More than three-quarters of surveyed U.S. pediatricians have recommended over-the-counter sleep aids to children, according to a survey of 671 U.S. pediatricians.
Further, more than 50 percent had prescribed a sleep aid to some of their young patients and about 15 percent had also recommended melatonin supplements or herbal remedies.
Most commonly, antihistamines were recommended for over-the-counter treatments while alpha-agonists such as clonidine, which is used to treat behavioral problems, were the most commonly recommended prescription medications.
While such medications are "most likely safe," little is actually known about their safety or effectiveness in treating childhood sleep problems.
Moreover, sleep problems like insomnia are symptoms of other problems that often can’t be treated with sleep medications. Researchers note that doctors could be missing underlying problems and instead turning to sleep medications as the solution.
According to previous research, a significant number of children have sleep disturbances and children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, depression, asthma and juvenile rheumatoid arthritis are more likely to have problems sleeping.
However, most children’s sleep problems can be solved without medications. Doctors can discuss good "sleep hygiene" with parents, which includes helpful habits like encouraging children to go to sleep and wake up at regular times, avoid caffeine and be active during the day, researchers noted.
The current study was funded in part by Sanofi-Synthelabo, makers of the sleep medication zolpidem (Ambien).
Pediatrics May, 2003;111:e628-e635
Interestingly, this study was funded by the drug company that makes one of the most popular drugs used to help sleep (Ambien).
You certainly do not need to go to medical school to understand and recognize that using drugs to help kids sleep is not a very wise idea as it in no way, shape or form addresses the underlying cause of the insomnia.
However, going to medical school seems to be a major impediment to understanding the reasons behind this problem. As the article states, children with ADD seem to have a higher level of sleep problems.
There is no question from my experience that most all children seem to respond universally well to excluding sugars, grains and fruit juices from their diet.
These foods rapidly break down to sugar and increase their insulin levels, which can cause major disruptions in their biochemistry and over-stimulate them so they will not be able to sleep at night.
Clearly, the first step in treating insomnia in kids is not to use a drug-based approach, but rather consider eliminating one of the most common underlying causes--the large amount of grains, juices and sugars they are consuming.
There is one exception where I would recommend Benadryl for sleeping. That is when they are suffering from an ear infection and are unable to sleep because of the pain. This is an acute problem and the Benadryl (diphenhydramine) will decrease the pain and allow them to sleep.
Sleeping is an important part of the process to treat the ear infection. It is also helpful for improving the health of the parents as taking care of a screaming child all night long can cause serious sleep problems in the parents as well.