Opium Syrups Sedated Crying Infants

Ancient Egyptians sometimes gave opium to quiet crying babies, and the practice remained popular centuries later during the Victorian era. Caregivers used opium-based remedies to keep infants calm, but prolonged sedation sometimes prevented babies from feeding properly, leading to starvation and death. One of the most famous products was Mrs. Winslow's Soothing Syrup, which was widely sold in the United States and the United Kingdom during the late 19th and early 20th centuries to quiet infants and teething children. Doctors spent nearly twenty years warning about the product before it was withdrawn as a "baby killer"; its main active ingredient was morphine.

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