May not be suitable (Phenergan)

Member Name: rosieR

Product:	Phenergan
Date:	07/09/00 (1165 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: good for travel sickness

Disadvantages: not for babies

Phenergan - every mother’s answer to a good nights sleep or is it???

Phenergan is an antihistamine containing promethazine. It can be used for travel sickness, allergy and hayfever, but surprisingly enough one of the indications for it is not for putting babies to sleep.

In fact, for those of you who read the directions on the packet, it is not even recommended for use in children under 2 years old - so why is it infamous for sedating children then?

It probably stems from the fact that Phenergan contains an older type antihistamine which causes drowsiness in both adults and children. Obviously children are more susceptible to its effects (but every person is different and may not react to it like this). As well as drowsiness, it has other side effects such as a dry mouth.

Doctors used to prescribe this drug to enable both mother and child to get a good nights sleep. This may be fine under proper medical advice but just buying it over the counter without speaking to your doctor may not always be the right thing to do.

All I’m saying is that, while Phenergan is a great drug for travel sickness and allergies, it is not supposed to be used for putting babies and young children to sleep. The label states this but I hadn’t realised it and had been using it just like other mothers.

I’ll be more careful in future and read the labels properly.

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