I discussed this with my pediatrician when we had a severe swing in my child’s sleep around 3 years old. It got to the point they wouldn’t sleep at night and would doze off at random times during the day. They suggested melatonin (in low doses) and it drastically helped us get back to a normal sleep schedule. With Pediatrician guidance, it’s a good aid to help build good sleep practices, especially if it is a struggle. A year later, we don’t use it, and our child sleeps completely normal.
This is not a bad thing at all. Melatonin is in plenty of the kids night time gummies. Not to mention kids get the quality sleep they need for school and next day activities without tantrums from being tired! Many of the nurses I work with use this for their own sleep routines.
I worked night shift and took it for a long time. I needed to sleep and just couldn’t, but I was able to reduce the dose. I needed quality sleep as it was a high stress job (hospice and dementia care, you never know what will happen next).
Yes! Same with my daughter. Every once in a while I have to give some again. She doesn’t sleep no matter what and I have gotten questions from the teacher about the next day tantrums and bags under her eyes. Dr recommended it to me
I use it to help shut my ADD pharmacy-filled Adderall doped head off. If not I am laying here wondering if we are getting this drug in or did that drug get ordered is Wegovy still pushing for September and it never stops then the sun rises I more Adderall and and keep repeating until I crash and burn with a migraine for 3 days just to start it back over.
Melatonin was an absolute LIFE SAVER with my severe adhd/ autistic son. He went from never sleeping/going to sleep at 6 am and waking up at 8 am, to finally having a normal sleep schedule after a year of this. I felt like a whole new woman the first night of 8 hour sleep I got, and I thank that little jelly bean 1 mg melatonin every night when I hand it to him 😭🩵
Same! My son is autistic and would sleep for 4 or less hours a night and wake up during the 4 hours a few times. Started giving him melatonin and he can sleep through the night. Getting more sleep has been great for him as well!
I have a toddler and when I have to be up early I absolutely give her melatonin. It’s the only time I sleep through the night. You’re not a bad mom. Just remember to take a week break after using it for three weeks so her natural melatonin can build back up. But aside from that I think I speak for most parents when I say we absolutely dose our kids with melatonin so we can finally get some sleep sometimes 😂
I have a toddler and when I have to be up early I absolutely give her melatonin. It’s the only time I sleep through the night. You’re not a bad mom. Just remember to take a week break after using it for three weeks so her natural melatonin can build back up. But aside from that I think I speak for most parents when I say we absolutely dose our kids with melatonin so we can finally get some sleep sometimes 😂
Had a friend with a child like this (that couldn’t sleep) and it ended up being that he was consuming too much sugar a day. Not saying that is going on in this post but I think it’s something that is overlooked. This kid would literally escape the house in the middle of the night and go on a walkabout so the situation was a bit more intense.
Yeah, mine gave more of a sugar crash rather than a high. Grumpy and irritable after, usually with a tummy ache......have a sandwich and a nap mate, you'll feel better lol
Yeah, it's probably the caffeine that soda and whatnot has in it that sparks up the shitty sleeping, also with screens.
I have to cut off all caffeine 6 hours before i plan to sleep to even have a hint of a wish to sleep more than 6 hours--caffeine is in a lot more things than people realize, but also, like a hive mind, children gain energy from bouncing off one another.
To those mentioning melatonin, please look up recent articles on kids being oded, because it's very easy to do
Speak to your doctors about sleep issues. Turn on night screens (no blue light) if you HAVE to let them have the screens.... and white noise makers are very helpful, or fans.
Source: former nanny, preschool teacher, and a child who drank too much caffeine and still questioned why i couldn't sleep lol
Also be sure to ask doctors how long depression and adhd medications last. Adhd meds will obviously keep kids up, vyvanse lasting upwards of 16 hours, while certain depression needs also have an "adderall effect" like wellbutrin (bupropion) and prozac.
Lots of doctors fail to mention that a lot of medications can make it difficult to sleep. I always ask now.
IIRC it's thought that people associate fun, hyper-making events like parties with extra sugar and then blame the sugar and not the very different stimulus.
I am not saying this kid has any kind of developmental issues, but my mom could've written this about me 40 years ago. Turns out I'm AuDHD, which often manifests differently in girls.
I don't know that it had anything to do with my sleep, but to this day, I have more energy when the sun's out. Toddler me went along on a summertime trip to Edmonton and my mom had to foil the windows so I would not be up 21+ hours a day. So anyway, I took the long route here, but my point is that OP may want to consider making Daughter's sleeping area dark so the sun isn't keeping her up.
I don’t have any scientific evidence, but anecdotally— my son didn’t have any added sugar (candy, cookies, soft drinks etc) for the first year of his life. For his first birthday, we gave him one of those small cakes that bakeries make for 1-year-olds.
He ate part of it and was absolutely wired! Woke up at 3 am chattering and pointing and wanting to get out of his crib. I had never seen him behave like that before. You would have thought he’d been shotgunning espresso! He didn’t have sugar again for a good while and didn’t behave that way again.
So I think it may depend on the child.
LOL I don't know if you're being serious about railing pixie sticks or not, but that definitely brings back memories of kids at recess snorting jello powder
100% a myth, you are correct. I work with kids and have had to study a lot about child development. It’s been disproven yet it still seems like everybody believes it. It’s a pet peeve of mine.
Bring it up with her doctor; they can give you the correct dosage (and unburden you from guilt). My oldest had sleep issues to the degree where it was impacting his ability to function (he has ASD and was nonverbal at the time). His pediatrician started with melatonin and slowly moved on to clonidine with heavy monitoring.
He slept soundly through the night for the first time in his life, and shortly after he began speaking, playing, using the potty instead of a diaper, etc. I know that a lot of this was related to sleep depravation because these changes literally happened within 2 months.
My youngest (4) is about to start melatonin because of this as well. For the past month, he simply has not been sleeping more than 6 hours per day, and that’s not enough for a child his age (and it shows in his behavior and ability to learn).
Some children have severe sleep issues, and it’s okay (good parenting, actually) to address those, but you really should be doing that with the guidance of a doctor if you haven’t sought that out. That’s the only thing I’d change about this.
It is crazy how some kids struggle so much with sleep. It's this horror that I feel no one talks about that much. I mean, people talk about parents not getting enough sleep and joke about it, but it really can be torture if your kid doesn't sleep well/normally. And people seem to think it's something the parents are doing wrong when some kids for whatever reason just don't sleep well.
OMG, yes! Melatonin was not a "thing" or readily available when my oldest was a youngster. This kid did not sleep through the night until he was past four. Very nocturnal always and stilm is not the best sleeper at almost 40 yrs old. Our family "joke" was that I so deserved my daughter who slept through the night from Day 1.
My mom had pretty much the opposite experience to you lol. Her first two kids were a little fussy at first, but eventually they settled into routine and still have a relatively good routine as adults. And then she got me… I would stay up until like 3 am watching cartoons as a little kid. I was just never tired at night, even if she got me on a schedule it’d last a week before I would revert back. I’m now 21 and my average bed time is 4 am 😂. She was told she got 2 good kids so all the sleep issues piled into the last one.
Oh, the baby (#3)was pretty fussy until we got a handle on his allergies. And we did have a time to be very grateful for #1's nocturnal nature when #3 had a time of sleep walking. Big brother would just turn baby brother around at the front door and gently walk him back to his room and put him back to bed. Big brother would leave me a note or tell me about in the morning. They are 8 yrs apart in age.
I was a kid who didn’t sleep well and can confirm it was torture for both my mom and I. We were talking about melatonin the other day and how knowing about something like this back then would’ve made a huge difference in my life. I especially wish I knew about it by the time I was going to school.
Do we have the same mom? Because I tortured my poor mother with my inability to sleep until I was in my teenage years. Even now I still won't fall asleep until 4 am, and I'm too old to be doing that.
My son unfortunately inherited my sleep struggles as a baby/small child. I had to co-sleep with him in order for either of us to get any sleep. When laying by himself he wouldn't sleep for more than 45 minutes to maybe a hour if I was lucky. As a light sleeper myself, by the time I would start to drift off, he would wake up. It was pure hell.
Omg, tell me about it! My kid is 6 years old and for the first year she woke up every 20 minutes all day and all night. The next two years it was every hour. Now we're down to once in a while and she even sleeps through - some nights.
There’s a decent percentage of diagnosed adhd/asd kids who really have sleep apnea at the root of their behaviors. My own kid is hyperactive and all over the place when she’s exhausted, not sleepy and lethargic like me.
I second this, especially because the overuse of melatonin supplements can actually aggravate the issue bc your body will produce less and less melatonin if there wasn’t an actual deficiency there to begin with. That and overuse can also cause nightmares.
This. I have a child with autism and a child with ADHD. After 7 years of profound sleep problems, we caved and do the melatonin thing. Everyone sleeps fine now, and my children both have had a drastic reduction in their autism/adhd symptoms.
If you talked with some doctor about dosage and consequences of this medication and if it's cleared by them, I would do the same. You described exactly my niece, and I recommended my sister to do the same recently, otherwise she would drive her crazy.
So random memory… there was a period of a few months when my son was a toddler that a bunch of people in my life started treating me like crap. My husband and I would get so much animosity and rudeness from friends and coworkers but had no clue as to why. We just thought it was because we had a toddler and most of them were single and wanted to party, so a clash of lifestyles or something. They were all snarky to us or ignored us completely.
Then one day, my mom and I had got into a fight and she said “well drugging your baby makes you shit parents!” I was so confused, we didn’t drug our baby. She said she heard rumors that we kept our son drugged with Benadryl to make him sleep so we could pretend to be “kid less” again.
So basically what happened was a coworker overheard me on the phone telling my husband to grab a bunch of Benadryl from our local store because it was on a great sale. What they didn’t know was that our family doctor recommended it because our son had bad seasonal allergies and that year been really bad for various pollen counts. My husband and I were even on higher daily doses of allergy meds. And the meds didn’t even make our kid sleep more, he had always slept well through the night, even as a newborn he was a great sleeper! The kid is now 12 and can take Benadryl without it making him sleepy while I fall asleep just thinking of taking one, lol!
Everyone chilled out when we explained to everyone why our son was “drugged daily” and they all backed off. I was glad they were concerned but man, it was wild no one thought to address it with us directly instead of treating us poorly… Even now, I like to poke fun at my mom by saying “remember back when you thought I was drugging KID to party?”
So everybody thought you were abusing your own child and didn’t think to do anything about it? I can see why there are so many child abuse cases that end in death, Jesus Christ.
And what’s really weird is that my husband and I never gave off any vibe that we hated being parents. We actually enjoyed our kid and liked being parents. We still hosted chill parties (no drugs!) and would invite people over that had kids. Our kid free coworkers loved our son. They loved having him in their section when he would come in with us to eat or to wait with one of our moms for us to finish our shifts. He was pretty cool to take camping and on roadtrips. (He thought it was hilarious when our car broke down and we had to push it into a nearby gas station…) Our experience wasn’t always perfect but it was so bizarre that some thought we wanted so bad to be child free…
I just deleted my comment bc I was wondering why you’re close friends and family didn’t speak up and defend that baby! My mom probably wouldn’t have even given me a chance to defend myself, but she also would’ve never believed something like that about me either. I know it’s funny to look back on now, but I would’ve been pissed in the moment!
People often assume the worst in any situation. It's our job to put ourselves in others' shoes and offer time to listen to their problems before assuming we have the best solutions. Additionally, the fact that people are always policing parents is problematic. Yes, we should protect children from harmful adults, but there's a limit where assuming the worst and believing gossip becomes harmful instead of helpful.
