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Children can be seriously harmed or even killed by drugs designed and tested for adults only, even if the dose is reduced to compensate for their size.
The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, which co-ordinated the compiling of the "Medicines for Children", hopes that the guide will promote a safer approach to treating children.
Dr Malcolm Partridge, chairman of the Neo Natal and Paediatric Pharmacist Group, which was also involved in its development, said that children had been treated as "also-rans" in the development of medicines.
He said: "We owe it to our young patients to provide what is best for them."
The guide, or "formulary", essentially a list of drugs which can be given to children, has been launched as a response to concerns from parents and doctors at the high numbers of medicines which are only licenced in the UK for adult use - but which are being used on children anyway.
Recent studies have estimated that up to 40% of children in hospital receive medicines in breach of their licence.
The standard approach to giving a certain drug to children is to calculate a dose based on the lower body weight of the child.
Drugs can be toxic for children
But many drugs have a more pronounced effect on children than they do on adults, and even when the weight calculation is carried out can still prove toxic.
Sir David Hull, chairman of the college's formulary advisory group, said: "It became clear to us that nearly a majority of medicines given to children are given outside the licensing indications.
"Just because it isn't licensed doesn't mean it is not effective or safe, but it does menan it has not been tested as much as medicines given to adults and has not been licensed by an independent body like the Medicines Control Agency."
Drug companies often do not receive a licence for their product to be used on treatment because the necessary studies involving children have not been carried out.
And without a licence, very often the correct dosage information is hard to obtain.
Running trials of potentially dangerous drugs on children is fraught with ethical and legal difficulties, as well as prohibitively expensive.
At present, the responsbility for making sure that medicines are safe to use falls on the Medicines Control Agency, a government watchdog.
During a debate on medicines for children in the House of Commons in April, the MP for Edmonton, Andrew Love, said that children did not enjoy the same protection as adults.
He said: "They have to rely much more heavily than adults on unlicensed and off-label treatments and the treatments that they are given are not subject to the monitoring and on-going review of licensed medicines."
Health Minister John Hutton said in response that the department would be prepared to consider funding a children's formulary.
Background Briefings
Medical notes
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Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health
Institute of Child Health
Medicines Control Agency
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