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These Drugs Are for Colds, Not Fidgets

In a society that savors convenience, parents are sometimes tempted (or pressured) to use over-the-counter cold and allergy drugs to get their children to sleep. In a widely reported incident last month, a Georgia woman and her talkative 19-month-old son were removed from a flight to Oklahoma after the toddler kept repeating, “Bye-bye, plane!” during the safety demonstration, the annoyed flight attendant suggested a dose of Benadryl, and the mother took offense.
Skip to next paragraphWhatever the merits of that confrontation, doctors say there is one lesson to take away: drugs like Benadryl should never be given to sedate a child. For one thing, they can have side effects, including constipation and respiratory problems. And for another, in some children they produce the exact opposite of the desired effect.
That paradoxical reaction to the antihistamines contained in many common cold medicines and allergy remedies occurs in as many as 5 percent to 10 percent of children, some experts say. It is not medically dangerous, but it can take a couple of hours to wear off. Indeed, the fine print on these drugs’ labels warns of possible “excitability.”
Dr. Philippe Similon, a pediatrician in Manhattan, says the question of how to travel with young children, and whether it is safe to give them nonprescription sedatives, has become one of the most common in his practice.
Most popular allergy and cold medicines were not developed as sedatives; the recommended doses on their labels are meant for their intended use.