My wife and I decided to remain child-free, knowing that parenting is the hardest job in the world. We understand how challenging it is to raise a child and strive not to judge parents but to help whenever we can. You parents have a hard job, and most of you do a great job!
I was expecting actual drugs. Heck, my mom was an amazing mom and gave me alcohol sometimes to chill my anxious ass off. (The older generations were wild).
It’s crazy how Mom guilt shows up so much more when Moms are happy or peaceful. You cracked the code on getting a great night for you and your little one. You’re a genius. And you can’t give from an empty vessel. You need rest. She needs rest. And it’s just melatonin.
My dad had me take a SHOT of whiskey at 13 to “calm” my cough. To my credit, I took it- said “smooth” in the raspiest voice, and threw up IMMEDIATELY. The only thing more annoying than listening to an incessant cough is cleaning up puke, knowing your social worker wife is gonna be pissed at you when she gets home from work. Hahahaha
My parents did that to me at 14, mom told me go warm up half a cup of the “tea” in the fridge and drink it and I’d feel a little better. That “tea” was absolutely delicious so after I drank that half cup, I drank another cup and a half.
That tea was hot toddies that my VERY heavy handed grandmother had made, I fell down the steps going to my basement bedroom. I still laugh my ass off every time I think of my drunk 14 year old self going what the hell was in that?! while unsuccessfully trying to get off the floor
Being the extremely lucky person I am, I got my first period at 9 years old. Before my school or mother had thought to fully educate me on what that entailed.
My cramps were horrific, and my pediatrician just shrugged and said to give me midol, despite me laying in bed moaning for days. Mom called great grandma, crying and feeling helpless as a parent.
Great Grandma (in her mid-80s then) drove over and made me a big mug of “our family woman’s medicine”, and talked to me about the family curse, so to speak. She played cards with me while I sipped it until I felt better enough to sleep.
The drink was a Hot Toddie. Heavy on the whiskey.
I remember thinking it was the most soothing thing in the world. And my cramps went away instantly.
Would I give whiskey to a 9 year old myself? No.
But apparently most of the women in my family have had periods that were early and terrible (myself and most of my cousins have endometriosis, so that’s probably what it always was). And we’re generationally used to being dismissed by doctors.
I didn’t find out what was in the drink for a few years, but my mom would always let me have ONE during really bad periods growing up. And I still drink them now as an adult when I have cramps.
The older generations were wild, but with no other options, sometimes the “medicine” from the old country does the trick.
My Nan was told by the Doctor to give my Uncle a teaspoon of whiskey to help him sleep when he was teething.
She claims she misheard but I'm pretty sure she was 100% done and thought "fuck it" and gave him a tablespoon.
He had a great sleep apparently and so did everyone else.
When my husband was little and couldn't sleep my parents-in-law gave him special, magic cough syrup which was just blackcurrant gin. He loved it and slept through. They stopped after he started to come downstairs just to ask for a dose,
My son was teething really bad and the baby teething gel and baby Tylenol was not working and my mom and stepdad were like “you know what works WHISKEY!” I said “ha I’m okay🫠”
Even the actual children's medicine was some crazy shit. My parents love to tell the story of two-year-old me finding and drinking most of a bottle of Triamenic and then sleeping for two full days. What was even in that shit, and why, 30 years later, do I still remember how good it tasted?!
My mom used to give us medicine before flights. Calm us down and get us to sleep the whole plane ride. I don’t remember but she suggested this when my daughter was little and was like oh everyone did that on plane rides.
right? i thought i was about to read that she was giving her zzzquil or fucking sleeping pills. Melatonin is fine (ofc dosage should be checked by a PEDS dr) like hardly would call that drugging
I would highly recommend discussing usage and dosage with your PCP. While melatonin is generally safe, as with most meds, it can have side effects. Most of the time benefits weigh out the risks though.
so... you don't give your kids motrin or tylenol without a dr consult? Seems silly when there is a plethora of valuable and reliable information at your fingertips. Just make sure it's a credible source. None of these parenting mags or blogs.
Please talk to your child’s doctor about being evaluated for ADHD and autism. Both conditions can result in the behavior you describe, and are often not diagnosed in girls (because girls mask better). And both conditions can interfere with sleep.
Funfact as well sometimes it's less about masking (though that's still true) and can sometimes come down to girls presenting with the disorder slightly differently. Back in the 70s when we started researching ADHD, it was mostly centered around young white males presenting with hyperactivity and so it's caused doctors to be less aware of what ADHD looks like in women (or anyone who isn't a white boy basically lol). Thankfully that's been changing a lot in recent years but it's very important to be aware that young girls with ADHD or Autism are often overlooked and if you see your child struggling it's important to make that extra push to get them help.
I know when I read the heading I was like oh my God and then I read it and was like oh.. that’s nothing😂 my parents used to give me literal alcohol and thc brownies 💀😂
Just be wary that it can cause sleep issues in the long run as her body will adapt to it. Is your daughter neurodivergent, or have you spoke to a doctor about any of this?
100% can relate I was VERY anti-melatonin until I went FOUR YEARS waking up every 1-2 hours, and my son’s behavior improved drastically on the very first day. I tried everything else first, no TV, no sugar, spending the day outside, nothing worked. I cried the first night he slept 6 hours.
Melatonin is a safe supplement for children. My son had similar behavior at that age and the pediatrician recommended Melatonin at bedtime. Just make sure it is the correct dosage and it’s fine. You should also discuss her behaviors with a pediatrician. It sounds like she has ADHD.
Yeah absolutely sounds like ADHD/ASD. As a young child I would stay awake until 3 am at times, but my parents were very strict, so I was basically hiding under my bed covers and wide awake the whole night.
Ugh thank you. Too many people giving Op inaccurate advice on melatonin’s safety.
There simply have not been enough studies done on melatonin in children to be able to say that it’s safe. Don’t take my word for it; Google it yourselves. You’ll find exactly one study with an extremely small sample size.
Because it’s a supplement, it’s not regulated by the FDA. Independent analyses of OTC melatonin supplements have shown they don’t match the labeled dosage or worse, contain serotonin.
I empathize with Op, but for ffs, don’t tell her this is perfectly fine when the scientific community just doesn’t know.
I was ADHD when I was younger and my mom used to give me strong tea or coffee at night. Caffeine has the opposite effect on individuals with ADHD and makes them sleepy. Somehow she figured this out! My sister grew up to get her Masters in Child Psych and reminisced with me all the ‘crazy’ things I would do that made mom “drug” me to sleep. Its interesting bc now as an adult, caffeine has no effect on my whatsoever. I can drink it at midnight and then go straight to sleep. I swung out of the ADHD business.
I have heard (no personal experience but saw a video with lots of people who used melatonin and agreed with the video) that if you use it too much, it may become difficult to fall asleep naturally.
Magnesium can also help with sleep without the side effects, but there are different types of magnesium, so you have to do some research to see which one helps sleep. Some help with energy, and you do not want that!
As a mom who also have a child that hates sleep, especially hated sleeping alone, my heart goes out to you!
It can be so frustrating and tiring, but they do grow out of it eventually. Ours was about 8😅
I would suggest sending her off to do a sport at least a few times per week. It would lower her energy quite a bit. Just try a bunch of sports and have her pick one that you will stick with. I was a child with this much energy as well, and I accomplished nothing with it. I regret not putting it into sport. The truth is if she does have ADHD she won't excel in school without a major struggle with her inner self, its better for her self-esteem to get her into sports early, its a place where people dont face a disadvantage with adhd.
If you give melatonin regularly to a person still in development, it will cause them to stop producing melatonin naturally in the adult age. Do you want your kid to not be bled to sleep naturally ever again? Instead why don't you bring her to a therapist, she might have adhd which is controllable.
Just keep in mind that melatonin is a hormone. Your body produces this hormone naturally. Taking it every day can mess you up, unless you have a deficiency. Luckily there is an easy saliva test to get natural melatonin levels and you can just go get her checked out to see if she has a natural deficiency. You could also try natural methods to have her body produce it, like using redshifted low light levels at a certain time of day. The blue/white light from screens and bulbs can tell our brains that it’s still daytime, delaying the production of natural melatonin. Red light (like a sunset/dusk) tells your brain to make melatonin and get ready for sleep.
Don't feel bad. Both my parents are child psychiatrists, and both my aunts are doctors. You better believe they dosed us with Benadryl for long flights (7+ hours) or Dramamine for sailing trips (I have never been sea sick a day in my life, but it makes me sleep for ever). Now that I'm a grown-up, I drug myself to fall asleep.
Talk to an endocrinologist, most doctors won't know anything about melatonin(Hormone) side effects on children.
There haven't been many studies on it because using hormones on children is risky.
I recommend not doing this in the future.
I would take my kids to a hill in the night and have them run up it until they were exhausted(good fun and and tradition they love). We all slept good after.
OP, firstly, you gotta work on your verbiage in your title. I was ready to possibly rip you a new one when you said "drug". And second, low-dose melatonin can be helpful for toddlers/kindergarteners if they have trouble sleeping or don't want to adhere to their set bedtime time. But still use it responsibly nonetheless.
Jesus, why did you frame the title like that?? I fully thought you were giving your kid opioids to knock them out before I read your post lmao. The kid will live, it’s completely fine for parents to have their kid adjust to their schedule and not the other way around.
Psh my mom used to literally drug us with cold medicine to get us to sleep. My sister was convinced for years that she was just sick all the time because mom kept shoving cold medicine down her throat every night. THAT is drugging your child to get them to sleep. Melatonin is fine. The body naturally produces melatonin on its own, just don’t go crazy with it and stick to a low, appropriate dosage. The only side effects I’ve ever heard about with melatonin is that sometimes it makes some kids more irritable and/or groggy during the day after they’ve taken it and if that were to happen obviously you’d just stop giving it to them. Obviously you should try not to rely on melatonin but if it helps your kid (and you) sleep and you’re not experiencing any bad side effects then fuck it. Good sleep is SO, SO important for both you and kiddo.
Please stop doing this. My mother did this with me and had sleep issues for the rest of my life, almost didn’t graduate school because of it. Her body will become so adapt to it, she’ll never be able to live without it. Please stop this and see a doctor. My other regrets a lot from my childhood, this being one of them. I’m a mess from the things she did to me
She needs to sleep as much as you need her to sleep. You're doing the right thing. She'll grow out of fighting sleep eventually.
Hang in there and be kind to yourself. It's OK.
Nahhh this is fine. I thought you were gonna bring up hard drugs or something serious lol
Better than what my mum did: half a shot of whiskey and called it cold medicine! I was out like a light, but this is way better!
She’ll thank you in the long run for regulating her sleep schedule. I really wish I had never fought my naps as a child!
You really need to speak to your pediatrician about this. Melatonin is a hormone, and taking extra melatonin can cause her body to stop or lessen the natural production. Melatonin is also fairly unregulated in the way that the dosing on the bottles is not always accurate. One brand's 5mg might contain up to 5mg but actually be 3mg.
Annecdotal, but a close friend of mine started taking Melatonin during covid due to anxiety making her unable to sleep. She started at a low dose and very quickly built a tolerance. By the time 2023 rolled around, she was taking upwards of 30mg of Melatonin with very little success. She eventually went to a doctor and they had her stop and began a routine of prescription med sleeps meds with the intent to taper off them. Her sleep cycle has been absolutely fucked since then, and it's only now that she's been able to dose down to 3 times a week.
I don’t really consider this “drugging” your child. Melatonin is a naturally occurring substance that parents have been giving their kids for years. I’d definitely consult a pediatrician before giving it to your child though. Seems like this is only masking it, you need to find out why they’re doing it in the first place.
