To ask if anyone has given their toddler melatonin?

[JesusInTheCabbageVan]

I'm doing what I swore I would never do: prefacing a non-AIBU question with 'To ask' so I can stick it in here and get the high traffic.

I'm currently desperate with my 15mo. He's normally a good sleeper but has these bad phases which COULD be teething or illness etc, but which most often seem to be linked to changes in development. At the moment he is feeding for 1 hour, three times a night and utterly hysterical if that doesn't get him off to sleep.

Long story short - I don't have the energy for sleep training but I've just seen the word 'melatonin supplements' during a google search and I'm wondering. I wouldn't use it long term, but I'm thinking about trying it for a few nights just in case he's needing to break the cycle. Anyone used it?

Oh, and I'm waiting to hear back from OOH for an appointment today, just in case there's a physical cause.

Um also its not a long term drug its to aid sleep issues and would only be issued by the GP if everything else has been tried

If you got it one line any thing happens to him you might end up with a child in care so be careful

Never give children medicine which isn't prescribed for them! Are people crazy!

Please don t I know youre desperate We ve all been there. Controlled crying is hideous we call it uncontrolled in our house.But, it works 2 nights of hell and it's over if you are truly desperate.The best advice I ever received was that nothing lasts longer than a week and in my experience it tends to be true.Just a thought but could he be coming down with chicken pox it makes them foul.Speak to the health visitor about it all they are having a bit of a push on sleeping xx

Hello, I'd never heard of giving a child melatonin but it doesn't sound like a good idea. I'm not sure this is what you want to hear, but I was desperately sleep deprived with a toddler and this is what I did.

ds was exclusively breastfed and once past the first few blissful months, got progressively worse at sleeping at night.

After months of going into work like a zombie and dh also getting to his wits end as well as me, some colleagues gently suggested I needed to take drastic action.

I got home at teatime and did not offer the breast, went cold turkey. It went against my instincts and I felt sick when ds cried. He cried himself to sleep but slept well that night, dh agreed to settle at night and in the morning which worked great.

I'm not exaggerating but Ds did not ask to feed after about 24 hours and his general temperament was so much happier, we could cuddle in the day rather than me being his dummy and he slept through a few nights after.

It's not everyone's idea of weaning off the breast, I thought he would self.wean, but we were both so much happier when we had slept properly and could bond without the boob!

Sharptic its usually given to children who are disabled and cant sleep due to there condition but this is done as alast resort and its only given to get over a hump not long term

It lowers there blood pressure and you would be hard pressed to get a GP to give it to a chikd under 5

My SIL lives in another country and gives her 15 months old DS melatonin. She says it doesn't help. She's now considering giving him proper drugs.

wtf oh dear bimba

Melatonin only on prescription for older kids with sn.

I had to stop bf to get ds to sleep through the night. He was the same and refused point blank to drink out of anything except boobs. He woke and screamed to feed every two hours, day or night. I was a total zombie.

Within two days of stopping bf (and I stopped dead, completely cold turkey) he was taking water and juice from a beaker, and has slept through ever since.

We had been trying to introduce other drinks out of cups, bottles, (the health visitor even tried teaspoons) for at least six months. He was completely plastic phobic from having RSV and double pneumonia at 11 weeks - he associated plastic near his face with being on the nebuliser - so to even get it near him turned him into a screaming hysterical fighting machine.

He didn't need feeding at night, however much he enjoyed the milk and the cuddle. I, however, needed my sleep.

I was terrified that he would end up severely dehydrated and in hospital. In the end it was so hysterically easy (after six months of sheer desperation and coaxing and wheedling and giving him to the neighbors/ breast feeding counsellors - yes, I was so desperate I even begged the bf counselling team to help him quit, health visitors, anyone who would take him and have a go at giving him a drink another way lol) that i still can't quite believe it.

He'd still be breast feeding every two hours now if I hadn't just point blank refused and stopped. He's 11.

Some toddlers do need a bit of silly more robust sleep management than others.

His little sister had night terrors at 2. That was fun, as well.

I turned it down for ASD dd. It certainly should not be used lightly.

Slightly more robust. Silly?!

