In answer to Linda Volkovitsch's question re: phenobarbital and anthistamines. To begin with, a one or two dose regimen is really not enough to bother a breastfeeding infant, even if he/she is slightly sedated. Although phenobarbital does transfer into breastmilk, the total dose received by the infant in this short span would be somewhat minimal. However, I can't imagine a worse choice than phenobarbital for flight anxiety Phenobarbital is actually more sedating than it is an anxiolytic(an anxiety blocker). A better choice would probably be one from the benzodiazepine family(Ativan, Valium, Xanax). The benzodiazepines are far superior at blocking anxiety, they are more rapid acting, and have shorter half-lives than phenobarbital. Even though they too pass into breastmilk, a one-time exposure would probably not be unwarranted. Re: Antihistamines Antihistamines are somewhat of a problem for breastfeeding moms, because when used continuously, many of them may produce sedation in mom and the infant. One non-sedating antihistamine for which we have some reported milk levels is Claritin(Loratidine). With this antihistamine, only about 0.03% of the maternal dose is transferred to the infant via breastmilk. We do not know of the effect, if any, on the infant, but at least the rate of transfer appears minimal. One therapy that is extremely effective in most allergics, is the intranasal steroids(Nasalcort, Vancenase, etc). The dose with these products is extremely low, so low in fact that it is difficult to even detect plasma levels of the drug. I think this therapy is probably ideal for a BFing mom who has persistent problems. She'd need to discuss this with her allergist, or physician, to see if they would help in her specific condition. *********************************** T.W. Hale, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Pediatrics Texas Tech University School of Medicine ***********************************