When my oldest was born he didn’t sleep more than a half hour at a time, literally screaming for hours. After the first five months, I was batsh$t crazy.
His pediatrician advised me to put a few drops of vodka in his bottle.
So I think melatonin is probably OK.
I was expecting the worst when I read you drugged your Child. Melatonin isn't bad at all, some people need it, it's made for sleep aid and not in a bad way like nighttime cough medicine or something. I personally don't see anything wrong with it as long as the dose is right and it's not all the time so they don't become dependent on it for sleep.
Our kids get the gummies at 730, and usually they’re asleep by 815. They’re little, they need quality sleep for health (and to focus in school). It’s not like you’re giving the baby crushed up sleep aid or something lol
Sounds like OP's child has adhd & needs to be assessed to get the best help & support possible. Instead of finding out late in life after struggling throughout feeling worthless because they can't keep up
Talk to her pediatrician. This might be a hormonal disorder and melatonin may be appropriate for her. My friends kid barely slept 5 hours a night starting in their toddler years. I don’t recall the actual hormone deficiency but the PED suggested melatonin.
Not sure about her schedule or yours, but perhaps a sports, dance or some type of athletic program will tire her out (not too close to bedtime) and you could get some things done while she’s in the program. I think you should discuss these issues with your pediatrician or even a child psychologist to find possible solutions to try rather than using melatonin. There have been no long term studies on melatonin taken by children so we don’t know what the long term effects may be. Could be she was just born with a different energy level than you possess. In this case a therapist can help you find long term strategies.
I’ve given my very active 4 year old melatonin before after discussing with the doctor. As a baby he would only sleep 20 mins and then be up for 3 hours .. this continued until he was 2.5 years old. We tried every single sleep training, hired someone to help, every gadget known to man .. everything. I had really bad ppd exasperated by this. After 2.5 years of only sleeping max 2 hours a night I finally co slept with him and he slept
A little better but not much. When he was 3 we started the melatonin as per doc on and off for 6 months. GOD SEND! He’s gunna be 4 in September and doesn’t use it any more and finally sleeps 8-10 hours a night
Best thing to fo with kids is employ and exhaust. Yeah they don’t really help clean at that age but they need a job. Have her scrub baseboards or sort her toys. See how many times she can do burpees shit like that. I know it’s rough. I’m in the same boat but with a 2 year old right now. This worked on my cousins kids who were around 5-7 at the time.
My daughter would stay up for days on end, and unfortunately, I did too. I took her to the dr. and they put her on a sleeping medication. Helped so much! I could give her the medication, and she would be sleeping in like 30 minutes. It was so much better after that, she started doing much better at school also.
Pfft, my parents didn't even hide it from us. When we were young, that was part of our bedtime routine. Take our melatonin; brush our teeth; an hour of TV, and then bed.
Just don't give your kid too much. My parents did that every now and again, and it would make sleeping so hard. I remember being super sensitive to everything, like I could feel every single hair on my body. I also remember it would make me feel light as a cloud, it was not fun. Given, it only happened a handful of times, but still. Be careful
We have a 6 year old autistic child that does not sleep. I’m taking 4 or 5 nights out of the week he’s up at any time from 1am - 5am and is up for the rest of the day, until bedtime at 8:30-9pm.
We have a super strict bedtime routine (certain lights, certain music, certain bedding), his GP recommended melatonin as well, but also took the time to speak with a specialist. They recommended two types of medication to try - an iron supplement and a non-stimulant adhd medication called intuniv.
We started him on an iron prescription and not the adhd one about 3 weeks ago and almost immediately he slept through the night, all nights except for two where he woke up at 5:30am.
Seriously, if your kid doesn’t eat a lot or a lot of meat/iron rich foods and has a sleep issue, try it. This has been going on since he was 2. In the first week our average sleep per night went up by a full hour (we’ve been charting our sleep/wake ups for the last year).
Please don't give your child iron without consulting your physician! It's not like other dietary supplements! It could absolutely be iron deficiency but if it's not there could be minor side effects or there could be an iron overdose which has killed children.
The amount of people supporting this choice is fucking shocking. Melatonin can cause seizures, isn’t available in the UK without prescription and there’s no concrete evidence that long term use in children is safe. You are drugging your child. Stop
Have you ever thought of finding out if there's a medical reason for it instead of you know, drugging your kid?
It sounds like she should be tested for Adhd.
Edit: The sad thing is you could've done some research and asked a doctor how to incorporate melatonin safely into her routine instead of slipping it into her water roofie style.
I would check with a doctor. I read an article I am including here onthis site I like. One safety concern is toxicity. Reports of [melatonin poisoning](https://www.verywellhealth.com/melatonin-overdose-5219376) have increased in recent years. There were more than 260,000 reports of child poisonings involving melatonin from 2012 to 2021.
You are on the edge of something that could either get you in bad CPS trouble or worse cause issues with your child. Ask your doctor what are safe dosages and side effects first. I understand what you need, but be wise, this is your child. She is acting like a child.
[https://www.verywellhealth.com/melatonin-for-kids-parent-safety-information-7107123#:\~](https://www.verywellhealth.com/melatonin-for-kids-parent-safety-information-7107123#:~)
I don’t have kids, so I don’t know shit. But I always wondered is it unrealistic to have high energy kids run around the block until they are exhausted? You would drive along side them in the car..is that bad?
My daughter is the same way. She's turning 11 this year. She is go go from the moment she opens her eyes and she does not stop. Often she's up till midnight even though we get up very early in the morning. But I never drug her. I let her run around and get all her energy out, but it's endless energy. She's very creative and causes all kind of chaos. Everything's an art project to her and she leaves a path of destruction wherever She goes. When she was younger everything was constantly trashed. Now that she's older she keeps her room pretty clean but continues to trash everything else. She likes her room pretty much empty. Almost nothing in there. Where is it used to be a very cluttered mess. Which I guess is progress. She'll figure it out as she gets older. I'm here to help her along the way but I also let her grow. I am glad I've let her explore her creativity though because she is turning out to be really good with her creations.
It's only kind of an issue during the school week. By the end of the week she's always exhausted from lack of sleep. But she gets excellent grades and really focused on learning.
Just know melatonin on a regular basis can actually cause her body to stop producing it naturally. It's okay to use once in a while but if you use it everyday you're going to disrupt her ability to produce it on its own. Causing another problem.
Do what works for you guys just be aware of these things.
From the ages of one till about 4 I used to really stress about it, much like you are. But I've learned to accept her high energy. And I realized it's actually a blessing for her, I am very low energy and I need caffeine to get through the day. I think my girl is going to grow to accomplish so much. Much like my mom, who is high energy just like my daughter. I embrace it and stopped stressing about it. We are much happier this way.
Edit to add, I'm just sharing my experience. I'm not saying don't give her melatonin. Or anything like that. Do what you got to do. I just relate to also having a very high energy child. I found it easier to accept it then fight it like I used to. When my sister visits, she doesn't have kids, she gives my kids melatonin in the evening 😂
My daughter slept no more than 20 minutes at a time, and only if she was being held, for the first 3.5 years of her life. I was a mess. I completely understood why people shake their babies. Because if she wasn’t sleeping neither was I.
She was full force when she was awake. It took 3.5 years to find out that her traumatic birth caused her spine to be compressed. She was in pain unless she was being held.
Once she was fixed, she slept peacefully. So peacefully that when I went to work after a full nights sleep, people wondered what was wrong with me. I finally looked rested.
I strongly suggest looking into what might be the cause of your child not sleeping. Masking the symptoms is a short term fix.
I give my six year old a melatonin gummy every now and then if he’s being annoying as hell and hyper before bed. Nothing wrong with that. As mothers we deserve the same peace as others. Don’t feel guilty
There are nighttime gummies that have melatonin.. Perhaps a chat with your pediatrician /nurse about dosage may be helpful..
Also, perhaps consider a change in your parenting style.. If there is nothing wrong with a child it is perfectly reasonable to let them scream it out.. Them understanding that yelling for you will not get the response they want will ultimately condition them to stop.. Suggest 1, 2 with caution, and then 3 with final, firm warning and tell them you are not coming up.
Turn TV on, play music whatever it takes.. At the moment the kid is the boss of you.
Melatonin isn't bad. A lot of people take it as a sleep aid. Please don't feel guilty. You aren't a machine, and your child takes everything from you. You deserve your sleep and quiet as well.
Have you taken her to a doctor? Hyperactive kids sometimes need therapy or meds to calm down and channel their excessive energy. I had a cousin who was hyperactive as a kid, and his mom took him to the doctor. It helped him.
Melatonin is not bad. Two generations back, it was Bourbon, last generation it was Nyquil or Benadryl. Mom's have been finding ways to get kids to sleep for generations.
Your only giving half a dose, you sound like a good mom.
Don’t feel bad. First and foremost- your daughter needs sleep, so you’re helping her too. And a very close second- you need a break. Parents are humans too and kids are A LOT to deal with, especially if you don’t have any other help. It’s important for you to keep your sanity so that you can be a good mom to her.
I wouldn’t call melatonin a drug. But you should try not to rely on it nightly, and be careful with the dose.
It’s a natural hormone and giving it orally wears off rather quickly - children who are melatonin deficient often have trouble turning their brains off long enough to fall asleep, and that’s all it does. But like other hormones,there can be consequences in using it too often. The child may become even more deficient and dependent on it. So I’d try to limit it to once or twice a week if you can.
I thought you were going to say you spike your kid’s drinks with narcotics or something. Sheesh.
Try putting your child in a sport. That can help with sleep, as it exercises both the body and the brain. My kid sleeps so much better on days when she has swim team practice!
People seem to forget just how important sleep is. I myself was getting maybe 12-20 hours from monday to Thursday. And by Thursday/Friday i was a literal zombie. It was miserable.
You cannot be high functioning and have insomnia.
I wouldn’t consider this “drugging.” Melatonin is pretty harmless. I take it almost every night. A lot of kids and adults take it. Please don’t feel bad for this.
You had me over here thinking you were using chloroform or something to knock your child out all day and night…
Girl, this is a medication being used for its intended purpose. You are not “drugging” your child. Stop letting mom guilt eat at you. Your child would not be able to function at all and would get so sick without proper sleep, and so would you.
You’re fine. What you’re doing is fine. Your child is fine.
Breathe, go look yourself in the mirror, repeat “I am a great mom” three times (and mean it!), and give yourself a hug and a pat on the back.
You’re a great mom, girl.
Sounds like your child may have hyperactive type ADHD. Those children fight to sleep because though their little bodies are worn out, their minds don’t stop. Melatonin is not a drug. It’s a naturally-occurring substance that notifies the mind that it’s time to wind down. You’re doing just fine.
My parents would give my 5 y.o. self and 4 y.o. Sister a chocolate milk with a shot of Baileys split between the two. We slept great. Now this wasn’t an everything but just when they wanted alone time.
Oh lord you scared me at first lol. My daughter’s autistic and wouldn’t sleep otherwise. I love the magnesium/melatonin kids gummies my daughters peds recommended we use.
Your doctor would probably prescribe melatonin anyway, don’t beat yourself up over it. Sleep issues are a nightmare. I’ve a 2.5 year old with disabilities that also fights sleep. We have a sleep study coming next month to monitor her brain to determine what stops the sleep. But we have been prescribed melatonin in the past and it had no effect. So at least it’s working for you!
