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Night time coughing in children can become a burden for both the child and the parents, especially when those over-the-counter cough medicines don't seem to work.

The study is published online Aug. 6 and in the September print issue of Pediatrics.

Herman Avner Cohen is chairman of the Pediatric Community Ambulatory Care Clinic with Clalit Health Services in Israel said the cough due to an upper respiratory infection is generally a self-limited disease.

"Parents often [want] some active intervention," Cohen said. This often leads to the use of over-the-counter cough medications, which are potentially dangerous because of the possibility of accidental overdose. Honey may be a preferable treatment for the cough and sleep difficulty associated with childhood [upper respiratory infection]."

Honey has antioxidant properties, derived from vitamin C and flavonoids among other sources. It is also known for its antimicrobial potential.

Three hundred children between the ages of 1 and 5 who had been diagnosed with upper respiratory infections were used for the study.

The children were sick for up to seven days and were brought in to one of six pediatric clinics in Israel. They all had night-time coughing and runny noses and no signs of asthma or pneumonia.

Researchers administered, at bed time, about two teaspoons of eucalyptus honey, citrus honey or libiatae honey, or an extract that tasted and looked like honey but contained none.

Parents were given a survey the day before and after the honey was given to the kids.

Researchers found that all the children showed improvement in terms of sleep quality and coughing severity. However, those who received honey fared significantly better than those who consumed the non-honey extract.

According to Fox News, coughs are one of the most common reasons kids go to the doctor.

"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," said Dr. Ian Paul, a pediatrician from Pennsylvania State University in Hershey. "My study in 2007 was the first paper ever to show that honey was an effective alternative to over-the-counter cold and cough medicines," he noted. "In fact, we found that honey was the best treatment and provided the most relief."