Honey may ease nighttime coughing in kids: study

A spoonful of honey before bed may help little kids with a cough, says studies.

Parents also reported that after giving honey to kids, their coughing was less frequent and less severe.

Coughs are one of the most common reasons kids go to the doctor, said Dr. Ian Paul, a pediatrician from Pennsylvania State University in Hershey.

But, he said, "The therapies for cough and cold symptoms… have problems in that they re not very effective, or not effective at all, and they have the potential for side effects."

Many over-the-counter cough and cold products have a "do not use" warning for kids under four. One of the concerns with the medications is parents accidentally giving kids too much, or kids getting into the drugs themselves.

"As opposed to many of the other things we give - medications and medicines that do have side effects - honey over age one is almost completely safe," Paul, who wasn t involved in the new study, told Reuters Health.

Researchers from Israel randomly assigned 300 kids, aged one to five, to one of four different nighttime cough treatments. Half an hour before bedtime, parents gave their children 10 grams of one of three types of honey - including eucalyptus and citrus-based honey - or syrup made from dates that was also sweet but honey-free.