![Pinterest](https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https://bollspel.com/the-growing-trend-of-parents-turning-to-sleep-aids-for-kids-despite-expert-recommendations/&media=https://bollspel.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/20529-the-growing-trend-of-parents-turning-to-sleep-aids-for-kids-despite-expert-recommendations.jpg&description="Discover the growing trend of parents using sleep aids for kids, despite expert recommendations. Learn about the potential risks and alternatives to help your child get a good night's sleep naturally."){kind=link}
- Science
- Mind, Body, Wonder
Just because some sleep meds can be purchased without a prescription does not mean they are safe for children. Some can even have the opposite effect.
Published February 2, 2024
Is your child constantly fighting bedtime, interrupting your sleep at night, or having trouble falling asleep? You’re not alone. Administering sleep aids to children is more common than you might think, even though the topic is taboo for some parents.
According to a YouGov survey conducted online of 933 parents with children under age 18, nearly half of those who had kids struggling with sleep issues had administered a sleep aid to them. Use of sleep aids in adults may be even more prevalent. Data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that nearly one in five adults takes sleep medication.
“If a sleep aid acts quickly, it helps with difficulties falling asleep,” says Argelinda Baroni, a physician and co-director of the child and adolescent sleep program at Hassenfeld Children’s Hospital at NYU Langone.
While prescriptions are available for adults, “there are no prescription medications approved for insomnia in children,” says Judith Owens, a board-certified sleep medicine physician and the director of the Center for Pediatric Sleep Disorders at Boston Children’s Hospital.
When it comes to the use of over-the-counter sleep aids, “there’s little scientific evidence to support their use in children,” says Jennifer Martin, a psychologist and professor of medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles; and they may even have paradoxical effects such as excitation, says Owens.
Since these medications are not strictly regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), they also don’t require extensive testing such as clinical trials before they are marketed directly to consumers. Sleep-related dietary supplements can be more problematic because they are even less regulated, and sometimes include unlisted ingredients. One of the most popular of these supplements is melatonin.
“Melatonin is considered a supplement and is not strictly regulated by the FDA, therefore it may contain trace amounts of other substances such as CBD and serotonin,” cautions Suzanne Beck, a sleep medicine physician and the medical director of the sleep center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
While sleep aids can be useful, they can also be habit forming and may cause worrisome side effects. Sleep scientists especially warn against their use in children for extended periods of time and unless recommended by one’s primary care provider.