Woman sparks outrage after revealing she sedates her kids

A woman is being slammed for "child abuse" after she admitted she sedates her children to keep them calm on long-haul flights.

The mother-of-four spoke about her controversial decision on UK show This Morning, revealing she gives her children Phenergan Elixir - a medication which is more commonly used to treat allergies - to keep her children quiet.

Dr Ranj Singh, who is the resident doctor on the TV show, warned the mother about the potential risks that coincide with using such medications.

"As a doctor, I would never advise any parent to do that, because technically speaking we shouldn't," Ranj said.

"You are relying on what is essentially a side effect of a medication which could be unpredictable."

"I understand some people have no other option… but you are taking a risk," he continued.

However, the 46-year-old mother wasn't concerned and defended her actions insisting the medication was great for helping her children sleep through flights.

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"I am not embarrassed, I just don't think it is fair when somebody else who has paid an absolute fortune for an economy flight seat why should they put up with a screaming child for 15 hours?" she said.

"What I struggle with is this parent-centric attitude that the whole world has to revolve around children."

She continued: "Back in the day, my aunt worked in cabin crew for 30 years and they would take the dummy and stick it back in the child's mouth.

"Why should your child take precedence over everyone else? If I had my way they would be in a different cabin altogether, they'd be in the hold sedated!"

Viewers took to social media to vent their outrage with the "irresponsible" mother.

“Oh my god sedating children? Really?! This is so, so wrong,” one mum said.

Another added: "It's very irresponsible to drug your children on planes. Yes, it is a nightmare to travel with them but that does not give you the right to drug them as it could be harmful and it is very wrong just to keep them quiet."

A third wrote: "How can any parent think it's acceptable to drug their child/children in order to have a more peaceful flight? If that's the lengths you feel you need to go to, just stay at home!"

"For me, it is tantamount to abuse. Anything can happen on a plane, there could be an emergency, a crash landing, even a terrorist attack. I know it's unlikely, but it does happen and the last thing you want as a parent is your child to be comatose in a heavily sedated state. If something were to go wrong and you need your child to think quickly and act quickly and their responses are not as fast as normal as they would be waking from a natural sleep, you could be putting your child's life at risk," pointed out another.

What do you think?