So there I was on Tweet Deck... a common occurrence for sure when I came across a link to this story on CNN.com:
Drugging kids for parents' relief called abusive
My first reaction was 'did we really need such an obvious headline, as if drugging your kids would somehow NOT be offensive?'
But ok, a headline is for attention-grabbing purposes, I get it. And sadly I have heard of other parents doing this sort of thing.
I started to read the article and came across this quote:
"It's not the end of the world. It's certainly better than being pushed to edge, spanking a child or slamming doors or really losing it."
The quote is attributed to a woman named Jill Smokler, who blogs at Scary Mommy, where she takes a frank look at motherhood, as per the CNN piece.
Also from the CNN piece...
Smokler has discussed using Benadryl on kids with her friends and said it could be seen as a way to have "me time" to relax, read a book or have a quiet dinner.
She in fact did try it once...
Smokler gave her daughter, who was then 1 1/2 years old, some Benadryl, expecting her to sleep through the two-hour flight.
Her plan backfired.
Benadryl, an antihistamine used to relieve irritated eyes, sneezing and a runny nose, had an energizing effect on her daughter. The toddler ran through the aisles, talked as loudly as she could, and jumped up and down on her chair.
"It was worst-case scenario," said Smokler, of Baltimore, Maryland. "This is what I get for trying to dope up my kid."
"It's a selfish act doing that. Sometimes you just need it. It's better than screaming at a kid when all your buttons are being pushed. You need a break; it's a survival mechanism."
Apparently Smokler is not alone, either as I went to her site and found a guest post from someone named Gigi who writes...
"I am currently on vacation. I’m sitting in a hotel room, when I should be at Six Flags, because of rain. This is a time of reflection, for now I can sedate my children with Benadryl quietly capture all of the lessons I have learned on this particular vacation, traveling with my 7 and 5 year olds."
I guess Gigi found it amusing to include a similar message re: drugging your kids but to have the strike through to, you know, show she was just kidding.
More from the CNN.com piece...
"Anytime you're giving a medication for any other purpose other than for what it's explicitly prescribed for, you run the risk of harming your child," said Dr. Shan Yin, a pediatrician.
This year, a Massachusetts woman was sentenced to life in prison after she was found guilty in the death of her 4-year-old daughter, whose blood had a lethal level of a hypertension drug used to sedate children with ADHD. Her husband, who was tried separately, was convicted of first-degree murder, according to CNN affiliate NECN. The prosecutors had argued the father had either given the pills or ordered his wife to do so to silence the child.
In a 2005 case, a Montana day care owner was convicted of killing a 1-year-old after giving a fatal dose of cough medicine to put the child to sleep.
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Where the hell do I begin?
Oh yeah, to Jill Smokler and those like you...
ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!?!?!!
How dare you? How dare you subject your children to a drug they do not need for the sole purpose of appeasing you?!?!?!?!
Well you had a hard day with the kids. Well boo-freakin-boo...
We (my wife and I) have two kids and there are absolutely days, moments, etc where they drive you absolutely crazy but guess what? that's part of the job of being a parent!!! You take the good. You take the bad.
There are some days I really don't know how my wife does it... I work full time and the kids are either in school or these days of course, home for summer vacation.
I cannot tell you how appalling this all is... Apparently Jill and others don't consider being a parent a very important job. Apparently they're more interested in their own comfort.
Ok, I admit I wrote this post on emotion...
Did I go too far? Did I go far enough? Please chime in...
Here's the full CNN.com story and if you're interested, here's a picture of Jill Smokler with her kids...
1 comment:
When my daughter was a baby, she would not sleep or nap...like ever. I had to take her in to see the Doc for her Flu shot. Our normal pediatrician was not in, so we saw his partner. This doctor told me to give her Benadryl to get her to sleep. He gave me the proper dosage for my baby and instructions on when to administer the medication.
My husband and I were an exhausted mess because this kid would not sleep. I gave this to my daughter that night and it worked. We got to bed a decent hour and slept well. This continued to work for two more nights until it didn't anymore and started hyping her up.
My daughter is not damaged from this, nor would I consider it abuse. I was instructed to do this BY HER DOCTOR. The child needed sleep. And so did her parents. For you to accuse Scary Mommy of abuse is reprehensible.
It is also recommended that small children/toddlers/babies be sedated on plane trips because the cabin pressure can hurt their ears and throats. You tell me, if you were on that flight with a toddler running around like a maniac, you would be annoyed and frustrated? AT THE CHILD AND THE MOTHER who cannot seem to control anything? Then if she spanks the child or speaks too harshly to them, she will be accused of abuse.
I truly think that you are being highly judgmental. Other mothers I know joke about giving the kids Benadryl or even Valium all the time. Kids can be frustrating. Moms need some peace and quiet to hear their own thoughts and just breathe. Even for just a few minutes. Would you rather they get so frazzled that they beat their kids?? Or worse, get drunk or high to escape all the noise and never ending battles?
Don't judge until you've walked 1000 miles in their moccasins.
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