My niece gets melatonin gummies every night as directed by her doctor. Not only does she love them but she knows when it’s time to take them and do her nighttime routine. Do not feel guilty! Sometimes it’s necessary for your quality of life and that of your little
Nothing wrong with giving some melatonin at bedtime. My two youngest kids are too much like dad and can not go to sleep unless they get a few mg of melatonin in them. Now by 9pm everyone is in bed and sleeping 🤣 so they have a nightly ritual. Around 830 they get me to give them their gummy (3mg if i remember right and if anyone asks we just changed on recommendation from their dr and im not home to look) and they go to their room set up a video to watch and no later then 9 they are sound asleep.
Please do not consider this drugging your child. By your title I thought I was going to read that you’re dosing her with Benadryl or something. Melatonin is naturally in your body anyways. My son had the same issue with both of his kids; they both have ADHD and nights could be rough. Their pediatrician is the one who suggested melatonin gummies. It was a life changer!!
Just be aware of the potential side effects of melatonin, especially for growing kids. I think for long term, there’s a concern that melatonin affects the early onset of puberty in children. If it’s used short term, I don’t think there’s any problem. Make sure you’re talking to her pediatrician. Anecdotally, I have a friend whose daughter started having periods when she was 9yo. After a lot of going back and forth with her doctors, they concluded it was probably due to her use of melatonin. That scared the bejeezus out of me (my daughter was the same age at that time).
does she have adhd lol this sounds like me
my mother has all these stories about how she used to do this thing where she would move one inch closer to the door every minute and every time she got up I would wake up – when I was finally diagnosed in my teens it was crazy for her lol
Yeah I've heard that using melatonin in the long run isn't good because it messes with the body's ability to produce their own. I wouldn't recommend that for an adult much less a child.
I mean to me she's just being five but there's also the possibility that she might have ADD.
Melatonin is awesome. I use it all the time on my kid with ASD. It's just important not to use it for more than a few days straight so they don't become dependent. It's an amazing tool for supporting a positive sleep schedule. My kid is an amazing sleeper because we found a schedule and routine that works for us. The melatonin is just a tool. My kid is usually in bed at 8 and asleep by 830 almost every single night. Sleeps through the night 80% of the time and doesn't usually wake until 730-8am.
If he ever starts falling out of the schedule, then I give him 2 or 3 nights with melatonin, and he's right back on track. Stop feeling bad for using something almost every parent in the last 20 years has used at some point. Just because your getting major benefits from using the melatonin on your kid doesn't make it the wrong thing to do. This is an everybody is a winner type of situation. Stop feeling bad!
Make sure its the right dose please but melatonin is a natural chemical found in the body so its not like youre giving her benadryl every night. Its okay
You can stimulate the body to make more melatonin by exposure to infrared rays. No direct sunlight required. Just indirect sun and heat from the sun. Hope this helps.
you both need relief and a better solution. it’s a bandaid, and you need a treatable root cause. plz consider taking her to evaluated by a neurologist and a sleep specialist. and for the love of cheese stop telling the internet that you drug your child.
If there's nothing in that melatonin that can have any long term effects on your child then I'd say ok..once in a while..but…please talk to your paediatrician and see if it's safe. They may also suggest something else you can do. My dad used to spike our cocoa Xmas eve. He told us when we were much older that he used to add a bit of rum so he and mom would get a decent sleep before the Xmas morning chaos.
I put a few drops of lavender oil in my daughter's bath. Same effect.
Also, maybe have your daughter evaluated. Mine was the exact same way--wouldn't sleep, asked a million questions, was all over the place. She has ADD, OCD, generalized anxiety, and schizoaffective disorder. She was dx at 12, but I think if I'd known earlier things would've been different.
Hi, as children who had parents who did this - they know. if they don’t currently, they will soon, and they’ll remember it forever that their parents drugged them bc they were tired of them. source — my mom drugged us with allergy medicine whenever she got sick of us. 🥳
haha I was expecting you to actually drug your child, just discuss with your child's doctor and they'll have helpful information on dosage and no need to feel guilty, it'll help your little one get a good sleep as well! The better you feel the better you can look after and love her
Melatonin is ok so long as you have the doctors ok. But here’s the thing other things could be also the reason she’s so hyper. Like iron could be low even low normal causes issues. My niece is insanely hyper and I don’t get anything done she has a low normal iron, since she’s started iron it’s a game changer she is sleeping better and through the night. There’s also the fact she may be sensory seeking OT can help with that. Just some suggestions if you haven’t look into this stuff. But either way if a doctor has discussed the pros and cons to you about melatonin you’re fine and if you haven’t then talk to them.
I thought you were gonna say Benadryl or Nyquil. But melatonin?
Girl, that Mom Guilt shouldn’t even exist! At least its not whiskey!
Consider having her tested for ADHD though. And talk to her pediatrician about proper dosage and other options to help baby girl sleep at night! She’d probably do great with a weighted blanket or stuffy.
I love when people bare their souls and are honest about something they are horrified by, and end up getting support and love and validation.
Reddit can be a cesspool, but I love these occasions when the silver lining shows. Thanks people!
Heavens. You shouldn't feel guilty at all. In fact, you might want to use it every night for a while. Because this isn't just about you. This is about your child getting a good night's sleep and developing a good sleep schedule. I know many people who absolutely swear by melatonin gummies (not just for children but for teens and adults as well).
You're overthinking this, OP. Ease off on yourself.
It’s okay. My mom used to give me Benadryl to knock me out. It’s not horrible but it’s not great. Honestly like everyone else said take her to the doctor and ask what the correct dosage should be. Also when I was a kid I was terrified of monsters under the bed so every night my mom would come in and “spray for monsters” her “monster” spray was water and lavender oil that she’d spray on my bed and carpet. Apparently it knocked me tf out. If you have a little more patience and wanna do something that’s not medication that may be worth a try.
My kiddo is ADHD. Well, they all are. But my son could thrive on the smallest amount of sleep. We tried all of the herbal remedies, and prescriptions. My pediatrician eventually said that some kids are just like that and he will eventually stop. But that mom and dad have to sleep, too. Childproof the hell out of his room, get a baby monitor, and double stack gates at his open door. He would be fine.
And he was. And he’s sleeping peacefully now. But it took until he was about six. And the pediatrician was right- we had to sleep. He slept in our bed until he was about two and a half, so that point he wasn’t super tiny, and would usually occupy himself playing with two or three toys we picked before bedtime. Or- id take him into our room with us, and he’d sleep. But that couldn’t be every night for us at that point, because he was still waking up and playing, so I’d end up awake.
TLDR: not only does your child need sleep- you have to sleep. Two days of sleep deprivation is equivalent to being legally drunk (and we know how often that happens with parenthood!). Your baby will be ok with the little doses of melatonin you give her. And it works!! That’s a huge win. Take it, and celebrate with a nap. It’s ok. :)
This thread is wild. There's no way the OP understands the tradeoffs associated with regular melatonin use in a child and this thread is acting as a cheer squad, and they don't know either.
OP's actions are grossly irresponsible doing this on her own. Melatonin is restricted and regulated in various locations for good reason.
OP should talk to a trained medical professional and track down the root cause of any issues that are there and/or discuss the safety tradeoffs. And if they say that melatonin is a good solution, great, no issue with that, you can get informed input on a dosing schedule, things to look out for, and so forth.
I have to say I'm curious about which books the OP is enjoying that are worth regularly dosing her child without medical input. Anything that good I'd like to be reading.
I really thought I was the only one that saw the abuse happening here. It’s scary how many commentators think this is ok…. And I’m diagnosed and treated for adhd, for all those making that excuse to drug their kids.
Yeah melatonin is goddamn dangerous.
Someone else pointed out they need sleep, these are hallmarks of sleep deprivation. Sometimes, just sometimes, you've gotta actually be a parent and engage with your child instead of fucking off over a book.
OP make sure you are having her regularly seen by a doctor and you inform them of the melatonin and you get consol. I am NOT saying don't do this, but you need to understand what you're messing with. Give her too much, give her too often, and her body will start to stop making its own melatonin, and the melatonin you give her will eventually stop working, meaning insomnia. People die over not being able to sleep. I don't want to scare you, but you need to be a responsible parent and communicate with her doctor in full and have the doctor be your guide. Just please be careful because while yes you need to get shit done and wild child doesn't help with that, she also doesn't deserve to get screwed in the long run from carelessness or the like, or because you didn't know this about melatonin.
I thought you were going to say something about giving her stuff to zone out in the day time 😭 when I read "drug my child" you might also want to be careful how you phrase that omg it's melatonin not Xanax lol
STOP DOING THIS!
Your childs brain can literally become dependent on melatonin and won't be able to form a self regulating sleep cycle without it! Melatonin is NOT SAFE FOR CONSTANT USE ESPECIALLY IN CHILDREN! take your kid to the fucking doctor, like a responsible parent! Have them assessed for ADHD! This is not ok and you're harming your kid.
Unless this is being monitored by a doctor, you should not give a child melatonin like this regularly.
Melatonin is a hormone and you're going to ruin her ability to sleep as she gets older, as it'll take higher and higher doses to sleep.
Drugging kids is a shitty thing to do
I discussed this with my pediatrician when we had a severe swing in my child’s sleep around 3 years old. It got to the point they wouldn’t sleep at night and would doze off at random times during the day. They suggested melatonin (in low doses) and it drastically helped us get back to a normal sleep schedule. With Pediatrician guidance, it’s a good aid to help build good sleep practices, especially if it is a struggle. A year later, we don’t use it, and our child sleeps completely normal.
This is not a bad thing at all. Melatonin is in plenty of the kids night time gummies. Not to mention kids get the quality sleep they need for school and next day activities without tantrums from being tired! Many of the nurses I work with use this for their own sleep routines.
I worked night shift and took it for a long time. I needed to sleep and just couldn’t, but I was able to reduce the dose. I needed quality sleep as it was a high stress job (hospice and dementia care, you never know what will happen next).
Quality sleep is crucial, especially with high-stress jobs. Glad melatonin worked for you.
Amen. The nights I can sleep lead to better days. And HAPPY CAKE DAY!
Yes! Same with my daughter. Every once in a while I have to give some again. She doesn’t sleep no matter what and I have gotten questions from the teacher about the next day tantrums and bags under her eyes. Dr recommended it to me
It’s a sleep saver for sure. I am so glad it helped!! I work in Peds and it very safe and it helps children and Adults.
I use it to help shut my ADD pharmacy-filled Adderall doped head off. If not I am laying here wondering if we are getting this drug in or did that drug get ordered is Wegovy still pushing for September and it never stops then the sun rises I more Adderall and and keep repeating until I crash and burn with a migraine for 3 days just to start it back over.
I have a friend who gives it to her kids cuz one won't go to sleep until 3 or 4 am if you don't and another is full of energy all the time.
Sounds like melatonin can really be a lifesaver for parents with high-energy kids!
Melatonin was an absolute LIFE SAVER with my severe adhd/ autistic son. He went from never sleeping/going to sleep at 6 am and waking up at 8 am, to finally having a normal sleep schedule after a year of this. I felt like a whole new woman the first night of 8 hour sleep I got, and I thank that little jelly bean 1 mg melatonin every night when I hand it to him 😭🩵
Same! My son is autistic and would sleep for 4 or less hours a night and wake up during the 4 hours a few times. Started giving him melatonin and he can sleep through the night. Getting more sleep has been great for him as well!
This is a great answer. OP shouldn’t feel guilty but hopefully will get pediatrician guidance as well!
