Pfizer Inc.’s Benadryl and other allergy drugs do not help infants sleep, a study says.
Doctors have told parents for decades that a spoonful of the medicine might help babies go down for the night, researchers said. The newest data show that a drop of the antihistamine is no more effective as a sleep aid than cherry syrup without any medication in it at all.
“It’s one of so many cases where something isn’t tested in children, and we use it anyway because we believe it works,” said study author Dan Merenstein, a professor at Georgetown University in Washington, in a telephone interview Monday. “As a parent, I know the temptation is there to try anything to get your baby to sleep, but I would not try this drug.”
Children’s Benadryl has not been tested in children younger than age 2 for use as an antihistamine or a sleep aid, Merenstein said. The medicine, labeled for use against allergies, directs parents to ask a doctor before using the drug in children under age 6.
The study was published Monday in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine. Pfizer did not immediately return calls seeking comment.
Previous studies have shown that nearly three-quarters of pediatricians have recommended over-the-counter drugs as sleep aids. Almost 70 percent of them suggested Benadryl.
