Over medicating children

[Ashenfury]

Here's a little rant for you. I'm divorced and I have split custody of my daughter with my ex-wife. I have her exactly half of the time right now. In my childhood I had allergies throughout. My daughter has these exact same allergies. They cause runny nose, drainage and a cough.

My ex-wife gives my daughter benadryl every single mother fucking night of her god damn existence. She lies and tells me that she doesn't but now that my daughter is old enough to speak she even admits that she doesn't use tissues at bitchface's house because 'mom prefers medicine'.

Benadryl has narcotics in it. I'm all for getting high and having a great time but how about we wait until little things like MOTOR FUNCTION and CRITICAL THINKING have developed a little further. Also I know that with my own allergies my body didn't learn how to fight them naturally while being medicated every day.

Am I wrong for being so pissed about this? Does anyone else agree that you shouldn't cram some fucking concoction down a child's throat when their body can resolve the issue naturally?

[Cristok]

Yea those Texas allergies are something else. I sufered similarly and Mom did pump Benadrly into me but not excessive. As a teenager it was up to me and I simply stopped bothering. I def think over medicating is bad. I like to chug water when im having it bad and it seems to help best. Like glass after glass of water.

[Thalevia]

If your kid has allergies, does she see an doctor about them at all? I'm dealing with the mother of all allergies right now and both the doctor and pharmacist stated that I should only take benadryl if I can't sleep but that its not meant to be preventative, as in don't take it every day. There are other medications meant for that.

I would think this would be doubly so meant for a kid. I would contact her doctor about it and ask.

[Grolish]

I would start with a trip to the doctor / pediatrician and see what they recommend. Benedryl is not supposed to be used for daily treatment, and I believe the label warns against prolonged daily use.

Have you considered Zyrtec or Claritin for her allergy relief? I take Zyrtec daily from spring thru fall for my allergies and it helps a lot.

Hope you can work this out with your ex. Good luck!

[Kailei]

Ouch, I wish I knew what input to offer, but if it were me, I would NOT be medicating a child every day with benadryl. As it is, I suffer from allergies as well...and when it got too bad for me to handle with some tissues and cough drops I went to see my doctor.

Doc prescribed a low-dose antihistamine and also told me to try LOCAL honey in a cup of tea. Local honey is a natural remedy as it is made from pollen that is native to your area...I would highly recommend it as it has helped me SOOOO much. Plus it builds up immunities in your system to said pollen after awhile.

[Grolish]

... try LOCAL honey in a cup of tea. Local honey is a natural remedy as it is made from pollen that is native to your area...I would highly recommend it as it has helped me SOOOO much. Plus it builds up immunities in your system to said pollen after awhile.

I second this recommendation. A tablespoon or so of local honey each day will do wonders. Has to be local honey and not the Walmart mass produced stuff. My wife and I get local honey and try to have some each day. In addition to the health benefits, it has so much more flavor than generic supermarket honey.

[Yrzuli]

I second both the Zyrtec and local honey. Just keep an eye on her with Zyrtec/Claratin/etc. if you try it, because even the non-drowsy varieties can still cause drowsiness (happens to me every damned time, if I take a full pill). The honey also has the added benefit of being soothing on the throat if you have a bad cough.

Best thing to do is probably take her to the doctor, explain the situation and see if he'll document recommendations (esp against daily Benadryl use). If you guys end up in family court again about custody/support it could play in your favor.

[Krinathalasa]

As her father you have the right to take her to a doctor. Give her an allergy scratch test or what not so you have the allergies in paper. Then you can start the medication/custody battle. Sounds like the ex wife is phoning in her responsibilities there.

Get the doctor on your side first before you do anything else. That'll help in just about everything.