Toddlers: 24 Months+

Has anyone used melatonin on their kids?

Hi all,
Lurking from the December 13 board. I'm curious if anyone has used melatonin to help with sleep issues and if so, any thoughts. Our almost four year old twin boys are a disaster at bed. Well, one is a disaster and the other one copies him.

Bedtime has never been a breeze for us, but the last few months have been worse. Nothing has changed in our lives and we have tried everything! We are dealing with hitting, kicking, screaming, and it goes on for three hours every night.

Last night we did use the melatonin for the first time (3 mg) at the recommendation of a friend who has nine kids and is a physician's assistant. It worked within the hour and they both slept the whole night through. I just don't want it to become something they HAVE to have if I can avoid it.

Thanks for any suggestions!

Re: Has anyone used melatonin on their kids?

  • From what I have heard, from parents on another forum, you can use it as a "reset" button for sleep. i think some people use it for a few weeks and then taper off or stop using once a good sleep pattern has been established. You could try that and then revisit the issue.
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  • DD currently has a really bad cough.  I just bought her natural, honey-based cough medicines, and the nighttime one has melatonin in it as the sleep aid.  She's never had a problem with getting to sleep or anything, but I've definitely noticed that the cough medicine knocks her out.  She goes right to sleep, and last night when I went in to check on her before I went to bed, she hadn't even moved in the 3 hours since I put her down.
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  • We used it when bedtime was taking upwards of 2+hours. She would then get exhausted and have night terrors. The pedi OK'd half of the 3mg tablet. It made her groggy enough to go to sleep within 30 minutes of taking it. We used it for a while to get her into a healthy sleep pattern, then like PP mentioned we tapered off. Now bedtime is a breeze. Bath, book, cuddles, then she's out.
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  • I haven't given it to my kids, but I've taken it myself. It did help a bit with sleep, but a side effect was very vivid, crazy dreams. A friend of mine who has taken it had a similar experience. 
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  • aandg said:
    I haven't given it to my kids, but I've taken it myself. It did help a bit with sleep, but a side effect was very vivid, crazy dreams. A friend of mine who has taken it had a similar experience. 
    Interesting.  This makes me wonder if it had that effect on my DD.  She hasn't mentioned any crazy dreams, but I'm also not sure she completely understands the concept of dreams yet.
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