I know. The drug in question is a hypnotic-sedative. She says she now has a prescription from a paediatrician apparently. In some countries it's been banned as it can cause muscle weakness, addiction and sleepiness during the day (I did my own research).
It's criminal.

Weve been prescribed it by our paediatrician for our son who has sn.

I think that at 15 months you need to start sleep training.

OP have you tried more water-play to get your LO to drink fluids? DD will drink any amount of slightly sandy water from an old cup rather than nicely from a bottle or sippy cup. I let her play in the sink and she just sips as she goes.

Ds 5 has been prescribed it since he was two when he was getting 5 hours sleep a night. With it he gets about 8 but still wakes for 4 hours in the middle of the night.

I'd just like to point out for the benefit of any worried parents that of course children learn to sleep on their own all night long without intervention, and that breastfeeding during the night is in no way bad for a baby or child's digestion.

Having said that, if you have reached the stage of seriously considering giving your child illegal drugs, then you probably need to change something. I assume you've had a go at some of the stuff in the No Cry Sleep Solution? There are some sleep experts who use gentle techniques. Maybe you could ask around to see if someone can recommend someone local to you?

In the meantime, it sounds as though you could use some extra support just to get you to the point where you have enough energy to take action. Do you have family/friends/partner who could take the baby (and any other children if you have them) off tour hands and out of the house during the day for a couple of days while you nap, have ling baths and catch up on energy. Think of it a sort of vital intervention for the sake if your health rather than a self-indulgent request.

Good grief. There is a great deal of hysteria on this thread!

Having a child that will not slep is incredibly difficult to deal with - tiredness changes our personality and makes everything in life more difficult I can understand anyone struggling with this having coped with DS 2 who rarely slept more than 4 hours a night for nearly two years.

We used melatonin when our paediatrician suggested it. It seemed to help DS2 settle to sleep and a calm start to the night made him more able to get back to sleep if he woke.

Melatonin has few listed side effects and the bizarre ranting of some on here is disproportionate to the likelihood of a problem from melatonin.

I would however suggest that you hold your nerve for a few months assuming your dc have no SN and find out if there are any physical causes before you try this. You would obviously need to chat with your Doctor if you really are struggling and think this would help your dc

I'm totally with you, yami. But even the paediatrician noted that ds was quite the stubbornest child she had ever met (as well as being jolly fat from feeding constantly all day and night). Feeding all night might not be bad for a baby's health or digestion, but it can be catastrophic for a mother's mental health.

We both needed to go cold turkey. (She was actually delighted he was so fat, what with the almost dying and all, but sleep deprivation being what is, and 15mo's not needing sustenance during the night, we felt it was time to teach him to sleep, rather than wait for years for it to happen naturally).

Pagwatch I'd be suprised id a paed. suggested it for a 15 month old though. I appreciate the OP is having a tough time but melatonin is not the answer - other issues such as; SN aside.

And, quite, Pag.

With two children with sn, I know a whole heap of parents who use prescription melatonin.

I know no mothers of toddlers who would do the same.

Desperation does funny things to us, and I would be stopping bf, if the nt toddler doesn't respond to anything other sleep training solution.

I agree Crashdoll, which is why I suggested a chat with her Doctor might be informative.

The 'illegal drugs' tone of this thread is a bit shit tbh.

Ds2 has SN and was prescribed melatonin by a paediatrician aged 4, they wouldn't prescribe it any younger and we had to prove we had tried different types of sleep training before prescribing it.

Could the poor baby just have teething pains, abit of cal pol and a love with his mum and you may find he settles a lot easier.

And it's not illegal where I'm living at the mo. You can buy it over the counter.

I do recommend it on sn forums where parents are struggling with much older children, despite never having tried it myself. It has made such a positive change in the lives of many parents dealing with severe disabilities.

Geez; OP said several posts in she wasn't going to do it.

Have you/would you consider cosleeping for a while OP or what about trying to cut out a day sleep? Have you a really good bed time routine?;

Breast milk is still a great source of food for your baby, at this age and it would be a shame to wean her if she's just going through a difficult stage (doesn't sound like you are planning to though) hope you get some sleep tonight.

Sorry DS not DD