Best decongestant for toddler for plane?

[frannn]

My pediatrician recommends that I give DD4 decongestant before she flies, so her ears do not clog/pop. This used to be no problem when you could get the decongestant alone (with no other medications in the mix) over the counter for kids. I think Dimetapp or some other big name used to put it out. Now, this is off the shelves for kids, due to the ingredient in it that people used to make home-grown heroin (or cocaine, or whatever it was). I can now only find the decongestant mixed with cough medicine, etc. I don't want to overmedicate her, or spend almost 10. for something she's just using for the plane. I asked the Dr if he still recommends this at her age, and he said definetly, both for the ear factor, and the rest of the people on the plane (he wasn't specifically insinuating that my DD would be an issue). Is there like a generic (like a Walmart brand) over the counter thing I can give her that will serve the same purpose? I think the ingredient she used to take was Phenyl...something.

 

[Nanu57v]

We use pediacare. If you just get the plain kind its single ingredient.

 

[cookies]

My son had major ear surgery in May and we had to fly to California one month post-op. The specialist we went to told me to give him sudafed forthe flight and we had no problems. I do not know why but he did specify sudafed. I hope this helps.

 

[NotUrsula]

Single-ingredient children's pseudoephedrine; the stuff they keep behind the counter. Just ask, the pharmacist will get it for you.

 

[cuppycake]

Just another thought, in case you decide against medicating her....(not trying to cause a debate, just offering an alternative).

Our 4 year old chews gum on planes (to keep her ears open) and our dentist recommended Trident (sounds like a commercial ).

Also, at 4, there are so many activities she could do to keep busy on a plane that I doubt you would need to give her a decongestant for the purpose of keeping her quiet.

 

[bumbershoot]

The problem part of the medicines is used to make meth. In case you wanted to know.

If she has problems with her ears and this might be worth the medication (I had problems with my ears nearly from birth, and only had problems ONCE on a flight, and that was when I was in 8th grade! not younger, and never since), why isn't your doctor prescribing something for her? Seems odd to me, for him to suggest this but not prescribe something that will work.

And if you do end up with something that usually causes drowsiness, read the package insert. Those things can cause hyperactivity. Did so for my son, when his dentist insisted on us medicating him, and it backfired BIG time. The dentist only had to deal with it for half an hour. WE had to deal with Boy-o's insanity the REST OF THE DAY. If we'd given him that drug (something prescribed) for a flight OMG we would have been just, I don't know, just...very very very very upset.

So if you get something that usually causes drowsiness, be aware of the reverse possibility and some manic behaviour.

 

[Ariel8676]

My 5 yo gets Benedryl on any flight we take(and she also has to use ear planes)...my other 2 dd's dont get anything.
She has REALLY bad ears, they don't release pressure like they should (DH has the same problem) and her eardrum has ruptured in the past.

 

[bluejaygirl]

My child is another that gets very hyper and wiggly on decogestants.. I dont think this is very uncommon. Unless she really has a medical problem, I'd give her some water to sip, or gum or something...

 

[mericletwins]

I have used Dimetapp and Tylenol in the past for flights. Please make sure you try it out before the trip to see how DD reacts. I think when they were four was probably the last flight we medicated. The next time we flew I think we gave them gum or something to drink. We didn't let our kids have gum till they were almost six. We never would have given it at four, but that's just us and probably not that common since I see toddlers chewing gum.

 

[dismom73]

I am a flight attendant and I see what poor kids have to go through every day with their ears, because they don't know how to unblock them like we adults do and no amount of instructions can teach them to do it until they are about 7 or 8 and understand the whole "plug nose, close mouth and blow" thing. Sudafed is what we recommend to parents for the "next time". FYI, decent is worse than taking off because it is gradual. If you want to use it for take off too then give it to them about 45 minutes to an hour before take off, like right when the plane starts boarding. Then about an hour before landing. If your flight isn't long enough for two doses I would recommend before landing because that is when kids are most uncomfortable. Also, for small children swallowing something like juice or water works better than chewing gum. Just advice, take it or leave it.

 

[dhardawa]

You want a decongestant like pseudoephedrine. This will actually thin mucous. The problem is, it is an amphetamine so there is a very high chance that it will wind her up.

Benadryl is an antihistamine that will thicken the mucous, but typically (not always) will calm them down. So, Benadryl doesn't help relieve pressure (unless the child suffers from allergies in which case it could reduce the reaction and the body would produce less mucous) but calms. I'm really surprised your pediatrician wanted you to use a decongestant to make others have a better flight. Unless he thought her ears popping would avoid a screaming child who is in pain!

 

[B.B. Sots]

What was recommended to us was putting plastic cups over the ears if we did not want to medicate.

It supposedly reduces pressure changes.
When we were flying home from a trip, and one of our DD's had developed an ear infection (that we did not know about until on the flight), we used this technique and it seemed to work. The hard part is trying to explain to a child what is causing the pain and why this will work....

 

[flipflop]

We like Mucinex (guaifenesin). My son has asthma and can't take benedryl b/c it tightens his chest up. We have also used Dimetapp and Pediacare. Mucinex seems to keep everything drained well so my kids don't get ear infections.

 

[2goofykids]

I have used children's tylenol plus cold for my kids. It has Phenylephrine HCl (decongestant), Chlorpheniramine maleate (antihistamine), and tylenol in it. I have always had terrible ear pain on planes myself. I use ear planes for me and my ds, who is 6. I tried them when he was five and they didn't stay in his ears well and I did use the kid size. I used the children's tylenol plus cold for my dd, who was 19 months at the time, on our last trip. It seemed to help on the way to WDW, but the way home I'm not so sure. She was not a happy camper. I don't know if it was ear pain or just not wanting to be on the plane at that moment.

 

[POOHDRMR]

HAd the same problem with my daughter(5) and I gave her the dimatapp-I just went to the pharmacist at Target and told her that I only needed a decongestant.I was able to take it through security cause it fit in the ziploc baggie thing and I gave it to her about 45 min before take-off. It helped greatly because my daughter had problems with cloggged ears this whole winter due to back to back colds.The doctor told me to do it also.I will say that on the way there she took a nap but we had a morning flight on the way home at night she was not tired from it.Also gave her a lollipop cause she wasn't chewing gum yet.

 

[kmjmom]

My kids still remind me of my singing a silly song to them to chew and swallow, chew and swallow as we took off or landed. I had them chew gum and have a water bottle.