I am glad to know I am not the only person who gets 'opposite' reactions to certain meds! I am afraid to give our kids andy type of NSAID meds (Ibuprofen, Naproxyn) as I am allergic to them and don't know if they might be too. I know a benadryl dose of normal size will wire me for hours and I mean like buzzing in my skin wired so I don't want that to happen to them either. I have given Macy a Children's Claritin once to dry up a perpetually runny nose and she didn't seem to have any adverse reactions. (this was on the advice of Pedi and Pharmacist)

I had my entire scalp get covered with the little black ants we've always called "piss ants" and I won't elaborate there, anyway I got stung hundreds of times on my scalp and while I don't recall what meds I was given (I was maybe 5) I do remember having to have my head/hair/scalp washed with Dial soap 4 times a day when it had some ingredient it no longer has. No wonder I hate bar soaps!

We haven't had to fly anywhere with our kids so far and I hope it continues that way because I know how people will act and I don't think I will keep my mouth shut when the comments are made so driving is best for us right now. I have heard of people giving meds to induce sleep and I knew the connection between the "PM" drugs and benadryl, but I would still not do it for a flight. Now to come completely clean... one of the earliest trips away from home with Macy, we stayed in the Extended Stay hotel right near Target in G'ville and the room was SO awful that she just would not settle down, cried to go home (I almost did too, it was horrible and we ended up going to Target and buying an airbed just for the weekend stay!). We tried driving around to get her to calm down, we played in the tub with the bedtime bath stuff, rocked, sang, you name it. She was screaming to go home.... so we ended up at CVS, explained the situation to the pharmacist and his suggestion was benadryl. He looked up her weight dosage, gave us the syringe to measure it (such a small amount) and I was so upset I did not sleep any, worried that she would surely die from this tiny bit of "drugs". She did finally go to sleep and she is fine, but it made me a wreck and we will never stay there again! Oh yeah, or use that method, it wasn't worth the stress on any of us.

Michelle: HA, "piss ants" I know exactly where that comes from!!

Caryn:
My daughter is also allergic to ants! Strange though, she has to get bit by a lot, well at least 10 or more before any things happens but if she were, which has happened before, which is when we learned she was allergic to them, to fall into an ant bed then we would be in trouble.

I have heard many people joking about giving their child a little Benadryl to get them to sleep on plane rides or car rides, but no one I know would actually do it! Sure kids can try your patience sometimes in situations like that, but that doesn't mean you should medicate them, just be overprepared with snacks and toys and comfort items.

I worked with a girl many moons ago who had a daughter who was severely developmentaly disabled. The mother was single and had 3 other children. SO one day she came into work and you could just tell something was up. So I asked her into the office and asked if there was something that I could help with and she just broke down. Her daughter wouldn't sleep. So mom wouldn't sleep. This had gone on for days so she finally gave the girl a little benedryl and felt horrible because of it. Which is probably a good thing since I knew she felt so bad about it she wouldn't do it again.

As for someone saying something about me on a plane...I'm with Michelle. I'm sure I wouldn't be able to bite my tongue. So we only go within driving distance

Jack has a cold. He has a runny nose and is sneezing a lot. He has a little cough too. It's so sad. He didn't sleep much last night so neither did I. I guess there's just nothing I can do huh?

Poor Jack...other than Tylenol for a fever the only thing is a humidifier to help his nose and using a bulb to suck his nose out if it is really stuffy. If you're anything like me don't plan on sleeping too much. It's horrible when your child is sick...I never get any sleep even if they are sleeping because they are so restless and uncomfortable. I hope he feels better soon...and that you don't get it too!!

hmm I only have the same suggestions as Karen. The cool mist humidifier always seems to work real well for us. I hope he feels better soon!!

Ditto on the humidifier. And as much as they cry when you use the bulb syringe to clean out their little noses, it works. I just do it quickly and hold 'em a few extra minutes. They always breathe so much better afterwards.

I remember my Grandma swearing by Vick's when we had a head cold and I know there is a 'baby' version of it so maybe a nice warm bath (maybe even with the vapor bath stuff?)and some of that on his chest would help? I also used a wedge shaped pillow under the crib mattress when Macy got a cold and it would help keep the post-nasal issues from clogging her up it seemed. Poor little guy, it has to suck to have that happen when you have no idea what it is and Mom has little available to help.

