Melatonin, a naturally occurring hormone, is also synthetically produced and available to people who have difficulty falling asleep because it helps adjust sleep-wake cycles. Some parents give melatonin to their children if they have sleep problems, particularly children with autism, cerebral palsy and mental retardation. For most children, melatonin is possibly unsafe because it affects hormones, which might affect a child's development, according to MedlinePlus. Some studies suggest, however, that melatonin does not affect puberty development.
Positive Experience
A follow-up study conducted by the Melatonin Research Group of Canada found that parents who participated regarded long-term use of melatonin to be a positive experience. The children in the follow-up study suffered from circadian rhythm sleep disorders and had neurodevelopmental disabilities. The children did not develop a tolerance to melatonin and did not have any adverse reactions after having taken melatonin for 3.8 years. By being able to sleep better after taking melatonin, the children were healthier, better behaved and more equipped to learn.
Long-Term Use
A Dutch study conducted from May 2004 to February 2007 and published in the July 2011 issue of the "Psychopharmacology" journal researched whether long-term use of melatonin would influence development during puberty, sleep quality and mental health in children. The study found that children could tolerate taking melatonin over a sustained period without it affecting puberty development, sleep quality or mental health. The children in the study were not disabled, but they suffered from chronic sleep onset insomnia, which about 10 percent of Dutch school-age children suffer from. This condition makes it difficult for children to fall asleep at their bedtimes.
Improved Sleep
An interesting finding from the Dutch study was that six of 11 children stopped taking melatonin and did not suffer a recurrence of delayed sleep onset. This implies that stopping melatonin does not necessarily mean that sleep problems will return and that melatonin use might improve the delayed sleep onset condition. However, it does not imply that melatonin doesn't work. Children who suffered from sleep onset insomnia and took melatonin still did not sleep as well as children who did not have sleep difficulties, but they slept better than the children with a sleep disorder who did not take melatonin. Also, two of the participants who stopped taking melatonin suffered a delayed sleep pattern again.
Dosage
Before starting melatonin therapy for your child, discuss this with your doctor. Doses should be less than 0.3 mg per day, according to the University of Maryland Medical Center. Too much melatonin, between 1 mg and 5 mg, could cause seizures in children under 15 years old. It is always best to use the lowest amount of melatonin possible to achieve the desired effect. For children who have difficulty sleeping, you would typically give the melatonin one hour before bedtime.
References
- MedlinePlus; Melatonin; December 2010
- Melatonin Research Group; Long-Term Effectiveness Outcome of Melatonin Therapy in Children with Treatment-Resistant Circadian Rhythm Sleep Disorders; Carr, et al.; November 2007
- "Psychopharmacology"; Evaluation of Sleep, Puberty and Mental Health in Children with Long-Term Melatonin Treatment ... ; Ingeborg M. van Geijlswijk, et al.; July 2011
- University of Maryland Medical Center; Melatonin; December 2009
