Feedback on Using Melatonin for Sleep Aid

I use melatonin all the time on storm-phobic dogs. As far as with a human, I only use it on myself when I want to go to sleep but don't want to take a sleeping pill which may make me groggy the next day.

K.

MY daughter is 8, and I give her Melatonin to get to sleep at night. We have discussed this with her doctor and he says many parents do this and he has seen little side effects. He did say that if she starts having weird dreams or waking throughout the night then not being able to get back to sleep we should talk to him about alternate ideas. It works wonders for her. I take it when I need a little help, now my mom uses it, and so does my best friend.

I would be more concerned with finding the reason for his lack of sleep. Does he drink caffeinated or "energy" drinks? If so, you might want to put a limit on them. Caffeine and stay in your system for up to 12 hours. But be wary of cold turkey too, like any stimulant, it causes withdrawal symptoms - like a 3 day migraine for starters. Here is a site with some more info: http://www.kidshealth.org/teen/drug_alcohol/drugs/caffein...
If caffeine is not the culprit, you might want to bring it up with his doc, especially before giving him meds that arent prescribed.

Hi D. - have you discovered why he has trouble falling asleep? Perhaps he has something on his mind that needs addressing. Are there problems at school, or with his friends, or something? Does he have an illness of some sort that might contribute to this problem? You might want to consider looking into this just to eliminate these possibilities. Good luck.

We use it with our son as well. We were told about by a mom with a 5 yr. old who has ADHD, and her pediatrician told her to give it to him, so I think it is safe. I've found that after a couple of weeks, I have to take him off of it for 2-3 days because it seems to work better that way.

Physicians often use Melatonin as a sleep aid for kids. But something to wonder about is why is he having difficulty sleeping? Anxiety? Depression? Pain? Often, difficulty falling asleep is a symptom for a larger problem that you want to make sure is not being over looked.

Hi My son is 14 and has been taking Melatonin for about 2 yrs to help him sleep. He has ADHD and Tourette's and with all the meds he takes for that it was nice to have an OTC med. for him to take that doesnt cause side affects. It was actually recommended to us by his dr. and has worked wonders for him. Hope this helps.
M.

I agree with everybody's post so far, but also would like to add that you should make sure you put him on a super-regular schedule so he is getting up and going to bed at the same time every day and night. Also make sure he takes the melatonin at the same time. Natural melatonin is supposed to regulate your sleep and if you use it hodge-podge, you defeat the purpose of helping his sleep along.

As long as the doc says it's safe and you've ruled out other issues, I think melatonin is a great supplement. I have used melatonin for years instead of Ambien and I LOVE IT! I have fought insomnia for probably 15 years and for me, it's nothing short of a miracle.

I'm 49 years old and believe in all this NATURAL STUFF!!!! I read and read a lot about all of this and I PERSONALLY take this nightly. I give myself a break on the weekends.....
It seems like we're missing something (can't think of it now!!!) that helps me relax enough to sleep......
Love it and I THANK GOD it's natural and it WORKS!!!!!

C.
Louisiana

We use it with 4 of our 6 kids! From what I have seen in literature, there are no known side effects. (Our pharmacist agrees) You might need to play around with when he takes it. One of our sons found that it works best for him to take it about 2 hours before bedtime. Our others just started taking it and are taking it before bed. I've also read that some people do best taking it around 3-4 PM. Two other things you can try are Calms Forte (can get several places) and Serentity Jr (avail. from Native Remedies)

Hope it helps! Good luck.

I hav eused melatonin with my four year old daughter. It worked great! It was recommended by my pediatrician and the pharmicist at Walgreens was real helpful in showing me the different brands and clarifying the dosage for her. We used it every night for three or four months when she was three and a half. She is four now, we still use it occasionally. Her pediatrician and pharmacist both assured me it was safe from side effects and hard to overdose on. I was (and still am) happy with the results. Hope this helps.

My seven year old boy takes a 3mg tablet of melatonin every evening. This was actually prescribed to him to use as he is severe ADHD and he has trouble shuting his brain down at night. We have had no problem with this and his doctors assure me that there is no harm in him taking this small dose every evening.
Hope this helps.

I have found it is very helpful as well for the past 2 years, I use it for my kids if they have had a terribly busy day and have been off of a sleep routine for a couple of nights. I have also gone to my local health food store and found this kind of tea called "Nighty Night" which has chamomile and is specially designed for kids.

PLEASE talk to his doctor. I'm no expert, but melatonin is naturally produced in the brain & I suspect artificially increasing the levels without proper supervision could cause his body to decrease its natural production and cause life-long sleep disorders-and other long term problems for him (particularly in one so young).

Additionally, you didn't say whether you had explored any of the other possible causes of his sleep issues...Is he getting enough physical activity during the day? Sleeping in too late? Having anxiety about a specific problem whether at school or at home? Does he get enough down time to allow his mind to quiet a little before heading to bed? Is he eating too late/too much sugar or caffeine? Would it help to read quietly to himself or get a white noise machine/have soft peaceful music playing? Could he be deliberately having "trouble" sleeping so that he can stay up later and get more time with you or have brothers who are allowed to stay up later?

it's really the best choice for a sleep aid. not addictive and all that. i would maybe try with a quarter pill and see if it's as effective just to give his the lowest dose that works.

My 3 year old grandaughter was put on liquid melatonin this week by her dr. So if the dr. recommended it for our 3 year old I would think the 10 year old is just fine. And yes she is doing better with the melatonin.

I have personally used it for myself but I am not sure the effects it has on children. It is something that our body produces naturally which controls our sleep cycle. I would ask your doctor but I know that it has helped me in the past.

The only thing I can warn you on is his teeth if he crew it. My son had problems sleeping when he was 4-5 years old we gave him the 1 mg ones but he crewed them and now he has more than aveage boy of teeth decay. It did help work miracles for our son as well. He no longer needs the Melatonin to fall a sleep.

D.,

Yes, I use it most nights. I too had major trouble sleeping after my mom passed away about almost two years ago from breast cancer. The doctor told me that I may want to try a mild dosage because my body may be lacking the naturally stored melatonin.Since then.... it's worked like a charm.

Did you know they suggest that breast cancer patients take melatonin and selenium to reduce masses?

Just remember, too much of anything can cause problems if one's not careful. I'm sure your little one will be just fine.

Hi D.,

My 15 year old son has been using melatonin as a sleep aid for about 5 years with no ill sideaffects. Our physician recommended it and it works wonders.

W. Q

I agree with the previous poster. Talk to his doctor. My husband occasionally takes Melatonin and it does help. However, for a child, I question whether there will be side effects or long term issues.

On a side note, I have Lupus, an auto-immune disorder where my immune system is reacting to and attacking my own body. Melatonin is one of the biggies in the herbal/supplement world that I CANNOT take. Anything that has such a strong advisory needs to be discussed frankly with his doctor.

Good luck.
J.

D.,
I have a son who just turned 5. I have been giving him melatonin off and on for a couple years for night terrors. It has worked wonders for him too. It was recomended to us by a doctor and a counselor. My son recently went to a new dr and we were concerened that long term use might be harmful. The dr. said that there were no studies done on it, but that he was unaware of any harmful effects. We do not use it every night with no breaks though. Also on the bottle it sais not to use it for more than a month without taking a one week break. Also another good thing to use is calms forte, although I don't think it works quite as well for my son. There are many times that I have not given him anything at night and he has gone to sleep just fine. It has been a worry of mine that he will not be able to sleep without it, but that has not happened. Sometimes he needs it and sometimes he doesn't.