What meds do they give a bipolar child if needing hospitalization?

Antipsychotics: Children so out of control they need to be hospitalized nearly always receive medication there, if not before. Usually these are the newer antipsychotics, which also have "mood stabiliziing" benefits and work fairly rapidly to calm patients. The most common ones are risperdal, abilify, (aripiprazole) & seroquel. They are big-league drugs but may be justified if behavior truly out of control.

Many times children: with Bipolar Disorder (now called disruptive mood dysregulation disorder (DMDD) are treated with off-label medications. In this case, it might be medications that were tested on adults and have been approved for use with adults. Atypical antipsychotics and mood stabilizers may be used.