Melatonin

[jenk1]

didnt want to hijack the thread on settling to sleep.

my DD who is 18months just does not sleep, she has me up for about 2-3 hours in the middle of the night EVERY night, she,s not hungry or thirsty she just wants to play, she is under investigation at the moment from the hospital for a number of things including ASD, but the sleep deprevation is killing me, how old do children have to be to be prescribed Melatonin and is it worth me asking the paediatrician next week for some for her?

TIA

[macwoozy]

I'm in the same position with my ds, and have considered Melatonin as well, my only concern being that my ds is always so tired in the mornings and have wondered if Melatonin would make this worse. I could scream some nights, so I know exactly how you're feeling jenk1.

[Davros]

It shouldn't make someone more sleepy the next day according to what I've been told. It also won't KEEP someone asleep but will get them to sleep. I tried it in the middle of the night when DS woke and it didn't work but DOES in the evening before bedtime. I believe there is a slow release version but don't know much about it or how it works. I would ask your Paediatrician anyway, no harm done.

[pippapod]

Hi jenk1 We have been using melatonin for about a year now as we had all the same problems as you describe.DD is 4 now and I wish that I had asked for it sooner. Paed initially prescribed it to try and establish a natural sleeping pattern, which thankfully this had done. It is a natural hormone that is produced by the body but obviously some people produce it at all the wrong times, like my dd, who seemed to be unable to stay awake from about 11am onwards, but then just could not sleep at night. Melatonin keeps her body in sync with our normal sleep routine, which is a must for parents after years of sleep deprivation.It is not addictive and usually works for about 4 hours by which time they should be in a deep natural sleep anyway.We always had problems with getting our dd to go to sleep and this has proved to be a godsend for us, she will now ask to go to bed about 15 mins after having it. Ours is in a capsule that I just break up and add the contents to her bedtime drink, and hey presto sleep for us all Definitely worth asking your paed for some.