I am reading the book 'Island' by Jane Rogers, and within the book there are a bunch of anecdotes/short stories told by a central character. One is about the Salt Murdress.

The story goes that there was a woman with 2 daughters. One about 5, the other a year old. The baby never slept. The mother was severely sleep deprived and close to breaking point. One day she snapped at her eldest daughter for spilling something, more because she was exhausted than angry. She put salt in the girls juice as punishment. Entirely spontaneous, she figured it would teach her a lesson. Afterwards the eldest daughter fell asleep and slept for much longer than usual. When the mother used salt again the same thing happened. So she started to put in the babies drinks as well. Both girls suddenly slept loads. They started to get sick a lot though, stomach aches and constant thirst. They begged for a drink without salt but the mother wouldn't let them have it, convinced the good nights sleeps would end and also, she claimed, unaware that it was the salt causing the problems. She just thought salt had this magical property that made kids sleep. Anyway. One morning, mother woke up as fresh as a daisy but the kids didn't wake up. She rushed them to hospital but it was too late.

Anyway, don't know what the point of posting that was, but this thread reminded me of it. The story made me cry.

I saw the title of this thread and thought it was going to be about phycotropic drugs that they give kids to calm down for school. lol.

I have heard of giving cough medicine to children to make them sleep (when there's nothing wrong with them), and can't understand how a caring parent could to that. I am so careful with medication and even feel a bit guilty for giving my son cough medicine when he's sick. I can't imagine giving it to him when he's NOT sick.

It seems that more and more people these days are unwilling to discipline their children, or take the time to play with them and teach them to entertain themselves. And they are finding more and more things that (they think) will work instead.

Wow, I'm really interested about the research that caused melatonin to be regulated in the UK. Can anyone point me in the direction of it? I take melatonin to sleep sometimes. I don't take it often (maybe 6-10 times per year?) because I don't like taking medications in general if I can tolerate the condition, but I want to know if I should be taking it at all!

I also used to nanny for a mom that gives her (high-functioning autistic, extremely hyperactive) 6 year old a dose of melatonin spray every night to wind him down. Personally I thought every night was a bit excessive and that maybe she should put him in a sport instead, but then he has the social barriers plus she's a busy single mom and has 3 other children so there are always multiple factors to a decision. However if I can find some research about melatonin having an ill-effect on growing children I'd definitely want to email it to her.

As for the story, well if I don't like taking medications myself unless I absolutely have to, clearly I am not about to give a child an unnecessary medication!

@ Mixie They give ADHD kids melatonin to help them sleep. It's only licensed for that in the UK, for kids, as far as I'm aware.

@Mojo Jojo, melatonin isn't licensed for children at all in the UK.

At present, the only licensed medicine for the treatment of insomnia that contains melatonin is called Circadin. Circadin is only available on prescription for people who are 55 or over.
Circadin is designed as a short-term treatment for insomnia and should not be taken for more than three weeks. It is not recommended for people with a history of kidney or liver disease.

http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Insomnia/Pages/Treatment.aspx

@Transit It was licensed until recently. Must have been; we had a few patients on it. Although, when I say 'recently', I mean before I went on mat leave 18m ago!

I have used Motrin before when Jordyn was a baby & couldn't tell me she was in pain. I mean if you've tried everything that could be causing her discomfort then the recommended dose couldn't harm her. But I have seen one of my friends give her baby Motrin too much. She wouldn't even measure it out she would just suck it up in that little tube they give you in the bottle & shoot it into his mouth because he was crying. She wouldn't even try to do anything else. I would say something to her about it & she would break down in tears. I finally told her if I saw her do it again I would have to tell someone. I think it's something that is becoming a problem & parents should be educated about the harmful effects that can happen doing this.

exactly, just to shoot it in their mouth is bad.. its like try everything u can to comfort them. with my son(that 1 and only time i have him motrin to sleep) i tried everything.. a warm bath, a rub down, his *puppy*, his cuddle blanket, warm milk, etc. the motrin was the only thing to calm him.. not to mention cool him down b.c all that screaming gave him a hot head!

Dose your children, don't dose them, whatever. Just control them, and keep them from being a nuisance.

Recent case in the UK - a woman in her late 20s used the dregs of her methadone on her baby's dummy (pacifier) to get her to sleep. The baby died.

I've given my nonverbal toddler calpol (infant paracetamol) when I don't know why he's crying MANY times, although never when he was tiny. Just the other night, he was howling and unsettled at 2am, so I gave him some and he went to sleep. Next day, I found he had cut his first molar. You go with your instincts as a mother and trust that you can tell the difference between an arsey baby and an in-pain baby.

One of the worst misuses of pain meds I've seen on babies is teething gel. Once a baby is teething, it seems that some parents think the child is only grumpy or crying because of their teeth. My SIL used to rub teething gel on my nephew about four times an HOUR when he was teething as a 6m old. It ANGERS me.

I think any drugging of children to adjust their behaviour instead of just PARENTING THEM PROPERLY IN THE FIRST PLACE is abuse. However, with nonverbal children, it's difficult to tell if they're in pain sometimes.

@mojo jojo it just boggles my mind as to how a mother would give their BABY methadone.. like hello people OD on that shit!! -smh-

concerning methadone - at 18 I was given a HALF a methadone pill after a bad car accident and I was sick for DAYS... I could never imagine giving that to a child... people who have Heroin addictions (and other similar addictions) are often enrolled in methadone clinics to come off the addiction. It takes the place of Heroin's effects without actually making you feel high - just "better" WHY WOULD YOU GIVE THAT TO A CHILD????!

@ Mojo Jojo - the recommended dosage of Orajel is 4 times A DAY.... :(

Giving your unconsolable child a dose of tylenol or motrin to help ease any pain they may be experiencing doesn't compare to giving your rambuncious or annoying child a dose of whatever sleeping agent so you don't have to deal w/ them. ABSOLUTELY that is child abuse, and it is never okay. Imagine if it was "okay" ... "We don't need to discipline Jimmy because we can just give him a dose of ambien and he is out like a light." Well gee, how many days has Jimmy been sleeping for now??

I worked in a nursery. I have seen hyper kids (most likely they had ADHD and were yet to be diagnosed). If I had a kid like that (heaven forbid), I am sure I'd do this from time to time. My mom used to give me paracetamol when we were going on a long journey and stuff to shut me up. Don't blame her; I was a nightmare! ;D

And let's not forget the older generation who would put a bit of brandy or something on the baby's bottle to make them sleep. Ahh, they had the best ideas ;D