About the scope of this guide: Dr. Sam holds a Doctor of Pharmacy and is a licensed pharmacist; she is not your baby’s physician. What follows explains how a medication relates to sleep. Your pediatrician decides whether your child takes any medication, and how.
Going through the medicine aisle, one product at a time
| Product | What it does | Effect on sleep | Cautions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Acetaminophen | Relieves pain and fever | Indirect: a baby who is comfortable rests. It isn’t sedating. | Dosed by weight; check combination products so acetaminophen isn’t doubled up. |
| Ibuprofen | Relieves pain, fever and inflammation | Indirect, as above. | Not for babies under 6 months unless your child’s doctor directs it (AAP). |
| Diphenhydramine (Benadryl) | Antihistamine | Makes adults drowsy, but can make children excited. Too much is dangerous. | According to the drug label, it shouldn’t be used to make a child sleepy. CDC guidance says antihistamines are contraindicated for children under age 1. |
| Cough and cold products | Decongestants and cough suppressants | Offer no sleep benefit; decongestants can keep a child awake. | FDA: not recommended for children under 2; labels say not to use under 4. |
| Simethicone (gas drops) | Breaks up gas bubbles | Doesn’t act as a sleep aid. | Check with your pediatrician whether it’s worth using. |
| Gripe water | A herbal or sugar mixture whose ingredients vary | No good evidence of benefit. | Frequently sold as a supplement; in 2007 a contaminated product led to an FDA warning. |
| Saline drops and suction | Clear the nose | Genuinely helpful for a congested baby who struggles to feed or breathe while lying down. | Use ahead of feeds and sleep; don’t overuse suction. |
You’ll find more in Benadryl and baby sleep and gripe water and baby sleep.
What the whole aisle has in common
Anything here that helps works by easing discomfort so that the baby’s natural sleep can take over. No product on the shelf teaches a baby to fall asleep or to stay asleep. If your baby sleeps poorly while healthy, the cause lies in the routine, the schedule and how your baby falls asleep, not in the pharmacy.
This is where Actually Sleeping helps. Since a pharmacist leads our practice, families can raise medicine questions alongside sleep questions, and anything requiring a medical answer is directed to the pediatrician. The sleep problem itself gets a plan Dr. Sam writes for that baby.
Times to call the pediatrician instead
A fever in a baby younger than 3 months; difficulty breathing; refusing to feed; fewer wet diapers than usual; a baby who is hard to rouse; any question about dosing. None of these are sleep questions.
Sleep is the part you can fix
Parents scanning the medicine aisle at midnight are usually worn out and fairly convinced something is wrong. In a healthy baby, what’s wrong is most often a sleep pattern, and sleep patterns can change. Actually Sleeping builds that change around your baby’s age, feeds, temperament and current way of falling asleep. You get bootcamp-style coaching before the first night, daily 1:1 check-ins and naps coached until they are solid, all backed by a written guarantee: We guarantee that your baby will sleep 8–12 hours through the night within 14 days of consistent, correct implementation of your sleep plan. If that doesn’t happen, you get a full refund. Parents explain how it went in the video reviews.
Before you buy another bottle, book the free consultation to talk through your baby’s sleep, plus any medicine questions you have.
Want your baby sleeping like this?
With Actually Sleeping you get 1:1 coaching: Dr. Sam writes a sleep plan for your baby, we coach you bootcamp-style before the first night, and we check in daily until it is working. We have coached 700+ families, collected 129 video reviews, and put our guarantee in writing: 8–12 hours through the night within 14 days, or a full refund.
Common questions
Will Benadryl help my baby sleep during a flight?
No. According to the drug label, diphenhydramine shouldn’t be used to make a child sleepy, it may cause excitement instead, and CDC travel guidance says antihistamines are contraindicated for children under age 1. Talk to your pediatrician about any medicine for travel.
Will gas drops help my baby sleep?
Gas drops don’t work as a sleep aid. Check with your pediatrician whether they’re worth trying for your baby. When a comfortable baby still sleeps poorly, the usual reason is the way they fall asleep, and that is what an Actually Sleeping sleep plan changes.
Should I give medicine before bed ‘just in case’?
No. Only give a medicine when there’s a reason, at the dose and interval set by your pediatrician or the label. Medicine meant to head off a bad night won’t change the pattern that causes the bad nights.
References
- U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Should You Give Kids Medicine for Coughs and Colds?
- HealthyChildren.org (AAP). Acetaminophen for Fever and Pain.
- HealthyChildren.org (AAP). Ibuprofen for Fever and Pain.
- MedlinePlus (National Library of Medicine). Diphenhydramine.
- CDC Yellow Book. Traveling Safely with Infants and Children.
- Jain K, Gunasekaran D, Venkatesh C, Soundararajan P. Gripe Water Administration in Infants 1-6 Months of Age: A Cross-sectional Study. J Clin Diagn Res. 2015;9(11):SC06-SC08.
- U.S. Food and Drug Administration (archived). Warning about a gripe water product contaminated with Cryptosporidium. September 21, 2007.