The hype around natural cures for common ailments seems to have been reinvigorated lately. Parents (and nonparents alike) are striving to live the healthiest lifestyle possible. I should stipulate here that I’m neither anti-homeopathy nor anti-pharmaceutical. Each individual should carefully consider health decisions with their doctor or other trusted health provider’s advice. But I firmly believe that anything going into your body and — every bit as importantly — into your child’s body should be evaluated for its efficacy and possible side effects. Therefore, I think it’s important to address a buzzword of the past few years: melatonin.
Many homeopathic experts have touted melatonin as a safe, natural way of helping people get to sleep. This is very true in many ways, but there’s much more to understand before incorporating it into your child’s daily regimen. Is melatonin safe for kids? Read on to understand the safety of melatonin and how to introduce it into your child’s routine.
Melatonin is a hormone secreted from the pineal gland, a part of your brain. It helps settle your body and mind down when it’s time to sleep.1,4,5 How exactly it does this is a highly complex process. Simply put, melatonin is your brain’s way of closing the shades for the night. On the flip side, we have melatonin’s counterpart: cortisol.2 Cortisol acts by opening those shades back up in the morning, and the two hormones act together to make up a large part of what we refer to as our “body clock,” aka our circadian rhythm.3
Note: It’s important to understand that our bodies already produce melatonin naturally. Taking melatonin is unlike a traditional sleep aid that will make you conk out (like Ambien). Instead, as melatonin levels rise in the evening, it allows our bodies to relax and primes them for sleep.6
How do our bodies know to produce melatonin at 6:00 p.m. and not 6:00 a.m.? This is quite a natural process. When it starts to get dark outside, your body recognizes the onset of night and gets the melatonin pumps up and running.1,6 You can imagine this process worked like a charm during the preindustrial days before we invented the lightbulb, television, laptop, and smartphone.
Nowadays, our eyes get flooded with so much artificial light that it can be difficult for our brains to determine when night is approaching. If melatonin doesn’t have the opportunity to rise, it messes up our body clock (contributing to insomnia). So, my first advice for anyone struggling with sleep (especially you adults) is to turn off those screens a couple of hours before bedtime, turn down the lights in your house, and develop a consistent and relaxing bedtime routine. This will let your body know it’s time for sleep, and much of the legwork toward drifting off into dreamland will be done for you! (Note: It’s not always this simple. For those with physical or psychological conditions that impact sleep, please consult with your physician for a plan of action.)7,11,12
In some cases — jet lag and shift work being the most prominent two — a melatonin supplement can help reset the body clock if thrown out of whack.8 However, in general (especially in children), melatonin may not be a solution to sleep issues.
Because it’s naturally occurring, melatonin is safe for most people in small amounts. There aren’t many trials about the safety of short- or long-term use in children, especially for those under 5, but it’s likely safe to take about 1-3 mg per dose. Melatonin can be useful for children with certain disorders, such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). It can also be helpful if a child has a later bedtime that you need to move up. However, for most sleep-related disorders in children, melatonin isn’t a single solution.1,6,13
In general, it’s recommended to take melatonin about 30 minutes prior to bedtime. However, each person’s body is a little different, and it can take shorter or longer to take effect in your child. There are also potential side effects of taking melatonin, but it’s dose-dependent. More melatonin likely won’t make you go to sleep faster, but it may increase the side effects, such as:1,6
- Daytime sleepiness
- Vivid dreams
- Nausea
- Dizziness
- Headaches
- Irritability
- Depressed mood
Melatonin is a supplement regulated less strictly by the FDA.1 A lot of research has shown that the amounts in supplements can vary immensely from what the label states — anywhere from no melatonin detectable to 347% more than it should be. Doing your research about which brand of supplement to take is important. Also, keeping medications and supplements out of children’s reach is of utmost importance. There’s an increase in melatonin overdoses in the pediatric population due to the growing popularity of melatonin.1,6,14
In short, melatonin is likely safe for your kid. However, you should consult their doctor prior to starting them on any supplement, do your research on which brands are better- or well-known for accurate dosing, and always keep medications out of reach.6
Here’s the good news: kids and sleep go together like peanut butter and jelly. Children need a LOT of sleep. And, for a short period in their lives, everything in their bodies is primed to help ensure they get it, also called “sleep pressure.”9 But they need guidance from us and a bit of space to develop the ability to fall asleep and stay asleep on their own.10
Consistently giving children any sleep aid to get them snoozing isn’t the answer. Whether that’s melatonin or Benadryl, it won’t work forever, and it could have side effects. Like learning any other skill, teaching your little one how to sleep takes practice and time. No supplement can teach you how to play an instrument, do long division, or sharpen your golf game (wouldn’t that be nice?!). Sleep is the same. It’s a skill that they need to develop. And once they have, it usually comes easily and naturally.
Melatonin is safe for most kids in the correct amount. But before you reach for the pills, gummies, or liquid, try establishing a predictable and consistent bedtime routine. Shut down the TVs and tablets a couple of hours before bed. Encourage your child to fall asleep without feeding, rocking, or other forms of outside help. The results will be better than anything you’ll get from medicine and will last a lifetime!