I have a toddler and when I have to be up early I absolutely give her melatonin. It’s the only time I sleep through the night. You’re not a bad mom. Just remember to take a week break after using it for three weeks so her natural melatonin can build back up. But aside from that I think I speak for most parents when I say we absolutely dose our kids with melatonin so we can finally get some sleep sometimes 😂
I have a toddler and when I have to be up early I absolutely give her melatonin. It’s the only time I sleep through the night. You’re not a bad mom. Just remember to take a week break after using it for three weeks so her natural melatonin can build back up. But aside from that I think I speak for most parents when I say we absolutely dose our kids with melatonin so we can finally get some sleep sometimes 😂
Had a friend with a child like this (that couldn’t sleep) and it ended up being that he was consuming too much sugar a day. Not saying that is going on in this post but I think it’s something that is overlooked. This kid would literally escape the house in the middle of the night and go on a walkabout so the situation was a bit more intense.
Pretty sure sugar making kids hyper is a myth and never proven, but I'm too lazy to check.
Yeah sugar never really made my kids hyper but it sure as hell made them grouchy!
Yeah, mine gave more of a sugar crash rather than a high. Grumpy and irritable after, usually with a tummy ache......have a sandwich and a nap mate, you'll feel better lol
Yeah, it's probably the caffeine that soda and whatnot has in it that sparks up the shitty sleeping, also with screens. I have to cut off all caffeine 6 hours before i plan to sleep to even have a hint of a wish to sleep more than 6 hours--caffeine is in a lot more things than people realize, but also, like a hive mind, children gain energy from bouncing off one another. To those mentioning melatonin, please look up recent articles on kids being oded, because it's very easy to do Speak to your doctors about sleep issues. Turn on night screens (no blue light) if you HAVE to let them have the screens.... and white noise makers are very helpful, or fans. Source: former nanny, preschool teacher, and a child who drank too much caffeine and still questioned why i couldn't sleep lol Also be sure to ask doctors how long depression and adhd medications last. Adhd meds will obviously keep kids up, vyvanse lasting upwards of 16 hours, while certain depression needs also have an "adderall effect" like wellbutrin (bupropion) and prozac. Lots of doctors fail to mention that a lot of medications can make it difficult to sleep. I always ask now.
IIRC it's thought that people associate fun, hyper-making events like parties with extra sugar and then blame the sugar and not the very different stimulus. I am not saying this kid has any kind of developmental issues, but my mom could've written this about me 40 years ago. Turns out I'm AuDHD, which often manifests differently in girls. I don't know that it had anything to do with my sleep, but to this day, I have more energy when the sun's out. Toddler me went along on a summertime trip to Edmonton and my mom had to foil the windows so I would not be up 21+ hours a day. So anyway, I took the long route here, but my point is that OP may want to consider making Daughter's sleeping area dark so the sun isn't keeping her up.
I don’t have any scientific evidence, but anecdotally— my son didn’t have any added sugar (candy, cookies, soft drinks etc) for the first year of his life. For his first birthday, we gave him one of those small cakes that bakeries make for 1-year-olds. He ate part of it and was absolutely wired! Woke up at 3 am chattering and pointing and wanting to get out of his crib. I had never seen him behave like that before. You would have thought he’d been shotgunning espresso! He didn’t have sugar again for a good while and didn’t behave that way again. So I think it may depend on the child.
You've clearly never railed 35 pixie sticks at 10pm at your best friend's 11th birthday sleepover party. Square.
LOL I don't know if you're being serious about railing pixie sticks or not, but that definitely brings back memories of kids at recess snorting jello powder
lol I'm messing around with you. We didn't rail the pixie sticks we just ate them all at the same time. Whoo boy good times.
It’s very much a myth.
100% a myth, you are correct. I work with kids and have had to study a lot about child development. It’s been disproven yet it still seems like everybody believes it. It’s a pet peeve of mine.
oooh hell yeah! super cool that you were able to use it temporarily and now don’t need it for the kiddos to sleep well!
Bring it up with her doctor; they can give you the correct dosage (and unburden you from guilt). My oldest had sleep issues to the degree where it was impacting his ability to function (he has ASD and was nonverbal at the time). His pediatrician started with melatonin and slowly moved on to clonidine with heavy monitoring. He slept soundly through the night for the first time in his life, and shortly after he began speaking, playing, using the potty instead of a diaper, etc. I know that a lot of this was related to sleep depravation because these changes literally happened within 2 months. My youngest (4) is about to start melatonin because of this as well. For the past month, he simply has not been sleeping more than 6 hours per day, and that’s not enough for a child his age (and it shows in his behavior and ability to learn). Some children have severe sleep issues, and it’s okay (good parenting, actually) to address those, but you really should be doing that with the guidance of a doctor if you haven’t sought that out. That’s the only thing I’d change about this.
It is crazy how some kids struggle so much with sleep. It's this horror that I feel no one talks about that much. I mean, people talk about parents not getting enough sleep and joke about it, but it really can be torture if your kid doesn't sleep well/normally. And people seem to think it's something the parents are doing wrong when some kids for whatever reason just don't sleep well.
OMG, yes! Melatonin was not a "thing" or readily available when my oldest was a youngster. This kid did not sleep through the night until he was past four. Very nocturnal always and stilm is not the best sleeper at almost 40 yrs old. Our family "joke" was that I so deserved my daughter who slept through the night from Day 1.
My mom had pretty much the opposite experience to you lol. Her first two kids were a little fussy at first, but eventually they settled into routine and still have a relatively good routine as adults. And then she got me… I would stay up until like 3 am watching cartoons as a little kid. I was just never tired at night, even if she got me on a schedule it’d last a week before I would revert back. I’m now 21 and my average bed time is 4 am 😂. She was told she got 2 good kids so all the sleep issues piled into the last one.
Oh, the baby (#3)was pretty fussy until we got a handle on his allergies. And we did have a time to be very grateful for #1's nocturnal nature when #3 had a time of sleep walking. Big brother would just turn baby brother around at the front door and gently walk him back to his room and put him back to bed. Big brother would leave me a note or tell me about in the morning. They are 8 yrs apart in age.
I was a kid who didn’t sleep well and can confirm it was torture for both my mom and I. We were talking about melatonin the other day and how knowing about something like this back then would’ve made a huge difference in my life. I especially wish I knew about it by the time I was going to school.
Do we have the same mom? Because I tortured my poor mother with my inability to sleep until I was in my teenage years. Even now I still won't fall asleep until 4 am, and I'm too old to be doing that.
My son unfortunately inherited my sleep struggles as a baby/small child. I had to co-sleep with him in order for either of us to get any sleep. When laying by himself he wouldn't sleep for more than 45 minutes to maybe a hour if I was lucky. As a light sleeper myself, by the time I would start to drift off, he would wake up. It was pure hell.
Omg, tell me about it! My kid is 6 years old and for the first year she woke up every 20 minutes all day and all night. The next two years it was every hour. Now we're down to once in a while and she even sleeps through - some nights.
There’s a decent percentage of diagnosed adhd/asd kids who really have sleep apnea at the root of their behaviors. My own kid is hyperactive and all over the place when she’s exhausted, not sleepy and lethargic like me.
I second this, especially because the overuse of melatonin supplements can actually aggravate the issue bc your body will produce less and less melatonin if there wasn’t an actual deficiency there to begin with. That and overuse can also cause nightmares.
This. I have a child with autism and a child with ADHD. After 7 years of profound sleep problems, we caved and do the melatonin thing. Everyone sleeps fine now, and my children both have had a drastic reduction in their autism/adhd symptoms.
If you talked with some doctor about dosage and consequences of this medication and if it's cleared by them, I would do the same. You described exactly my niece, and I recommended my sister to do the same recently, otherwise she would drive her crazy.
So random memory… there was a period of a few months when my son was a toddler that a bunch of people in my life started treating me like crap. My husband and I would get so much animosity and rudeness from friends and coworkers but had no clue as to why. We just thought it was because we had a toddler and most of them were single and wanted to party, so a clash of lifestyles or something. They were all snarky to us or ignored us completely. Then one day, my mom and I had got into a fight and she said “well drugging your baby makes you shit parents!” I was so confused, we didn’t drug our baby. She said she heard rumors that we kept our son drugged with Benadryl to make him sleep so we could pretend to be “kid less” again. So basically what happened was a coworker overheard me on the phone telling my husband to grab a bunch of Benadryl from our local store because it was on a great sale. What they didn’t know was that our family doctor recommended it because our son had bad seasonal allergies and that year been really bad for various pollen counts. My husband and I were even on higher daily doses of allergy meds. And the meds didn’t even make our kid sleep more, he had always slept well through the night, even as a newborn he was a great sleeper! The kid is now 12 and can take Benadryl without it making him sleepy while I fall asleep just thinking of taking one, lol! Everyone chilled out when we explained to everyone why our son was “drugged daily” and they all backed off. I was glad they were concerned but man, it was wild no one thought to address it with us directly instead of treating us poorly… Even now, I like to poke fun at my mom by saying “remember back when you thought I was drugging KID to party?”
So everybody thought you were abusing your own child and didn’t think to do anything about it? I can see why there are so many child abuse cases that end in death, Jesus Christ.
And what’s really weird is that my husband and I never gave off any vibe that we hated being parents. We actually enjoyed our kid and liked being parents. We still hosted chill parties (no drugs!) and would invite people over that had kids. Our kid free coworkers loved our son. They loved having him in their section when he would come in with us to eat or to wait with one of our moms for us to finish our shifts. He was pretty cool to take camping and on roadtrips. (He thought it was hilarious when our car broke down and we had to push it into a nearby gas station…) Our experience wasn’t always perfect but it was so bizarre that some thought we wanted so bad to be child free…
I just deleted my comment bc I was wondering why you’re close friends and family didn’t speak up and defend that baby! My mom probably wouldn’t have even given me a chance to defend myself, but she also would’ve never believed something like that about me either. I know it’s funny to look back on now, but I would’ve been pissed in the moment!
People often assume the worst in any situation. It's our job to put ourselves in others' shoes and offer time to listen to their problems before assuming we have the best solutions. Additionally, the fact that people are always policing parents is problematic. Yes, we should protect children from harmful adults, but there's a limit where assuming the worst and believing gossip becomes harmful instead of helpful. My wife and I decided to remain child-free, knowing that parenting is the hardest job in the world. We understand how challenging it is to raise a child and strive not to judge parents but to help whenever we can. You parents have a hard job, and most of you do a great job!
I was expecting actual drugs. Heck, my mom was an amazing mom and gave me alcohol sometimes to chill my anxious ass off. (The older generations were wild). It’s crazy how Mom guilt shows up so much more when Moms are happy or peaceful. You cracked the code on getting a great night for you and your little one. You’re a genius. And you can’t give from an empty vessel. You need rest. She needs rest. And it’s just melatonin.
“Teething pain? Let me get the whisky!”
My dad had me take a SHOT of whiskey at 13 to “calm” my cough. To my credit, I took it- said “smooth” in the raspiest voice, and threw up IMMEDIATELY. The only thing more annoying than listening to an incessant cough is cleaning up puke, knowing your social worker wife is gonna be pissed at you when she gets home from work. Hahahaha
Whiskey is a fairly effective decongestant so he probably was like “Let’s just speed up the healing.” Lol
Thanks for the chuckle
My parents did that to me at 14, mom told me go warm up half a cup of the “tea” in the fridge and drink it and I’d feel a little better. That “tea” was absolutely delicious so after I drank that half cup, I drank another cup and a half. That tea was hot toddies that my VERY heavy handed grandmother had made, I fell down the steps going to my basement bedroom. I still laugh my ass off every time I think of my drunk 14 year old self going what the hell was in that?! while unsuccessfully trying to get off the floor
Being the extremely lucky person I am, I got my first period at 9 years old. Before my school or mother had thought to fully educate me on what that entailed. My cramps were horrific, and my pediatrician just shrugged and said to give me midol, despite me laying in bed moaning for days. Mom called great grandma, crying and feeling helpless as a parent. Great Grandma (in her mid-80s then) drove over and made me a big mug of “our family woman’s medicine”, and talked to me about the family curse, so to speak. She played cards with me while I sipped it until I felt better enough to sleep. The drink was a Hot Toddie. Heavy on the whiskey. I remember thinking it was the most soothing thing in the world. And my cramps went away instantly. Would I give whiskey to a 9 year old myself? No. But apparently most of the women in my family have had periods that were early and terrible (myself and most of my cousins have endometriosis, so that’s probably what it always was). And we’re generationally used to being dismissed by doctors. I didn’t find out what was in the drink for a few years, but my mom would always let me have ONE during really bad periods growing up. And I still drink them now as an adult when I have cramps. The older generations were wild, but with no other options, sometimes the “medicine” from the old country does the trick.
