If you give your child melatonin...

[PrincessAriel]

TIA

[mhg]

WHat type of sleep problem?

Have you blocked out all light in room?

TempurPedic has a great soft (barely feel-able) sleep mask.

[kokotg]

We use Trader Joe's...they're chewable and peppermint flavored. Did you try a smaller dose to see if that would help with the bad dreams? We split the TJs ones in half.

[amys]

Ooh, good to know about the TJ chewables! I have to crush tablets and give them to my 11 year old in yogurt b/c he can't swallow pills. I just use the kind they have at my grocery store and we've had no issues with it. I just looked, and it's "Nature's Made" brand.

[KS_]

We use Trader Joe's...they're chewable and peppermint flavored. Did you try a smaller dose to see if that would help with the bad dreams? We split the TJs ones in half.

 

I buy Nutrition Now brand chewable, mint flavored (500mcg) at Fred Meyer.

[sbgrace]

I use Pure Encapsulations for a long time but lately I've used Source Naturals. It's worked wonderfully here but melatonin can give vivid dreams for some people unfortunately. What was the dose? You could try the smallest effective dose and see if that helps. My pure encapsulations capsules were .5 mg. and I used half of them each night so .25 mg per night for my six year old. It's slightly harder to dose Source Naturals small but I still try to do the smallest effective dose.

[Misty]

We use the GNC brand from GNC.. They are sublingual and taste great. The only reason I chose this brand is because they do not contain soy and my daughter cannot have soy. As far as the bad dreams go.. Try lowering the dose.. My 7yr old daughter takes 1mg. My 9yr old daughter has the hardest time falling asleep and she takes 2mg.

[fiddledeedee]

We use Source Naturals Liquid Melatonin. That way I don't deal with the pills. We get it at our local health food store. I give my 4 year old about 3/4 of a....I forget how they dose it...mg? I try to limit giving it to him more than about 3 times a week. We noticed that giving it every night it seemed to work against him at times. By using it about half the time, it seems most effective. This is just what we've experienced though!

[Cindyg]

We also use Source Naturals -- a sublingual that you suck under the tongue like a little piece of candy. You can get orange or peppermint flavor. 1/2 mg has sufficed from age 6 until age 13.

 

I've heard of kids having nightmares while on it but we haven't experienced that here. I would recommend a smaller dose. Melatonin doesn't work for everyone, but it has been an absolute miracle for my son. You just can't imagine the difference it's made.

[DaffodilDreams]

We also use GNC.

[cjbeach]

We've used a lot of different brands over the years but I will tell you that we need to take "holidays" from it. Someone once sent me an article that it can cause anxiety. DS is anxious but has always been anxious, no change on Melatonin. But I do feel as though he develops a tolerance to it. And it is only effective if I give it when he's in a calm enviornment. If he has Melatonin and does not go lay in bed or relax... ugh. He becomes OVER tired and just cranky so he can't fall asleep and he's just MISERABLE. And I find it works best on my ds on an empty stomach.

I also found some brands more effective than the other - different binders perhaps?

The most effective Melatonin, which has been the quickest-acting in my ds, is liquid Melatonin.