Avoiding Sleeping Drugs For Your Children
Drugs such as phenobarbital, Valium, or other sleep-inducing medications should never be given to children of any age. In the past, doctors routinely used to make the mistake of prescribing such medications to babies and children. Nowadays, doctors should know better, but a parent must remain vigilant.
If a doctor prescribes such medications, get a second opinion. Obviously, if your child is suffering from a neurological disorder, such as epilepsy or obsessive compulsive disorder, whose treatment requires the prescription of mind-altering, insomnia-causing drugs that must be used in conjunction with sleeping pills, you may not have any choice, but for otherwise healthy children, drugs should be avoided. These brain altering chemicals are dangerous on their own and can quickly become addictive.
If your child’s sleeping difficulties are so severe that you are .tempted to medicate your child with your own prescription or over-the-counter sleeping pills, call a doctor and/or a family counselor. Drugs are not an option for common sleep problems.
Because sleeping pills are so common, people make the mistake of thinking they are harmless and that they are useful for children. Every night, more than 13 million adult Americans resort to prescribed medicine to assist them in falling asleep, and many more medicate themselves with over-the-counter remedies.
These drugs, which are sometimes very potent, can cause “rebound insomnia,” disrupt REM sleep, or have other significant side effects. They may cause a distressing dependence on chemicals in order to fall asleep and stay asleep. We do not want our children to suffer from such addictions.
The most commonly used sedative/hypnotic medications are in a class of drugs called benzodiazepines, of which the most widely used are diazepam (Valium), lorazepam (Ativan), temazepam (Restoril), estazolam (ProSorn), and triazolam (Halcion). It would be good to familiarize yourself with these names so that you can be alert if anyone tries to prescribe such drugs for your child.
These drugs all act on the central nervous system to produce sedation, hypnosis, muscle relaxation, and decreased anxiety. Although they are rarely indicated on genuine medical grounds, these drugs are commonly prescribed for the treatment of insomnia in adults. If prescribed for adults, they should not be used more than three to times a week. They are not indicated for solving children’s sleep problems.
Zolpidem (Ambien) has become the latest popular drug for inducing sleep in adults, but it too should not be given to children. Zolpidem is probably too new for any untoward reactions to have been evaluated. Barbiturates such as phenobarbital were once the most commonly used drugs to induce sleep but are no longer indicated for adults or children, as they are very easily abused, are addicting, and have many other unpleasant effects.
