Using phenergen as a convenience

[boomba]

Can't it cause respiratory failure? I am always very wary of drugs. Have never used it and hope I never have to.

Someone I knew gave it to their little boy so they would sleep all night one new years eve :-(

[Artechim]

Painstop night has more promethazine than phenergan plus a dose of panadol plus codeine.

I have used phenergan to sedate my kids. It is an on label use. My children have never had respiratory issues and I wouldn't give it to them if they were unwell.

Judge me if you want, but if you do I hope you know what it is like to resettle children alternately all night long, grabbing half an hour of sleep here and there between the next resettle, hoping that one's screaming doesn't wake the other so you end up with both awake and up for the day at 3am. I managed like that for months and months but couldn't cope with doing it by myself, 7 months pregnant while DH was away for two weeks.

So I drugged them. I used the correct dosage as stated on the bottle, for the time limit stated on the bottle.

I never imagined I would be someone that would drug their kids to sleep, but sometimes you do what you have to just to survive.

[HotI]

The thing is I suppose some people are driven to desperation and will try anything. I don't think they are necessarily wrong, maybe just not well informed. Then there are others that make informed decisions, but too are doing it out of desperation as exhausted emotional parents.

I know people who have used it as a last resort because they needed to break the no sleep cycle, and for them it was the right decision. i was always too scared that it would hype my little non-sleeper up. They might have been exhausted, but the decision to use it was not an emotional one, but a calculated one that had been thought out and discussed with a medico.

[sloane]

There is a chemist near us who makes up their own teething elixir. It's not called painstop but it sounds similar. Under 2 years (I think) you need a prescription and after two you can buy it over the counter. it has some sort of sedative in it but not phernergan. I know of people who have been at the doctors for a prescription almost to the day that their babies were old enough ( I think they won't presctibe it before 8 months). We could nevet pinpoint a reason why our ds would sleep no longer than 2 hours at a time (although often more like an hour) and i allowed myself to be convinced that it could be teething so I got some when ds was about 15 months old. It just made him wake up more and we decided that it really just was developmental and not pain-related.

It's a low point for me that we tried it but I was a broken person from lack of sleep. It renewed my commitment to gentle parenting and I rode it out till he was ready to sleep for longer just before he turned 2.
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[OceanPrincess]

Painstop night has more promethazine than phenergan plus a dose of panadol plus codeine.

...

I never imagined I would be someone that would drug their kids to sleep, but sometimes you do what you have to just to survive.

Absolutely right - you make your own decisions as a parent and often other people don't agree.

And you make a good point Arte - I don't even think I compared pain stop with phenergan and yet I'll use one but dismiss the other. Perhaps I should revisit my usage!

[Three Graces]

I remember reading an article on the wall of the paed chiro where we took our kids. I said that there had been a few deaths in the states, usually kids under 2 who had taken it. They recommended not to give it to children under 2. My brother and his family have just been to the states, visiting her family. He's returned earlier and my SIL has to fly home with an 18 month old and 4.5 year old on her own. Apparently, the 18 month old didn't sleep the entire way there and she was asking my brother to send over some, as it's now banned in the states (not sure how they thought they'd get it through the post, given it's a banned drug there now?).
So my brother went to the chemist, who said no way for an 18 month old.
I remember when our 2 yr old broke his wrist last year and the dr said to give him Painstop, but the day strength one, not the night one which has phenergan in it.
I'm just amazed that it's banned in the states and still available here (?) I wouldn't be giving it willy nilly to my children just for convenience.

[OceanPrincess]

And let's not forget the OP was talking about using it as "convenience", which I see as something different to breaking a sleep pattern.

[Cass72]

Seriously?

Yes seriously!

I gave it to DS1 once (for allergies) and it had the opposite effect - that boy was hyper for hours. It was the first and last time I'll ever touch the stuff. I heard from a friend that she couldn't give it to her boys for the same reason.

[FabFiona]

In the deepest darkest place of my sleep deprived mind I thought about it for my DS1. He was a shocker, not sleeping more than 1-1.5 hours at a time for months leading up to his first birthday. He would wake screaming. I often tried to work out ways to get it, from ordering it on the internet to fibbing to my doctor about allergies. I googled threads on chat forums where people said they gave it to help sleep and it worked great.

But in the end I didn't give it to him. I don't really remember why, sleep deprivation I'm guessing. I have a fair bit of family support including grandparents that were happy to have my non-sleeping child for 'sleepovers' so I could get a rest.