Oh yeah we raised the mattress too. We just put a folded blanket under the head of the mattress where she obviously couldn't get to it. It really did seem to help her. Although, we would find her in all different funny positions in the morning since the mattress was raised a bit on one side. Just make sure not to raise it too much!

hello. im new in here. i dont live in gainesville. i live in rochester minnesota. i have 6 kids. we been going to mayo clinic here for some of the best doctors to help some of my disabled kids. now i have 3 kids with some serous issues. in which recently one of them had some hearing problems.. which led me to this site and to your topic about the benedryl. and i dont care if u might think wrong of us but i have just realized something that i must bring up. and i have questions to ask all of you to see if you ever have thought of these things or noticed with your kids. every child is different when it comes to taking ANY TYPE OF LIQUID MEDS IN A SYRINGE.

first off ill tell you a little about my kids and their recent issues and what this has to do with the benedryl..

first off i have 6 kids. oldest age 14 girl, son age 7, daughter age 5 has cerebral palsy mild,daughter age 3 has speech aproxia severe , son age 2 hearing loss/ had HAD less then 5 words recently...., and daughter age 15 months and very tiny,skull closed at 2 months.is fine but very tiny ( short)...

that said. ok well were in air force when i had my daughter (thats 5 ) her name is dayoni.. she was born with brain bleeds and 30 weeks premature. was in nicu 4 months. she came home has had speech therapy ,pt and ot ever since. no one knew what was really wrong with her till after we got out of military and moved to wisconsin. she was 1 doc there said she had mild cp. well there wasnt alot of help there but it brought us 1 appt here at mayo when she was one. we knew it was a great hospital then. well im from albuq and so we moved there to be close to my family. well after 3 years and some other problems there we needed more help with her and wanted the best and decided we wanted to move back by mayo so we can go here and get the best docs. well right before we moved found out my daughter hiley thats 3 she wasnt speaking no more then 2 words. moma and dada. and speach ladies came to the house. said it was bad and that we should just teach her sign language. well we had enough going on and it made us upset and sad. and hiley kept getting mad when we tryed to teach her sign. she refused. we couldnt get the right help for her there either. so we thought ok we will have her see someone also when we get to mayo. well little did we know how much we would find out. and that we also didnt know our son devyn thats 2 now also has very few words also..soooooo
we got here my daughter dayoni has had sergury on legs and eyes and so much more. and then hiley started getting help and they said she had severe speach and it led us to a dr names edythe strands. she is the best and said hiley was severe with speech aproxia. it has to do with the brain not sending the right signals. well we see her for 30 mins now and i tell u she is not cheep.400$ for 30 mins. but i tellu its a miracle. my daughter is now saying words she never would before. they first rated her at a 6month old baby level but that she was smarter then a 4 yr old. good news right.. well dr strand first said most kids that bad takes up to 3 years to talk. well man did that hit me. i didnt want that. and willing to do anything to fix that. so dr strands fit us in to see her 1 time a week. u can google this dr by her name look above.. anyway

when i took my son devyn thats 2 to his 2 year check up doc realized he was just as bad as hiley. had 2 words at age 2 when he should have 20 and putting 2 words together. well i guess well well he might just be like hiley. so he got hearing test. well it was bad.. so here it goes ladies. they said he had FLUID IN THE EARS ..BOTH EARS. SAID IT WAS MODERATE HEARING LOSS and that he might need hearing aids. . he was coughing at this time at night. im thinking as a mom with 6 kids and i know ALOT been through more then any mom should..it is scary and depressing that as time goes on docs tell u there is something wrong medicaly with your child. who wants to hear this. 3 kids it got to me andmy husband.. not another please.. so well they wanted to wait 1 month and then have another hearing test. see if the fluids went away.. well jan 2nd we went back and it was the same. right away they sent us to ENT doc wanted to put tubes in his ears. well so they scheduled the sergury the next week..now here is when things really started to change...

now this does have to do with benedryl and your wondering whenim going to mention it, well.. for a long time yes i admit we do use it . my kids do get allergys and some times dont. we lived in albuq nm where it was very dry.. and now here its very different. here it is very cold here today -17 with wind chill so cold to be -50 today they canceled school.. now this gave me time to really think. and i got phone calls today from the tests they did on him and he qualifys for speech help. well months before we give him benedryl .. now as u all know your child may be different then the kid next door. family medical reasons height and weight. and meds go into the factor of the average child of age 2 at a height and weight of the average 2 year old. now think for a moment with me. is your child tall? and skinny? is she or he tall and fat or just alittle chubby. are they they short and skinny.. do u really think they factor your family medical health issues? what about when they tell u to give the 5ml to your child that is short for a 2 yr old and very fat? how does he she sleep at night. and here it is.. DO THEY FIGHT U WHEN U HAVE TO GIVE THEM LIQUID MEDS IN A SYRINGE? DO U HAVE TO HOLD THEM DOWN AND HOLD THEIR HEAD BACK TOGET IT IN SLOWLY IN THEIR MOUTH? SOME OF U SAYING NO. some say YES .. well for those of u that your child fights and u have to hold them to get it in the mouth and they gag or spit it out.. they do this to any meds right?? ITS NOT JUST BENEDRYL but the fact is.. if your child fights and u have to do this to help them to get that fever away or just help them to feel better or your wanting them to sleep. and how much meds u have to give them or not. where do u think that meds is going do u think they are really swallowing it getting held down? u think so but some of it goes into the ears . how else do u think they get EAR INFECTIONS cold weather and water is not the only way~!..well u all may think its wrong to give the child benedryl and some of u are scared of all the rumors out there that they may die. but its really about are u responsible and thinking of all the factors.