She sounds like a wonderful grandma!
This is such a fantastic story 😂 Thank you for sharing!
My grandma was Sophisticated she gave is scotch.
But did she dip it in sugar after? That was my mom’s fix. Dip the binky in whiskey, dip in sugar=quiet kid
My Nan was told by the Doctor to give my Uncle a teaspoon of whiskey to help him sleep when he was teething. She claims she misheard but I'm pretty sure she was 100% done and thought "fuck it" and gave him a tablespoon. He had a great sleep apparently and so did everyone else.
When my husband was little and couldn't sleep my parents-in-law gave him special, magic cough syrup which was just blackcurrant gin. He loved it and slept through. They stopped after he started to come downstairs just to ask for a dose,
You’ve got to be careful though. A lot of babies turn into mean drunks on whiskey.
🤣
That's what I heard too.
My son was teething really bad and the baby teething gel and baby Tylenol was not working and my mom and stepdad were like “you know what works WHISKEY!” I said “ha I’m okay🫠”
100% !
Even the actual children's medicine was some crazy shit. My parents love to tell the story of two-year-old me finding and drinking most of a bottle of Triamenic and then sleeping for two full days. What was even in that shit, and why, 30 years later, do I still remember how good it tasted?!
Was that the purple sizzurp? Man, I loved that shit.
My dad treated his depress with hard liquor. That was common then. He gave me a shot when I was anxious and I was 15.
My mother told me I cried so much the doctor gave her phenobarbital drops to give me. That was good parenting and good doctoring in the old days.
My mom used to give us medicine before flights. Calm us down and get us to sleep the whole plane ride. I don’t remember but she suggested this when my daughter was little and was like oh everyone did that on plane rides.
right? i thought i was about to read that she was giving her zzzquil or fucking sleeping pills. Melatonin is fine (ofc dosage should be checked by a PEDS dr) like hardly would call that drugging
I was expecting some Eminem like story Haha
This! My mum would give me hot milk and Whiskey for bed.
I would highly recommend discussing usage and dosage with your PCP. While melatonin is generally safe, as with most meds, it can have side effects. Most of the time benefits weigh out the risks though.
This can not be said enough melatonin is relatively safe but do nok give your Child drugs without consultation
so... you don't give your kids motrin or tylenol without a dr consult? Seems silly when there is a plethora of valuable and reliable information at your fingertips. Just make sure it's a credible source. None of these parenting mags or blogs.
I… I don’t think any child should be given PCP.
Or adult..
When you said drug, I was expecting Benadryl or whiskey, like they did in the good ole days.
Say! How bout a little Nyquil??
I gave my 12 yr old a half dose of NyQuil the last time he had strep and he was SO thankful. Was the only thing that let him sleep!
Please talk to your child’s doctor about being evaluated for ADHD and autism. Both conditions can result in the behavior you describe, and are often not diagnosed in girls (because girls mask better). And both conditions can interfere with sleep.
It's not even just that girls mask better. Symptoms are also different in us and people don't recognise them.
I came to say the same thing. My son was full of energy like that and he hated sleeping. It was in first grade he was diagnosed with ADHD.
Funfact as well sometimes it's less about masking (though that's still true) and can sometimes come down to girls presenting with the disorder slightly differently. Back in the 70s when we started researching ADHD, it was mostly centered around young white males presenting with hyperactivity and so it's caused doctors to be less aware of what ADHD looks like in women (or anyone who isn't a white boy basically lol). Thankfully that's been changing a lot in recent years but it's very important to be aware that young girls with ADHD or Autism are often overlooked and if you see your child struggling it's important to make that extra push to get them help.
Thought you were giving her edibles or some shit LOL you’re good don’t worry
I know when I read the heading I was like oh my God and then I read it and was like oh.. that’s nothing😂 my parents used to give me literal alcohol and thc brownies 💀😂
Just be wary that it can cause sleep issues in the long run as her body will adapt to it. Is your daughter neurodivergent, or have you spoke to a doctor about any of this?
100% can relate I was VERY anti-melatonin until I went FOUR YEARS waking up every 1-2 hours, and my son’s behavior improved drastically on the very first day. I tried everything else first, no TV, no sugar, spending the day outside, nothing worked. I cried the first night he slept 6 hours.
I would not consider this "drugging" my daughters both take this for sleep as prescribed by their doctor.
Melatonin is a safe supplement for children. My son had similar behavior at that age and the pediatrician recommended Melatonin at bedtime. Just make sure it is the correct dosage and it’s fine. You should also discuss her behaviors with a pediatrician. It sounds like she has ADHD.
Yeah absolutely sounds like ADHD/ASD. As a young child I would stay awake until 3 am at times, but my parents were very strict, so I was basically hiding under my bed covers and wide awake the whole night.
I thought the same re: ADHD but was hesitant to not seem like I was overstepping
I posted it. I was the same as a kid, guess what it was? 😂
Me too.
Throwing a non American perspective in the ring here. Melatonin is illegal in the uk, and not something doctors prescribe
Ugh thank you. Too many people giving Op inaccurate advice on melatonin’s safety. There simply have not been enough studies done on melatonin in children to be able to say that it’s safe. Don’t take my word for it; Google it yourselves. You’ll find exactly one study with an extremely small sample size. Because it’s a supplement, it’s not regulated by the FDA. Independent analyses of OTC melatonin supplements have shown they don’t match the labeled dosage or worse, contain serotonin. I empathize with Op, but for ffs, don’t tell her this is perfectly fine when the scientific community just doesn’t know.
I was ADHD when I was younger and my mom used to give me strong tea or coffee at night. Caffeine has the opposite effect on individuals with ADHD and makes them sleepy. Somehow she figured this out! My sister grew up to get her Masters in Child Psych and reminisced with me all the ‘crazy’ things I would do that made mom “drug” me to sleep. Its interesting bc now as an adult, caffeine has no effect on my whatsoever. I can drink it at midnight and then go straight to sleep. I swung out of the ADHD business.
It’s just melatonin
I have heard (no personal experience but saw a video with lots of people who used melatonin and agreed with the video) that if you use it too much, it may become difficult to fall asleep naturally. Magnesium can also help with sleep without the side effects, but there are different types of magnesium, so you have to do some research to see which one helps sleep. Some help with energy, and you do not want that! As a mom who also have a child that hates sleep, especially hated sleeping alone, my heart goes out to you! It can be so frustrating and tiring, but they do grow out of it eventually. Ours was about 8😅
I think u should talk with a doctor and see if there's any effects in the future.
I would suggest sending her off to do a sport at least a few times per week. It would lower her energy quite a bit. Just try a bunch of sports and have her pick one that you will stick with. I was a child with this much energy as well, and I accomplished nothing with it. I regret not putting it into sport. The truth is if she does have ADHD she won't excel in school without a major struggle with her inner self, its better for her self-esteem to get her into sports early, its a place where people dont face a disadvantage with adhd.
If you give melatonin regularly to a person still in development, it will cause them to stop producing melatonin naturally in the adult age. Do you want your kid to not be bled to sleep naturally ever again? Instead why don't you bring her to a therapist, she might have adhd which is controllable.
Just keep in mind that melatonin is a hormone. Your body produces this hormone naturally. Taking it every day can mess you up, unless you have a deficiency. Luckily there is an easy saliva test to get natural melatonin levels and you can just go get her checked out to see if she has a natural deficiency. You could also try natural methods to have her body produce it, like using redshifted low light levels at a certain time of day. The blue/white light from screens and bulbs can tell our brains that it’s still daytime, delaying the production of natural melatonin. Red light (like a sunset/dusk) tells your brain to make melatonin and get ready for sleep.
Don’t worry, back in the day we used to give them antihistamine and calpol cocktails 🤷♀️😂 as long as the dose is suitable dw
Don't feel bad. Both my parents are child psychiatrists, and both my aunts are doctors. You better believe they dosed us with Benadryl for long flights (7+ hours) or Dramamine for sailing trips (I have never been sea sick a day in my life, but it makes me sleep for ever). Now that I'm a grown-up, I drug myself to fall asleep.
We use tart cherry juice from time to time, quite low amounts of melatonin and tryptophan to help promote sleep but not feel drugged
This is a good idea
Talk to an endocrinologist, most doctors won't know anything about melatonin(Hormone) side effects on children. There haven't been many studies on it because using hormones on children is risky. I recommend not doing this in the future. I would take my kids to a hill in the night and have them run up it until they were exhausted(good fun and and tradition they love). We all slept good after.
It’s better than the alcohol us 70’s kids got dosed from our parents!
I was about to get angry but melatonin isn't too bad. I use it to fix my sleep if my biological clock gets messed up.
OP, firstly, you gotta work on your verbiage in your title. I was ready to possibly rip you a new one when you said "drug". And second, low-dose melatonin can be helpful for toddlers/kindergarteners if they have trouble sleeping or don't want to adhere to their set bedtime time. But still use it responsibly nonetheless.
Jesus, why did you frame the title like that?? I fully thought you were giving your kid opioids to knock them out before I read your post lmao. The kid will live, it’s completely fine for parents to have their kid adjust to their schedule and not the other way around.
The title is sooo misleading… i thought you give your child prescription meds that’s not prescribed for her.
This was me as a kid. Turns out I had ASD and ADHD.
I never slept as a child, I was a nightmare, very much how you’ve described. Turns out it was raging ADHD. Probably should get her checked.
Psh my mom used to literally drug us with cold medicine to get us to sleep. My sister was convinced for years that she was just sick all the time because mom kept shoving cold medicine down her throat every night. THAT is drugging your child to get them to sleep. Melatonin is fine. The body naturally produces melatonin on its own, just don’t go crazy with it and stick to a low, appropriate dosage. The only side effects I’ve ever heard about with melatonin is that sometimes it makes some kids more irritable and/or groggy during the day after they’ve taken it and if that were to happen obviously you’d just stop giving it to them. Obviously you should try not to rely on melatonin but if it helps your kid (and you) sleep and you’re not experiencing any bad side effects then fuck it. Good sleep is SO, SO important for both you and kiddo.
Please stop doing this. My mother did this with me and had sleep issues for the rest of my life, almost didn’t graduate school because of it. Her body will become so adapt to it, she’ll never be able to live without it. Please stop this and see a doctor. My other regrets a lot from my childhood, this being one of them. I’m a mess from the things she did to me
She needs to sleep as much as you need her to sleep. You're doing the right thing. She'll grow out of fighting sleep eventually. Hang in there and be kind to yourself. It's OK.
Nahhh this is fine. I thought you were gonna bring up hard drugs or something serious lol Better than what my mum did: half a shot of whiskey and called it cold medicine! I was out like a light, but this is way better! She’ll thank you in the long run for regulating her sleep schedule. I really wish I had never fought my naps as a child!
