Sedation Of Caylee - Do you think it's common?

[Cat Lady]

My sister and I were having a conversation about this case and the possible use of xanax and chloroform on Caylee as a so-called babysitter. It makes me sick to my stomach at the thought of it. My sister said she bet it was more common than not that people would use sedatives on their kids to put them to sleep. What do you people think? A common practice?

 

[countzero]

My sister and I were having a conversation about this case and the possible use of xanax and chloroform on Caylee as a so-called babysitter. It makes me sick to my stomach at the thought of it. My sister said she bet it was more common than not that people would use sedatives on their kids to put them to sleep. What do you people think? A common practice?

My daughter used cough medicines all the time until I caught her doing it. My grandbabies were just that, under 6 months. She hid the bottles from everyone in the house until my grandson at around four, told me about the magic medicine that mamma gave him sometimes. She admitted it after I confronted her with the bottles I found "cleaning" her room. Translation: I snooped and turned her room inside out until I found them.

 

[YellowDog]

No, I don't think it's a common practice at all.

 

[Imajica]

Sadly yes, it's a fairly common practice.

But I have always heard it's with more common sedatives that aren't illegal such as Diphenhydramine which is commonly found in the antihistamine Benadryl.

That is one of the major reasons the FDA issued new strong warnings about prescribing antihistamines and cold meds to small children.

There is a good but infuriating article about parents like Casey who drug their kids for "peace and quiet" here:http://tinyurl.com/5goo7f

And another here about parents who drug their children during airplane flights:http://tinyurl.com/63n26j

Unfortunately, just about every foul thing you can think of to do to an innocent child has and is done every day in this world by caregivers who don't want to give care.

There just aren't enough resources for those that need help.

 

[Hailiejade77]

I think it is VERY common among some young mothers. Its just a hush hush thing so no one talks about it. jmo

 

[unsaid]

Benadryl= common. It's hard for me not to be at least a little understanding of this practice as my own child takes medication for ADHD that are a godsend.

On the other hand...

Chloroform and Xanax= not common and ridiculous.

 

[SuziQ]

Many babysitters and parents have been arrested and prosecuted, for either child neglect or manslaughter, for doing this same thing. Not only is it common, alot of parents think it's ok. This topic came up at Steve Huff's during the Maddie McCann case and alot of posters posted that they felt it was ok and did it to their children.

 

[SuziQ]

Benadryl= common. It's hard for me not to be at least a little understanding of this practice as my own child takes medication for ADHD that are a godsend.

On the other hand...

Chloroform and Xanax= not common and ridiculous.

A babysitter, in the midwest (Nebraska?) was sent to prison for manslaughter a couple of years back. She routinely drugged all the kids with Benadryl and killed one.

ETA: Below are a couple of links:

http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/South/12/21/benadryl.lawsuit.ap/index.html

http://www.courttv.com/trials/bieber/081605_background_ctv.html

 

[Pondering Mind]

A babysitter, in the midwest (Nebraska?) was sent to prison for manslaughter a couple of years back. She routinely drugged all the kids with Benadryl and killed one.

ETA: Below are a couple of links:

http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/South/12/21/benadryl.lawsuit.ap/index.html

http://www.courttv.com/trials/bieber/081605_background_ctv.html

I remember that, just the thought of it makes my stomach do flip-flops.

 

[Zoe Bogart]

One time, back in the 1970s, long before I had kids of my own, I was at a bowling alley, admiring a pretty little sleeping baby girl. I commented to her parents how well she was sleeping through all the noise. The parents looked at each other and smiled, then said to me, "we put beer in her bottle." I was horrified someone would do that to their infant. I was young but I wasn't stupid.

So if those parents did it back then, they must have learned it from somewhere.

So to answer your question, I think many people do that to their children. Certainly not everyone, maybe not even half the parents, but unfortunately, too many.

 

[Imajica]

Many babysitters and parents have been arrested and prosecuted, for either child neglect or manslaughter, for doing this same thing. Not only is it common, alot of parents think it's ok. This topic came up at Steve Huff's during the Maddie McCann case and alot of posters posted that they felt it was ok and did it to their children.

YAY for Steve! That's where I first learned about Websleuths long ago, was on Steve's one dark night. He's such a great guy. I am however really disheartened to hear you say that many parents felt it was okay to sedate their children at will. Have we really gotten to the point as parents where it's totally ok to drug your child whenever the little darlings dare to be AWAKE???:furious:

 

[butwhatif?]

