A frazzled mother on a crowded flight tries to coax a screaming baby to sleep as surrounding passengers stare -- some in empathy, some in barely disguised annoyance. When the child doesn't calm down, the parent discreetly pulls a bottle of children's Benadryl from a diaper bag and administers a small dose.
Surveys and parental testimonials suggest that this scene is repeated every day in the skies over America and in other settings.
But the use of the antihistamine, known generically as diphenhydramine, to sedate babies is controversial, with at least one study suggesting it is a form of child abuse.