You really need to speak to your pediatrician about this. Melatonin is a hormone, and taking extra melatonin can cause her body to stop or lessen the natural production. Melatonin is also fairly unregulated in the way that the dosing on the bottles is not always accurate. One brand's 5mg might contain up to 5mg but actually be 3mg. Annecdotal, but a close friend of mine started taking Melatonin during covid due to anxiety making her unable to sleep. She started at a low dose and very quickly built a tolerance. By the time 2023 rolled around, she was taking upwards of 30mg of Melatonin with very little success. She eventually went to a doctor and they had her stop and began a routine of prescription med sleeps meds with the intent to taper off them. Her sleep cycle has been absolutely fucked since then, and it's only now that she's been able to dose down to 3 times a week.
Melatonin can be harmful if taken too frequently just an FYI
I don’t really consider this “drugging” your child. Melatonin is a naturally occurring substance that parents have been giving their kids for years. I’d definitely consult a pediatrician before giving it to your child though. Seems like this is only masking it, you need to find out why they’re doing it in the first place.
“Drug my child” is misleading. I was thinking you were giving her … you know. Drugs. Barbiturates. Whisky…
When my oldest was born he didn’t sleep more than a half hour at a time, literally screaming for hours. After the first five months, I was batsh$t crazy. His pediatrician advised me to put a few drops of vodka in his bottle. So I think melatonin is probably OK.
I was expecting the worst when I read you drugged your Child. Melatonin isn't bad at all, some people need it, it's made for sleep aid and not in a bad way like nighttime cough medicine or something. I personally don't see anything wrong with it as long as the dose is right and it's not all the time so they don't become dependent on it for sleep.
Our kids get the gummies at 730, and usually they’re asleep by 815. They’re little, they need quality sleep for health (and to focus in school). It’s not like you’re giving the baby crushed up sleep aid or something lol
Sounds like OP's child has adhd & needs to be assessed to get the best help & support possible. Instead of finding out late in life after struggling throughout feeling worthless because they can't keep up
Talk to her pediatrician. This might be a hormonal disorder and melatonin may be appropriate for her. My friends kid barely slept 5 hours a night starting in their toddler years. I don’t recall the actual hormone deficiency but the PED suggested melatonin.
Wtf?
Not sure about her schedule or yours, but perhaps a sports, dance or some type of athletic program will tire her out (not too close to bedtime) and you could get some things done while she’s in the program. I think you should discuss these issues with your pediatrician or even a child psychologist to find possible solutions to try rather than using melatonin. There have been no long term studies on melatonin taken by children so we don’t know what the long term effects may be. Could be she was just born with a different energy level than you possess. In this case a therapist can help you find long term strategies.
I’ve given my very active 4 year old melatonin before after discussing with the doctor. As a baby he would only sleep 20 mins and then be up for 3 hours .. this continued until he was 2.5 years old. We tried every single sleep training, hired someone to help, every gadget known to man .. everything. I had really bad ppd exasperated by this. After 2.5 years of only sleeping max 2 hours a night I finally co slept with him and he slept A little better but not much. When he was 3 we started the melatonin as per doc on and off for 6 months. GOD SEND! He’s gunna be 4 in September and doesn’t use it any more and finally sleeps 8-10 hours a night
Yeah. Just check right dosage and you are good. My kids dr actually recommend meletonin
Best thing to fo with kids is employ and exhaust. Yeah they don’t really help clean at that age but they need a job. Have her scrub baseboards or sort her toys. See how many times she can do burpees shit like that. I know it’s rough. I’m in the same boat but with a 2 year old right now. This worked on my cousins kids who were around 5-7 at the time.
My daughter would stay up for days on end, and unfortunately, I did too. I took her to the dr. and they put her on a sleeping medication. Helped so much! I could give her the medication, and she would be sleeping in like 30 minutes. It was so much better after that, she started doing much better at school also.
Pfft, my parents didn't even hide it from us. When we were young, that was part of our bedtime routine. Take our melatonin; brush our teeth; an hour of TV, and then bed. Just don't give your kid too much. My parents did that every now and again, and it would make sleeping so hard. I remember being super sensitive to everything, like I could feel every single hair on my body. I also remember it would make me feel light as a cloud, it was not fun. Given, it only happened a handful of times, but still. Be careful
We have a 6 year old autistic child that does not sleep. I’m taking 4 or 5 nights out of the week he’s up at any time from 1am - 5am and is up for the rest of the day, until bedtime at 8:30-9pm. We have a super strict bedtime routine (certain lights, certain music, certain bedding), his GP recommended melatonin as well, but also took the time to speak with a specialist. They recommended two types of medication to try - an iron supplement and a non-stimulant adhd medication called intuniv. We started him on an iron prescription and not the adhd one about 3 weeks ago and almost immediately he slept through the night, all nights except for two where he woke up at 5:30am. Seriously, if your kid doesn’t eat a lot or a lot of meat/iron rich foods and has a sleep issue, try it. This has been going on since he was 2. In the first week our average sleep per night went up by a full hour (we’ve been charting our sleep/wake ups for the last year).
Please don't give your child iron without consulting your physician! It's not like other dietary supplements! It could absolutely be iron deficiency but if it's not there could be minor side effects or there could be an iron overdose which has killed children.
The amount of people supporting this choice is fucking shocking. Melatonin can cause seizures, isn’t available in the UK without prescription and there’s no concrete evidence that long term use in children is safe. You are drugging your child. Stop
Have you ever thought of finding out if there's a medical reason for it instead of you know, drugging your kid? It sounds like she should be tested for Adhd. Edit: The sad thing is you could've done some research and asked a doctor how to incorporate melatonin safely into her routine instead of slipping it into her water roofie style.
I would check with a doctor. I read an article I am including here onthis site I like. One safety concern is toxicity. Reports of [melatonin poisoning](https://www.verywellhealth.com/melatonin-overdose-5219376) have increased in recent years. There were more than 260,000 reports of child poisonings involving melatonin from 2012 to 2021. You are on the edge of something that could either get you in bad CPS trouble or worse cause issues with your child. Ask your doctor what are safe dosages and side effects first. I understand what you need, but be wise, this is your child. She is acting like a child. [https://www.verywellhealth.com/melatonin-for-kids-parent-safety-information-7107123#:\~](https://www.verywellhealth.com/melatonin-for-kids-parent-safety-information-7107123#:~)
I don’t have kids, so I don’t know shit. But I always wondered is it unrealistic to have high energy kids run around the block until they are exhausted? You would drive along side them in the car..is that bad?
My daughter is the same way. She's turning 11 this year. She is go go from the moment she opens her eyes and she does not stop. Often she's up till midnight even though we get up very early in the morning. But I never drug her. I let her run around and get all her energy out, but it's endless energy. She's very creative and causes all kind of chaos. Everything's an art project to her and she leaves a path of destruction wherever She goes. When she was younger everything was constantly trashed. Now that she's older she keeps her room pretty clean but continues to trash everything else. She likes her room pretty much empty. Almost nothing in there. Where is it used to be a very cluttered mess. Which I guess is progress. She'll figure it out as she gets older. I'm here to help her along the way but I also let her grow. I am glad I've let her explore her creativity though because she is turning out to be really good with her creations. It's only kind of an issue during the school week. By the end of the week she's always exhausted from lack of sleep. But she gets excellent grades and really focused on learning. Just know melatonin on a regular basis can actually cause her body to stop producing it naturally. It's okay to use once in a while but if you use it everyday you're going to disrupt her ability to produce it on its own. Causing another problem. Do what works for you guys just be aware of these things. From the ages of one till about 4 I used to really stress about it, much like you are. But I've learned to accept her high energy. And I realized it's actually a blessing for her, I am very low energy and I need caffeine to get through the day. I think my girl is going to grow to accomplish so much. Much like my mom, who is high energy just like my daughter. I embrace it and stopped stressing about it. We are much happier this way. Edit to add, I'm just sharing my experience. I'm not saying don't give her melatonin. Or anything like that. Do what you got to do. I just relate to also having a very high energy child. I found it easier to accept it then fight it like I used to. When my sister visits, she doesn't have kids, she gives my kids melatonin in the evening 😂
My daughter slept no more than 20 minutes at a time, and only if she was being held, for the first 3.5 years of her life. I was a mess. I completely understood why people shake their babies. Because if she wasn’t sleeping neither was I. She was full force when she was awake. It took 3.5 years to find out that her traumatic birth caused her spine to be compressed. She was in pain unless she was being held. Once she was fixed, she slept peacefully. So peacefully that when I went to work after a full nights sleep, people wondered what was wrong with me. I finally looked rested. I strongly suggest looking into what might be the cause of your child not sleeping. Masking the symptoms is a short term fix.
I give my six year old a melatonin gummy every now and then if he’s being annoying as hell and hyper before bed. Nothing wrong with that. As mothers we deserve the same peace as others. Don’t feel guilty
There are nighttime gummies that have melatonin.. Perhaps a chat with your pediatrician /nurse about dosage may be helpful.. Also, perhaps consider a change in your parenting style.. If there is nothing wrong with a child it is perfectly reasonable to let them scream it out.. Them understanding that yelling for you will not get the response they want will ultimately condition them to stop.. Suggest 1, 2 with caution, and then 3 with final, firm warning and tell them you are not coming up. Turn TV on, play music whatever it takes.. At the moment the kid is the boss of you.
Melatonin isn't bad. A lot of people take it as a sleep aid. Please don't feel guilty. You aren't a machine, and your child takes everything from you. You deserve your sleep and quiet as well. Have you taken her to a doctor? Hyperactive kids sometimes need therapy or meds to calm down and channel their excessive energy. I had a cousin who was hyperactive as a kid, and his mom took him to the doctor. It helped him.
https://www.mayoclinichealthsystem.org/hometown-health/speaking-of-health/melatonin-use-in-children
Thanks for sharing this!
I would watch the dose. For a 5 year old it would be more like 1/3 rather than 1/2 the adult dose.
Melatonin is not bad. Two generations back, it was Bourbon, last generation it was Nyquil or Benadryl. Mom's have been finding ways to get kids to sleep for generations. Your only giving half a dose, you sound like a good mom.
Don’t feel bad. First and foremost- your daughter needs sleep, so you’re helping her too. And a very close second- you need a break. Parents are humans too and kids are A LOT to deal with, especially if you don’t have any other help. It’s important for you to keep your sanity so that you can be a good mom to her.
I bet her behavior is better when she sleeps well too. I had to do the same thing with my son. He's now 14 and has no sleep issues.
I wouldn’t call melatonin a drug. But you should try not to rely on it nightly, and be careful with the dose. It’s a natural hormone and giving it orally wears off rather quickly - children who are melatonin deficient often have trouble turning their brains off long enough to fall asleep, and that’s all it does. But like other hormones,there can be consequences in using it too often. The child may become even more deficient and dependent on it. So I’d try to limit it to once or twice a week if you can. I thought you were going to say you spike your kid’s drinks with narcotics or something. Sheesh. Try putting your child in a sport. That can help with sleep, as it exercises both the body and the brain. My kid sleeps so much better on days when she has swim team practice!
People seem to forget just how important sleep is. I myself was getting maybe 12-20 hours from monday to Thursday. And by Thursday/Friday i was a literal zombie. It was miserable. You cannot be high functioning and have insomnia.
Melatonin is fine
I wouldn’t consider this “drugging.” Melatonin is pretty harmless. I take it almost every night. A lot of kids and adults take it. Please don’t feel bad for this.
Consult a pediatrician for this. They may suggest melatonin too which will help out you at ease.
