We gave our son Phenergan on a trip. It did not go as planned

"Everyone was wondering what was going on. I was internally cursing my mum and vowing to never take her advice again."

Melissa Noble

3 min read

May 13, 2024 - 2:27PM

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Most parents dread the thought of being stuck on a plane with an overtired, tantrum-throwing toddler.

Not us!

We were feeling particularly brave when we booked a long-haul flight from Melbourne to Paris when our son was three.

Before we departed, my mum gave us a word of advice which made us even more confident things would go smoothly.

“Darling, if he starts to play up and you need a little shut-eye, just give him some Phenergan,” she said, with a wink.

“I used to give it to you all the time when you were little.”

It was the 1980s and those were different days. I recently wrote a story about how my mum used to give us Coke in bottles when we had upset tummies. It seems as we grew older, the occasional shot of Phenergan was also on the menu.

Ummm... thanks, mum? But I didn't question her advice back then.

So, off I went to our local chemist to buy some Phenergan, purely as back up for the flight. I didn’t really have any intentions of using it, unless we were in dire need of sleep.

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Melissa's son, fast asleep - at a different time. Image: Supplied

"It’s worth a shot - literally"

If you haven’t heard of it, Phenergan acts as an antihistamine and is used to treat allergy symptoms such as itching, runny nose, sneezing, itchy or watery eyes, hives, and itchy skin rashes. It can also help to prevent motion sickness and treats nausea and vomiting or pain after surgery. Sometimes, it’s used as a sedative or sleep aid.*

To our delight, the flight went better than expected, and we didn’t end up using any medication. We actually forgot about the Phenergan completely until our son got car sick driving from France to Andorra via the Pyrenees mountains.

It’s a spectacular drive, but the roads are windy and you’re in and out of tunnels... cue major nausea for kids especially.

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Our son was getting increasingly distressed and we couldn't keep stopping, as we wanted to make it to our destination before dark.

“Shall we try the Phenergan?” I asked my husband. “It’s worth a shot,” he said.

We gave it to our son, and soon afterwards, we heard snoring from his car seat. He was out for the count.

When we arrived in Andorra, we carried our lad into the unit where we were staying with these clients of my husband’s - who were quite conservative religious folk.

“The little fella must be exhausted from all the travel,” one of the guests said.

“Absolutely,” I replied, making big eyes at my husband and trying to rouse our son. He literally would not wake up.

The couple suggested we take a walk with them to grab some supplies, and like fools, we agreed.

We vowed never to use Phenergan again

We ended up lugging our son’s limp body every step of the 4km round trip. The woman occasionally gave us a perplexed look, wondering what was going on.

Finally, when we returned to the accommodation, I managed to wake him up… sort of.

He was sitting on the couch talking nonsense, barely able to keep his eyes open as we tried to spoon-feed him dinner. In the end, we gave up and all went to bed.

It turned out to be a funny story in retrospect, but it was pretty embarrassing at the time. The hostess must have thought we were the worst parents on the planet.

We felt like it.

And I vowed never to take Nana's parenting advice again.

*This story is about Melissa's experiences only. Speak to your own healthcare professional about the suitability of Phenergan for your family. And see information at the Raising children network.