Has anyone heard of giving a baby Melatonin?
Wednesday, November 18th, 2009 at
4:32 am
I know melatonin isn’t usually given to children but a couple of my friends pediatrician have advised them giving it to their kids because they are ADHD and have problems sleeping at night. Has anyone ever heard of giving it to babies to help them sleep?
Tagged with: adhd • babies • google • melatonin • pediatrician • sleep
Filed under: Insomnia
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nononononononono!
You can’t even take it when you are pregnant or breastfeeding. Don’t give it to the baby! Try the 5 s’s: sucking, swaddling, swinging, shhing, and putting them on their side (supervised).
what! that sound a little bit like child abuse. i dont think kids shouldd be drugged to go to sleep
Id ask in alternative med. Ive taken it, and didnt find it to help. But any supplement to babies, sounds kind of risky.
Plus giving babies something to help them sleep, could just set them up for later problems, needing assistance/addiction to sleep.
Yes, I heard about a child having a very negative reaction to that. He fell too hard asleep and roused after 1 hour only to not fall asleep again without more drugs. Also, I’ve read that it can decrease a male’s sperm motility. So if you want your son to be fertile later in life, I would try everything you can without resorting to a sleeping hormone.
What helped me was the book "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" by Weissbluth. The book is great for exhausted parents because it gives a very brief summary at the end of every chapter to give tired parents the basics.
I hope this helps and I hope you can get some rest.
I’ve been in peds for almost 7 years and have never heard one of our docs recommend it. It doesn’t mean that it won’t work but it isn’t common practice.
Good luck
I’ve heard of it as well, however, I don’t think I’d ever risk giving it to a baby, even on the advise of a physician, being that it hasn’t been evaluated by the FDA.
http://health.yahoo.com/other-other/melatonin/healthwise–d04058a1.html
I have never heard of that. There are these "colic tablets" that will help baby sleep. I have also heard of people giving baby a weak bottle/sippy of calmoie (sp) tea. I wouldn’t give it to my baby w/o talking to the dr. and getting all of the pro’s/con’s.
go to the health food store and they should have a whole section for babys and i’m pretty sure they have melatonin for them, it’s a tiny pill and i think you put it under their tongue and it disolves.
Yes there are actually a number of studies on using it in children with autism.
About a year ago I was looking for information on using it in a 1 year old and couldn’t find anything for healthy babies. However I found nothing that said it had any ill effects. The worst that happens is it does nothing (I still didn’t use it though *lol*, its on my "maybe someday" list)
http://www.autism.org/melatonin.html
http://www.udaan.org/drugs/autrx2.html
http://www.keepkidshealthy.com/medicine_cabinet/melatonin_sleep_problems.html
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/464854
http://cpj.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/42/1/51
Melatonin isn’t even safe for adults (can cause permanent eye problems), why would they be giving it to children? I’d seek another opinion before even considering this. I’d also try major diet changes (eliminating starches and sugars) before considering it as well.
I have chronic insomnia and even my doctor told me not to take it because of the possibility of eye problems (I already have serious eye problems).