A recent research showed that codeine, a common substance found in cough and pain medication, is unsafe to children.
According to doctors with the American Academy of Pediatrics, codeine can cause serious and potentially fatal side effects.
Reports indicated that when codeine is ingested, the liver converts it into morphine which helps ease the pain.
Genetic differences can, however, trigger too much morphine which could be dangerous.
The ingredient is said to cause life-threatening and fatal respiratory problems in children.
In the United States, 64 cases of severe slowed breathing and 24 deaths related to the drug were reported.
The symptoms were reported to be severe in obese children and those with undiagnosed nighttime breathing problems.
Doctors also claimed that there is not enough evidence that codeine is effective for children coughs, adding it does not treat pain in some children.
"Parents shouldn’t assume it is okay to give kids codeine without seeing a doctor first. They should ask what the alternative pain relievers are," Dr Alan Woolf, a researcher at Harvard stated.
Parents were advised to take a keener look at the label of the cough medicine to ensure it did not have codeine.
