Not if you're giving it to them to get them to sleep, anyway [1]:

An antihistamine most commonly sold as Benadryl does little to help infants sleep through the night even though parents and some doctors think it does, according to a study published on Monday. ..

In tests conducted in 2004 and 2005, some of the children were given diphenhydramine as the medicine is known and others an inert placebo. The parents were then asked to keep track of the children's sleep habits.

Three of 22 children in the placebo group and one of 22 in the group that received the drug had fewer nighttime wake-ups, the parents reported. And there was no difference between the two groups in how happy the parents were with their children's sleep at any point during the study.

"Many in the medical and lay community accept diphenhydramine as effective treatment for sleep problems," the report said. "Unfortunately, this attitude is based on anecdote and studies of adult physiological interactions."

Say it with me now: Children are not small adults! We've had luck in our house with Josie when her head gets filled up with thoughts and she can't sleep; we use coffea cruda homeopathic (and it works on me too). But she's not a baby.

Technorati Tags: Children's Health [10] Parenting [11]