Sleeping Better

Question by Candy: My friend gives her son Nyquil and motion sickness medicine to “help him sleep?”?

My friend has a four year old son who is quite rambunctious. She loves him very much and has him enrolled in a very expensive christian pre-k program. Everything looks more than fine from the outside…

But she recently told me (it didn’t sound like a confession, just came up in conversation) that she sometimes (maybe less than once a week) gives him Nyquil or some kind of motion sickness (either sea sick or airplane…I can’t recall which) to “help him sleep.”

I’m sure that she believes this is perfectly fine and normal, but I know better. I don’t want to step on her toes or tell her how to raise her child, and I’m wondering if I should even bring it up again.

She is not a very effective parent…she spoils him and lets him get away with everything. I have explained to her that if she just lets him cry himself to sleep and ignores the situation that it will eventually go away. But, she says she’s tried everything and this is the only thing that works.

How could I let her know that this isn’t okay to do without sounding like I’m judging her?
Well, the reason I say she isn’t effective is because what she does doesn’t work..so much so that she has to drug her child to make him sleep.

The reason he will not go to sleep is because she will constantly go in there and tell him to be quiet. All he wants is to get her attention, positive or negative. If she were to leave him alone and ignore his attempt to get her attention at bedtime, the crying would stop. But, she loves him so much she can’t stand hearing him cry, so she drugs him.

The reason I know these things about kids is because I’m a teacher and I have raised a kid myself. And MY child wasn’t spoiled and was well adjusted and listened when I told him to do something.

Best answer:

Answer by Cassie T
Well, depends. I mean, is she dosing him until he just passes out, or is she giving him in a normal dose to make him a bit sleepy?

I think that if she’s doing it more than once a month, it’s too much… but it doesn’t sound horrible. Maybe just suggest she try to do it less frequently. If she keeps doing that, it will make the problem worse. His body will start needing the drugs to sleep, and she’ll have to give it to him more and more.

There’s nothing wrong with once in a while… but this sounds like it may be too much.

What do you think? Answer below!