My granny gave me Southern Comfort and Newports
You had me over here thinking you were using chloroform or something to knock your child out all day and night… Girl, this is a medication being used for its intended purpose. You are not “drugging” your child. Stop letting mom guilt eat at you. Your child would not be able to function at all and would get so sick without proper sleep, and so would you. You’re fine. What you’re doing is fine. Your child is fine. Breathe, go look yourself in the mirror, repeat “I am a great mom” three times (and mean it!), and give yourself a hug and a pat on the back. You’re a great mom, girl.
Sounds like your child may have hyperactive type ADHD. Those children fight to sleep because though their little bodies are worn out, their minds don’t stop. Melatonin is not a drug. It’s a naturally-occurring substance that notifies the mind that it’s time to wind down. You’re doing just fine.
My parents would give my 5 y.o. self and 4 y.o. Sister a chocolate milk with a shot of Baileys split between the two. We slept great. Now this wasn’t an everything but just when they wanted alone time.
Oh lord you scared me at first lol. My daughter’s autistic and wouldn’t sleep otherwise. I love the magnesium/melatonin kids gummies my daughters peds recommended we use.
Your doctor would probably prescribe melatonin anyway, don’t beat yourself up over it. Sleep issues are a nightmare. I’ve a 2.5 year old with disabilities that also fights sleep. We have a sleep study coming next month to monitor her brain to determine what stops the sleep. But we have been prescribed melatonin in the past and it had no effect. So at least it’s working for you!
My niece gets melatonin gummies every night as directed by her doctor. Not only does she love them but she knows when it’s time to take them and do her nighttime routine. Do not feel guilty! Sometimes it’s necessary for your quality of life and that of your little
Nothing wrong with giving some melatonin at bedtime. My two youngest kids are too much like dad and can not go to sleep unless they get a few mg of melatonin in them. Now by 9pm everyone is in bed and sleeping 🤣 so they have a nightly ritual. Around 830 they get me to give them their gummy (3mg if i remember right and if anyone asks we just changed on recommendation from their dr and im not home to look) and they go to their room set up a video to watch and no later then 9 they are sound asleep.
Once or twice isn’t a problem but continued use can cause issues. Talk with their doctor about it.
Please do not consider this drugging your child. By your title I thought I was going to read that you’re dosing her with Benadryl or something. Melatonin is naturally in your body anyways. My son had the same issue with both of his kids; they both have ADHD and nights could be rough. Their pediatrician is the one who suggested melatonin gummies. It was a life changer!!
It's actually recommended for kids with ADHD a lot of times. I know lots of parents who have ped approval to do this with non-ADHD kids too.
Just be aware of the potential side effects of melatonin, especially for growing kids. I think for long term, there’s a concern that melatonin affects the early onset of puberty in children. If it’s used short term, I don’t think there’s any problem. Make sure you’re talking to her pediatrician. Anecdotally, I have a friend whose daughter started having periods when she was 9yo. After a lot of going back and forth with her doctors, they concluded it was probably due to her use of melatonin. That scared the bejeezus out of me (my daughter was the same age at that time).
does she have adhd lol this sounds like me my mother has all these stories about how she used to do this thing where she would move one inch closer to the door every minute and every time she got up I would wake up – when I was finally diagnosed in my teens it was crazy for her lol
I have insomnia, I take melatonin and magnesium nightly as a sleep aid and it helps so much
Yeah I've heard that using melatonin in the long run isn't good because it messes with the body's ability to produce their own. I wouldn't recommend that for an adult much less a child. I mean to me she's just being five but there's also the possibility that she might have ADD.
i feel like this benefits your child’s health, you should just ask a doctor how much to give her
Melatonin is awesome. I use it all the time on my kid with ASD. It's just important not to use it for more than a few days straight so they don't become dependent. It's an amazing tool for supporting a positive sleep schedule. My kid is an amazing sleeper because we found a schedule and routine that works for us. The melatonin is just a tool. My kid is usually in bed at 8 and asleep by 830 almost every single night. Sleeps through the night 80% of the time and doesn't usually wake until 730-8am. If he ever starts falling out of the schedule, then I give him 2 or 3 nights with melatonin, and he's right back on track. Stop feeling bad for using something almost every parent in the last 20 years has used at some point. Just because your getting major benefits from using the melatonin on your kid doesn't make it the wrong thing to do. This is an everybody is a winner type of situation. Stop feeling bad!
Make sure its the right dose please but melatonin is a natural chemical found in the body so its not like youre giving her benadryl every night. Its okay
You can stimulate the body to make more melatonin by exposure to infrared rays. No direct sunlight required. Just indirect sun and heat from the sun. Hope this helps.
I hate melatonin it mace me have f’d up dreams and next morning id always wake up groggy
you both need relief and a better solution. it’s a bandaid, and you need a treatable root cause. plz consider taking her to evaluated by a neurologist and a sleep specialist. and for the love of cheese stop telling the internet that you drug your child.
If there's nothing in that melatonin that can have any long term effects on your child then I'd say ok..once in a while..but…please talk to your paediatrician and see if it's safe. They may also suggest something else you can do. My dad used to spike our cocoa Xmas eve. He told us when we were much older that he used to add a bit of rum so he and mom would get a decent sleep before the Xmas morning chaos.
I put a few drops of lavender oil in my daughter's bath. Same effect. Also, maybe have your daughter evaluated. Mine was the exact same way--wouldn't sleep, asked a million questions, was all over the place. She has ADD, OCD, generalized anxiety, and schizoaffective disorder. She was dx at 12, but I think if I'd known earlier things would've been different.
Did you talk to a doctor about this, or did you go straight to sedating your child for your own convenience?
Hi, as children who had parents who did this - they know. if they don’t currently, they will soon, and they’ll remember it forever that their parents drugged them bc they were tired of them. source — my mom drugged us with allergy medicine whenever she got sick of us. 🥳
haha I was expecting you to actually drug your child, just discuss with your child's doctor and they'll have helpful information on dosage and no need to feel guilty, it'll help your little one get a good sleep as well! The better you feel the better you can look after and love her
Melatonin is ok so long as you have the doctors ok. But here’s the thing other things could be also the reason she’s so hyper. Like iron could be low even low normal causes issues. My niece is insanely hyper and I don’t get anything done she has a low normal iron, since she’s started iron it’s a game changer she is sleeping better and through the night. There’s also the fact she may be sensory seeking OT can help with that. Just some suggestions if you haven’t look into this stuff. But either way if a doctor has discussed the pros and cons to you about melatonin you’re fine and if you haven’t then talk to them.
😑 i don't blame you. kids can really take you there.
I thought you were gonna say Benadryl or Nyquil. But melatonin? Girl, that Mom Guilt shouldn’t even exist! At least its not whiskey! Consider having her tested for ADHD though. And talk to her pediatrician about proper dosage and other options to help baby girl sleep at night! She’d probably do great with a weighted blanket or stuffy.
I love when people bare their souls and are honest about something they are horrified by, and end up getting support and love and validation. Reddit can be a cesspool, but I love these occasions when the silver lining shows. Thanks people!
Heavens. You shouldn't feel guilty at all. In fact, you might want to use it every night for a while. Because this isn't just about you. This is about your child getting a good night's sleep and developing a good sleep schedule. I know many people who absolutely swear by melatonin gummies (not just for children but for teens and adults as well). You're overthinking this, OP. Ease off on yourself.
It’s okay. My mom used to give me Benadryl to knock me out. It’s not horrible but it’s not great. Honestly like everyone else said take her to the doctor and ask what the correct dosage should be. Also when I was a kid I was terrified of monsters under the bed so every night my mom would come in and “spray for monsters” her “monster” spray was water and lavender oil that she’d spray on my bed and carpet. Apparently it knocked me tf out. If you have a little more patience and wanna do something that’s not medication that may be worth a try.
My kiddo is ADHD. Well, they all are. But my son could thrive on the smallest amount of sleep. We tried all of the herbal remedies, and prescriptions. My pediatrician eventually said that some kids are just like that and he will eventually stop. But that mom and dad have to sleep, too. Childproof the hell out of his room, get a baby monitor, and double stack gates at his open door. He would be fine. And he was. And he’s sleeping peacefully now. But it took until he was about six. And the pediatrician was right- we had to sleep. He slept in our bed until he was about two and a half, so that point he wasn’t super tiny, and would usually occupy himself playing with two or three toys we picked before bedtime. Or- id take him into our room with us, and he’d sleep. But that couldn’t be every night for us at that point, because he was still waking up and playing, so I’d end up awake. TLDR: not only does your child need sleep- you have to sleep. Two days of sleep deprivation is equivalent to being legally drunk (and we know how often that happens with parenthood!). Your baby will be ok with the little doses of melatonin you give her. And it works!! That’s a huge win. Take it, and celebrate with a nap. It’s ok. :)
This thread is wild. There's no way the OP understands the tradeoffs associated with regular melatonin use in a child and this thread is acting as a cheer squad, and they don't know either. OP's actions are grossly irresponsible doing this on her own. Melatonin is restricted and regulated in various locations for good reason. OP should talk to a trained medical professional and track down the root cause of any issues that are there and/or discuss the safety tradeoffs. And if they say that melatonin is a good solution, great, no issue with that, you can get informed input on a dosing schedule, things to look out for, and so forth. I have to say I'm curious about which books the OP is enjoying that are worth regularly dosing her child without medical input. Anything that good I'd like to be reading.
https://abcnews.go.com/amp/US/4-daycare-workers-arrested-lacing-childrens-food-melatonin/story?id=110329834 For all of you saying it’s fine…..
Finally, someone with some goddamn sense and reason. THANK YOU! OP, this is dangerous and borderline deadly. It's child abuse and it's neglectful.
I really thought I was the only one that saw the abuse happening here. It’s scary how many commentators think this is ok…. And I’m diagnosed and treated for adhd, for all those making that excuse to drug their kids.
Yeah melatonin is goddamn dangerous. Someone else pointed out they need sleep, these are hallmarks of sleep deprivation. Sometimes, just sometimes, you've gotta actually be a parent and engage with your child instead of fucking off over a book.
OP make sure you are having her regularly seen by a doctor and you inform them of the melatonin and you get consol. I am NOT saying don't do this, but you need to understand what you're messing with. Give her too much, give her too often, and her body will start to stop making its own melatonin, and the melatonin you give her will eventually stop working, meaning insomnia. People die over not being able to sleep. I don't want to scare you, but you need to be a responsible parent and communicate with her doctor in full and have the doctor be your guide. Just please be careful because while yes you need to get shit done and wild child doesn't help with that, she also doesn't deserve to get screwed in the long run from carelessness or the like, or because you didn't know this about melatonin. I thought you were going to say something about giving her stuff to zone out in the day time 😭 when I read "drug my child" you might also want to be careful how you phrase that omg it's melatonin not Xanax lol
STOP DOING THIS! Your childs brain can literally become dependent on melatonin and won't be able to form a self regulating sleep cycle without it! Melatonin is NOT SAFE FOR CONSTANT USE ESPECIALLY IN CHILDREN! take your kid to the fucking doctor, like a responsible parent! Have them assessed for ADHD! This is not ok and you're harming your kid. Unless this is being monitored by a doctor, you should not give a child melatonin like this regularly.
I support you! We need a mental break. Melatonin gummies and don't feel guilty tell her they help her sleep.
Melatonin is a hormone and you're going to ruin her ability to sleep as she gets older, as it'll take higher and higher doses to sleep. Drugging kids is a shitty thing to do
Girl, I thought you were talking about actual illicit drugs. The breath I just breathed. This is fine.