The history of induced altered states as a means of tolerating the intolerable is as old as man and, for eons, has been alternately welcomed, worshipped, and vilified. While the modern histories of sedation and anesthesia continue to be inseparable, particularly for children, this was far from the case for the millennia preceding the mid-nineteenth century, when medical treatments were typically viewed as too harsh, risky, and toxic for children. Advances in the basic and clinical sciences and progress in social and ethical enlightenment have brought us to our current practices of parity with adults in the provision of comfort to children during painful and frightening procedures.