Since this case began I have heard so many parents talk about using over the counter meds to sedate their kids...
these people are no better that KC imo.
Parenting is a tough job, but if people are having trouble coping they need to reach out for help- not Benedryl.

 

[SuziQ]

YAY for Steve! That's where I first learned about Websleuths long ago, was on Steve's one dark night. He's such a great guy. I am however really disheartened to hear you say that many parents felt it was okay to sedate their children at will. Have we really gotten to the point as parents where you can drug your kid whenever they dare to be AWAKE???:furious:

Sadly there have been enough to where the question is asked whether this is what's really going on in many SIDS cases:

http://www.pcc.com/lists/pedtalk.archive/0408/00035.html

(snip)
There is also a growing movement among medical examiners for greater awareness of the practice, as some pathologists fear babies who died after being drugged were written off as sudden infant death syndrome cases.

Dr. William Sears, a pediatrician and author of books on infant sleep, said it is an "old school" practice to use cold and allergy medications to sedate babies, but even using a small amount of drugs is dangerous.

Sharon Dabrow, associate professor of pediatrics at the University of South Florida, said some pediatricians do advise parents to use appropriate doses of Benadryl to sedate children who are at least 12 months old. Dabrow doesn't recommend it.

"Our society is so wrapped up around medications being a fix for anything," she said. "To be using it (Benadryl) on a 3-month-old is just horrible."

 

[DotsEyes]

About 15 years ago a woman I knew talked about Zannies, Zanny Nannies, something to that effect, in referance to how she coped with her very active toddler son. She explained that "people can give their kid a little xanax and have a peaceful night" and of course denied doing it herself.

Another young mother told me that he little one told her about the sleepy vitamins that Granny gave her to drink at night, the mother confronted Granny and found out that she was indeed giving the child liquid benedryl at night when she babysat. Sleepovers at Granny's were discontinued, but the child recognized the bottle in the store and cried for mom to buy some for her. (sad)

I think drugging kids to sleep is much more common than we know. When I was an infant, the mom's cure all was a 1/2 teaspoon of whiskey in a full 8 oz. bottle of formula to calm and relax the baby. None of us died and none of us were murdered by our parents.

 

[MarleneM]

Many babysitters and parents have been arrested and prosecuted, for either child neglect or manslaughter, for doing this same thing. Not only is it common, alot of parents think it's ok. This topic came up at Steve Huff's during the Maddie McCann case and...alot of posters posted that they felt it was ok and did it to their children.

<insert: Ashton Kutcher's famous "Kelso" shriek here> "UGH!!!"

:crazy:

 

[intrigued79]

This is horrifying! I have never heard of doing this to your child! As a mother of 3, I would NEVER do this! I am in shock that this is so common.

 

[Capri]

Prescription meds, like Xanax or other sedatives =uncommon
Chloroform= absolutely unheard of to me, before this case & we have lots of friends with kids (although most of the parents aren't super young, if that makes a difference)
Benadryl= not "common", but done, occasionally for airline flights., and only by the dosage on the bottle.

 

[Pocono Sleuther]

Yes, I think it is a common practice. Way more common than any of us ever really want to think about. I know most will blame it on younger mothers, but my guess is that it's a pretty even divide. Many parents are incredibly overworked and exhausted so they feel they deserve a bit of peace and a good night's sleep. Maybe even a nice evening with friends while the children sleep soundly upstairs. I'm not excusing this or condoning it. And I have NEVER and would NEVER do it, but it's the sad truth. We are in a society where children are not respected as such. Many parents barely know their children. It's true! Why do you think we have the mass amounts of behavioral problems which have crept up? I'm not including add or anything of that nature in this, but the other issues children have presented with are desperate calls for attention in many ways.

Then we have the parents who had the children simply because it was the 'next step' in life. They have no real interest in their children and view them as accessories more than anything else. I've seen this numerous times as well. The whole scenario is sad and no, this isn't the majority of parents. Thank heavens for that.

But I do think it happens and I think much worse happens too.

 

[fay]

This is true, I was very stunned, to say the least, that this woman I know always gave her elementary aged daughters Benadryl so they would go to sleep. She is your Junior League type, perfect house, car, etc. You know the type. I was repulsed when she told me that. So sadly people do drug their kids.

 

[Gaia713]

My sister and I were having a conversation about this case and the possible use of xanax and chloroform on Caylee as a so-called babysitter. It makes me sick to my stomach at the thought of it. My sister said she bet it was more common than not that people would use sedatives on their kids to put them to sleep. What do you people think? A common practice?

More common than you realize. I know several doctors who administer antihistimes to their children to keep them quiet on road trips.