I guess like Artechim I don't see this as the same as giving it to a child so they can watch the footy. It's to help break an unhealthy sleep pattern.

[misty]

I do not believe in giving medication to children other then for medical purposes. Full stop.
It does horrify me that people think it is ok to drug their child to sleep for non medical reasons.
If that makes me a horrible judgemental person, I can live with that.

[nothing2lose]

I think it depends on how you define medical reason.

I give my DD (10yrs) a 10mg tablet the night before her horseriding lesson because horseriding/horses are her reason for living at the moment yet she is allergic to something there. She also has to take claratyne, etc the morning of the lesson.

The only other time I gave it to her was when she was three for four or five nights when she was suffering some PTSD after witnessing some very distressing things and could not sleep. I dont regret it at all and would do the same again. It was just what she needed to relearn that surrendering to sleep was okay and that she was safe.

I totally agree that children should not be drugged for convenience. But I also wonder if medicines like phenergan/pain stop have actually saved the lives of some children whose parents had reached the end of their tether

[black_rose]

We had to use pain stop with ds as he can't have nurofen and when he got all 4 molars at once he was hysterical and in a lot of pain and panadol didn't work. He was 14 months but it was under the guidance of our gp. I don't like using it and it does make him hyper but it stops his pain. I would never use it to just go and party or knock my kids out as per the original post.

[RhiChiChi]

I have never considered to give phenergan to my DD, which is more b/c I have heard it is a 'bad' drug. I never knew it was given to people for severe allergies - just goes to show how uneducated I am on the drug and that the 'scare' tactics was what I have based my decision not consider using the drug. (not that I have needed to consider it). For me personally, I would not use it as a sedative unless absolutely necessary (ie: DD going to hospital for a proceedure and she is freaking out about it) and I would only administer it under medical supervision. If it is to adjust a sleep pattern I personally would try other avenues first.

I remember my boss did use it on his two kids when they were about 3 & 5 (I think) yo when flying over to the states to help them sleep & it made them hyper, not sedate them.

[misty]

I think it depends on how you define medical reason.

I give my DD (10yrs) a 10mg tablet the night before her horseriding lesson because horseriding/horses are her reason for living at the moment yet she is allergic to something there. She also has to take claratyne, etc the morning of the lesson.

The only other time I gave it to her was when she was three for four or five nights when she was suffering some PTSD after witnessing some very distressing things and could not sleep. I dont regret it at all and would do the same again. It was just what she needed to relearn that surrendering to sleep was okay and that she was safe.

The first situation you describe is definitely a medical situation. It is an allergy, and it is an allergy medication.
The second situation is a bit more of a grey area, but I still believe it falls under the category of medical situation and I would trust that as her parent you were medicating for her mental health.

[nothing2lose]

Definitely for her mental health Misty.

I cant remember the last time I went out partying!!! It was years before DD was born!

Sorry, I wasnt clear but the first line of my post was sort of separate to the rest. It was commenting on some of the previous posts. I'm on my ipad and sometimes take shortcuts with my writing while on here!

[delphmoon]

I have used it for allergies and I have used it for sanity...having 2 non sleepers and working fulltime, I need a sleep myself convenience no, sanity yes.

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[jackrose]

I totally agree that children should not be drugged for convenience. But I also wonder if medicines like phenergan/pain stop have actually saved the lives of some children whose parents had reached the end of their tether

I have been thinking this too while reading some responses. After the slippery slope I found myself on when sleep deprived for an extended period (much like you described Artechim and Fabfiona) I was in a really bad way and got pretty scared at the way I was responding to my children and the things I was doing to survive that I would never have considered acceptable parenting in a more sane time. Suffice to say, I can see how easily things can get dangerous when looking after small children without adequate sleep or support. Thankfully, I did manage to get help before things got completely out of control, but things could have.

I never thought of using a drug to help the kids sleep patterns, mostly because I was too delirious to come up with any solutions. In hindsight, something like phenergan might have been big help a lot earlier and may have saved my family from a lot of crappy stuff around those dark days. I don't think I could judge another person in their choices even if I don't agree in principle.

[misty]

I totally agree that children should not be drugged for convenience. But I also wonder if medicines like phenergan/pain stop have actually saved the lives of some children whose parents had reached the end of their tether

I do NOT think that is a validarguement for its use. Otherwise it is also an arguement for some forms of classic abuse or neglect - such as locking up or restraining children, for short and extended periods of time.