well my son is very hyper and angry child cuz no one can understand him, he is a monkey and likes to be the rough boy. typical i think for a boy at age 2 ..but he wasnt talking. he use to say "no " but lost it.. well he would get so mad and angry every night and hyper.. and this was with out any type of meds. nothing would calm him down he would change his mind all the time. just like hiley it was hard to understand her too. and all at the same time we are trying to left my daughter dayoni around for the help she needs too. she is smart as a whip and very good at talking and hearing just cant walk. so we dont have all the time to spend to just 1 child. we try to equal it out. and its hard some nights when that child cant tell us what they want and screams all night. u dontknow if they are in pain. so they thought the tubes might help. well we had insurance problems. well during this time my son devyn thats 2 wouldnt take the benedryl or any liquid meds siting up or laying back. and he would gag and spit it out.,i thought it was because of the ear problem.. what turns out,,, giving the meds laying head back might of been what caused part of this. and as any mom i tryed something different a few days before the day of sergury was suppose to happen i decided to give him benedryl. he is short and chubby big bone. and so i thought to give him the syringe in his hand and him do it himself. crazy huh? well ya welli let him push the meds in his mouth ..and he didnt fight it! i just made sure it was in his mouth. but he did it all. and it worked. he was sitting up where the head was not getting meds in the wrong place. well so it worked we tryed it again every night. and day before they canceled the sergury cuz of insurance problem. and i had realized he could finally hear me.. why is that ?? well and he was saying alot more words and trying hard to say them. not all of them full sounds. but. hey we might have been doing the syringe wrong all this time. but colds might of played a small factor also into this but for somereason.. the benedryl helped him. he has said ,,babie,ball with out the L , bug with out the G , daddy and has said wee wee for first time today and, said his sisters name hiley but with out the L .sounds funny but i knew what it was, he also said our dogs name. daisy but with out the S .. i tell you. BENEDRYL LED ME TO one of your comments in here where someone said it dryed up the fluid in the ear. well i tell you.. 2 things happened. good thing it helped my son to talk FINALLY and bad thing the quilt that MAYBE it was because of HOW WE GAVE HIM THE MEDS ( MEANING ANY MEDS IN SYRINGE WITH HEAD BACK WHEN YOUR CHILD REFUSES TO TAKE IT AND U FEEL U HAVE TO GIVE IT TO THEM. FOR ANY REASON) .. MY SON IS NOW ALOT HAPPIER!

PLEASE THINK ABOUT THIS. i worry all the time about how much benedryle to give and if to give it at all. but i consider my childs weight,height and their medical situations and disabilitys. low heart rates, brain problems , adhd that runs in family.. all these type of things. as it may change the directions on a package that thinks of the average age of child for u to think of how much to give them.. so u may think i might of been wrong. but i know im not the only parent out there who has had to hold your childs head back to get the meds in.. but u never stopped to think doing it this way it might of gone in their ear areas and not all went down their throat and can cause other medical problems. ..

there is parents out there who dont give a shit about the child they have and they do give the benedryl to make them quiet.. those people yes i agree your bad parents. but it goes into the typical where u dont know if they are the abusive dont give a shit about the kids parent or if the parent is so tired of 4 hours of screaming and the child in pain and the first thing that parent thinks about is their selfs of i gotta sleep. and lets see if it helps. .. how do u judge the parent when u dont know all the facts.. dont u think if the companys who make benedryl know about these things. they couldnt of stopped selling it dont u think????

they dont!.. its about common sense. if the parent gives too much its your fault if something happens. did u give the required 5ml or just 10. ? is your child skinny and a light weight to meds. then less should be enough. but if someone gives that skinny 2 yr old thats average height or taller or shorter . 8 times that 5ml then yes they will die. dont u think? how much is too much? the wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy to much will kill them.. trust me my kids have taken 10 ml and sometimes more and thats the fat ones. also think if they have food in their stomach. food will make any meds work faster. sometimes they stop crying if they just eat.. kids get confused if they dont know where their pain is. if its in their stomach it could be many things. and its hard for u to know which it is. .. all im saying is. im a parent who has realized what we were doing wrong. and maybe im not the first to not realize it till i tryed something else that finaly worked.

please think about all the factors when giving any meds and how u are getting it in their mouth. u could be doing more harm then u know., but at the same time later the same meds is what helps them, isnt that a crazy thought.. for us it was how i was giving it. and now i give the amount he tells me he is willing to take. and that was less then u may guess. ..

so sorry for long topic. but it had to be done.
im just happy he is talking. and maybe canceling a sergury made me more aware of something else that was happening and gave me more time to notice..

has any of this helped you?
as any parent i feel bad if i give too much. and i dont give it every night for weeks at a time. its occasional..

april

Hi April. Welcome to GainesvilleMoms. Thank you for sharing your story with us. With all the recent articles and stories about children's medicine, it can be so had for parents to know what to do for their children.

It is. My daughter is always catching something and we just ride it out unless she needs to see the doctor.