneficial to them, not just to Mommy. It is really, really important if you give Benadryl (or any other med) to make sure you are giving the right dose. I think that is where a lot of the problems have come in, because I think the dose on the box is for 6 yr olds.

I know that some parents do give it just for sleeping (without illness & pedi ok) and I don't agree with that. That is basically drugging your kid for you convenience and no, I've never done that.

 

I've given it to mine before when they had a terrible cold and it helped.
We talked to our pharm. to get the correct dosage.

Good Luck & I hope she feels better!

 

Yes we give Benadryl. (At your kids age I used 1/2 tsp Bedndaryl.) I would try it for nap time the first time to judge their reaction. As a pp mentioned sometimes it can make children hyper instead of sleepy.

We've also given our kids Zyrtec, a rx antihistamine as well as OTC cold meds all per my dr's advice. I feel perfectly comfortable doing so as I have a 6 y/o and we regularly gave him OTC cold meds before they became taboo for the under 2 set.

I hope your dd feels better soon.
Christy

 

If the pedi okayed it and told you how much to give her I would definitely do it. Otherwise there is a good chance she is going to be in a lot of pain during take-off and landing. Sinus congestion can be really hard to fly with and simple sucking often doesn't relieve the pressure in that case. We all flew with a simple cold one time and I didn't bring Benadryl and that was a huge mistake. The girls were whimpering and crying pretty much the whole flight and Paul and I were in a bunch of pain as well. We've flown tons of times so I know the problems in this case were because of the cold. I kids have never cried on the plane before.

And, yes, I have given my kids Benadryl on flights a couple of times to help them sleep. On really long flights when they've missed nap by a few hours and can't settle down, it helps a lot and makes them a lot happier. Rested babies are happy babies. Have a good flight!