Can I give Kalms herbal sleep tablets to a 13 year old?

[PrettyyGood]

My DS is going through a period of insomnia - falls asleep ok as a rule but can take a while and he's waking in the middle of the night. We are currently trialling a few 'natural' methods such as a warm milk before bed, no screens for an hour or two before bed etc etc

Suddenly occurred to me to try him with a Kalms tablet but says on the packet not recommended for under 18s. Why would that be? Can't see anything in the ingredients that caused alarm and google not throwing up anything specific. Any ideas? Thanks

I don't know about the Kalms, but is anything worrying him/on his mind at the moment? It might be more helpful to get to the cause of the insomnia, rather than dealing with the symptoms.

The nothing much happens podcast on Spotify is brilliant. It evokes some mediation type storytelling. The

Maybe try a bit of self hypnosis/ visualisation. Handy skills to learn. Has he got any worries at the moment?

Oh yeah we do all the chatting etc etc. He's very open to going through stuff with me so I'm fairly sure nothing going on. He's frustrated he's waking up and then struggling to sleep again and then tired at 7.30am!

I suspect it's a puberty thing to be honest.

I have told him not to just lie in the dark wide awake and suggested some very low key activities such as reading. He would rather grab his phone and watch nonsense on YouTube though but his devices are out of his room overnight.

That Spotify thing sounds good - he could like via his Alexa could he?

Does he get a lot of exercise? Maybe try some of the pillow lavender spray.

I agree with podcasts / stories. That's pretty much the only thing that works for me. Loads of stuff on BBC iPlayer radio. The French whisperer on YouTube is also good (both soothing and informative). And how about herbal teas with valerian and/or passiflora?

Yes absolutely OP.

The stories are pretty ordinary. I love the woman’s voice and her descriptions of things. And she says if you wake in the middle of the night, then try and recall as many details of the story as you can. I’ve slept much better since I’ve found it.
You’ll need a spotify account but you can sign up for a free one

Sleep with me, by Dearest Scooter on Spotify is also good.

Plenty of exercise I think. Walks to school and back, plays football. Good diet

Ooh I'll try the nothing happens thing and pillow spray is a good shout. Have plenty of that

He just needs to learn how to switch off! I listen to podcasts and plays.

Kalms and nytol give me hideous nightmares that I struggle to wake up from. I won’t touch them now.

A weighted blanket can help with both settling and staying asleep.

I too have seen the minimum age on Kalms and wondered why. I assumed that there just hasn't been the research done to confirm it is ok for still-growing children to take. A friend has given it to her DC of a similar age without any obvious issue, but I haven't used it with my own DCs.

I'd try Rescue Remedy as Kalms and Nytol give me odd dreams like the pp,I think it's the valerian.

I can really sympathise with your son. I do this all the time.

For me, i like the "In Our Time" programme on radio 4. Also having a really boring, dense book to read makes my eyes heavy too.

Not sure about calms but I've heard weighted blankets are good.
Also he needs to take the stress out of being 'awake'. Explain to him that even though he is awake, if he just lies there and relaxes his body is still getting a good rest. If he falls back to sleep that's a bonus.

Weighted blanket is a good idea. I can get one of those

I'm loathe to give him a Kalms if it means he will have nightmares or have some sort of 'hangover' in the morning! I'm keen to nip it in the bud before it becomes chronic. He's falling asleep - he's just not staying asleep.

I listened to Nothing Much Happens last night. It was lovely!

Some weighted blanket tips then. Go for 10-12% or just over of his bodyweight - don't go under this, especially as he is still growing as the blanket will soon become too small. Don't be tempted to buy bigger than Single size, because they become too difficult to handle and wash the bigger they are - unlike a quilt, the blanket is to cover just the one person ideally, not the whole bed. We use one which comes with a warm fleecy cover, and then bought a cotton cover too as a spare and for summer use. They are warm. Check reviews because some are better quality than others and are less likely to leak the (usually glass) beads or bunch the weight up as they are sewn securely into little square pockets. There are often money off offers available, saving as much as 30-50%. Some people take to them instantly, others find they take a little getting used to so it is worth persevering. They don't suit or help everyone of course, including the under 2s, or with some underlying issues like asthma, sleep apnea or claustrophobia. It's a bit like being hugged all night. Basically, they work on the principle of Deep Touch Pressure, helping to reduce the stress hormone cortisol and increase the happy hormones serotonin and dopamine. HTH.

OP, I considered Kalms for my DS16 who was suffering with low mood. I enquired with my GP why they say over 18s only, and he said it’s because they haven’t been tested for consumption by children. We went ahead, and whilst I can’t say they helped, we certainly didn’t notice any side effects.

There are lots of herbal teas for sleep that have similar ingredients to herbal tablets, just lower concentration I guess.

@GinnyStrupac may I ask where your blanket came from?

My son 9 had a period of trouble sleeping recently and we found a warm bath with the radios seep bubble bath and then a lavender pillow mist and a light (don’t know proper name) but it spelt dims over time like the sun going down, he was always asleep before it went off completely...helped along with the no screens for 2 hours before

*radox!!