would you give melatonin to a 2 yo?

[jackson'smama]

my dd just turned two and does not sleep well at all. none of my kids were "good sleepers" until well into 2-3 years of age but she is by far the worst. she falls asleep easily and sleeps well for about 4 hours but the rest of the night she wakes up at least every two hours, is restless, screams and yells in her sleeps, kicks, points her fingers...she's having some vivid dreams of arguing with her brothers and whatnot! i am able to wake her from this but it takes a few tries. she falls asleep and does it all again in 2 hours or less.

she's clingy all.day.long. whiny. it's darn near impossible to get school work done b/c she constantly wants to be in my lap or is crying for my attention b/c she wants to cuddle up and sleep. however, she won't nap!

and if lo and behold she naps, she takes forever to go to sleep at night.

 

i'm lost here. the ped says give her 1mg melatonin every night for two weeks. but i'm terrified to give it to her. any advice?

[jackson'smama]

thank you.

i'm worried to give it...but i also feel like i need to do SOMETHING to help her get her sleep in order. i just don't know what else to do for her.:confused:

[indigomama]

Our Ped recommended it. We tried it, but it didn't really help. I was afraid of using it though. Have you tried maybe the homopathic children calming tablets? We've used those with our littles if they were having hard times sleeping.

[momacacia]

What about supplemental magnesium or magnesium oil. Might be worth looking into.

[jackson'smama]

Our Ped recommended it.

 

 

for what age?

[mommyto4]

Try it! We have a son with sleep issues. We tried melatonin at 2, but it didn't work. Now, at five, we tried it again. It is an answer to prayers.

 

It does not hurt to try at 2 and it may work wonders.

[jackson'smama]

Have you tried white noise?

 

That worked for my bad sleeper (who is now 10).

 

 

i can't sleep well without a fan myself...there's always white noise at night

[Pamela H in Texas]

Our dr has us give it to the 18month old. The idea would be that his clock will change.

It hasn't yet as we *know* when we forget. Though he is still *quite*...ummm...challenging,

it is much better than when he was getting NO sleep. NO doubt *I* am better not waking every 10-15 minutes too :)

[Ottakee]

We have used it safely with our kids but not quite that young. I would also think you might need to start with a lower dose and then work up if needed. For some kids it can cause bad dreams and it sounds like you certainly don't need that. They make a long acting form that helps the kids STAY asleep.

 

Would the doctor consider ordering a sleep study to find out why she is waking up and so restless all night long?

[jackson'smama]

Would the doctor consider ordering a sleep study to find out why she is waking up and so restless all night long?

 

he mentioned that as a possible next step if this doesn't help her. i feel so bad like i need to do something to help her sleep...but giving her a "medication" yo do so feels wrong.:confused:

[T'smom]

I actually do. But mine does NOT go to sleep easily....you have to lay with her for more than an hour. It only seems to affect her for a few hours. She's up in the middle of the night (around 1:00) every night. I only give her a tiny bit though. I givE the 5yo about 3 mg and he wakes in the middle of the night also. But if we don't give it to him, it is at least two hours before he goes to sleep. And if you try to leave him alone, he will scream until he throws up. I don't know if I would give it to a kid who was falling asleep initially, as the effect doesn't seem to last long.

[Ruby Rose]

I'd be very hesitant, but if I did it would be a very low dose like 1/4 of a 3 mg tablet, so about .75 mg (perhaps even less like .5 mg). My 7 yo takes 3 mg and it has been a huge help for her. She has been a poor sleeper her entire life. FTR I take 6 mg.

[jackson'smama]

I don't know if I would give it to a kid who was falling asleep initially' date=' as the effect doesn't seem to last long.[/quote']

 

that's what i keep wondering about...everything i read it seems that parents are giving it to get kids to sleep. my problem is KEEPING her asleep...hmmmm....i have no clue what's going on with her.

[sbgrace]

Well, our doctor(s) recommended it for a while and I didn't. We did have a sleep study. Finally at 3.5 I tried it. It was life changing. My son still (at 8) only takes .5 a mg.

 

The thing is my son's issue has always been falling rather than staying asleep (until recently anyway). So if you do decide to try it you would want to try dosing when she wakes in the night I'd think. If you do try I also would go with the lowest effective dose. There is no reason to start at 1 mg.

 

FWIW, we did and do white noise, healthy sleep habits, dark room, magnesium, etc. All that is fine to try first. I hope you get some sleep!

[jackson'smama]

FWIW, we did and do white noise, healthy sleep habits, dark room, magnesium, etc. All that is fine to try first. I hope you get some sleep!

 

by "dark room" - do you mean completely? we have a very low level night light just for safety purposes. maybe too much?

 

 

and btw, dh said she fell asleep for about 15 min today and now she is WOUND UP. normally, she'd be falling asleep right about now. just one little cat nap totally ruins bedtime. but she's not "dropping naps" - she's basically refused naps for a year now. it's only rarely that she just collapses during the day, but when she does, it ruins bedtime. so weird.

[jackson'smama]

So what does she do if she doesn't sleep? I'm trying to picture this situation. Do you sit with her until she is totally out?

 

I never really did that with mine. I myself have to lay there for quite a long time before falling asleep. Usually I read, do logic puzzles, etc. Obviously that's less of an option for a 2 year old, but I might put her to bed with a toy, picture book, etc. and just let her do that until she falls asleep. I never waited until mine were asleep.

 

she actually still nurses to sleep if i am home. if i am not, she is with dh or my mom. grandma usually rocks her and daddy usually just lies with her. with both, she's out in 10 min or less. same thing with nursing (except tonight due to above-mentioned cat nap :glare:). but if I try to get her to sleep without nursing, it would take for.ev.er. putting her in bed alone would result in her repeatedly getting up.

[*Michelle*]

We've tried it in the past. It certainly helped our son get to sleep, but he wouldn't stay asleep. The extended release melatonin is in a capsule form and he couldn't swallow that at such a young age.

 

We've evolved into a pretty complex nighttime behavior and medication routine over the past half year or so. All of this is with our doctor's input and guidance, by the way. Our son is diagnosed PDD-NOS and has sensory issues. This is the only thing that has brought us all back from the brink of hallucinations due to lack of sleep.

 

Bath time is at the same time every night. It's a lukewarm-warm bath with lavender epsom salts added. The lights in the bathroom are off and we have a couple of candles lit. We give all of the kids some glow-in-the dark stuff to play with in the bath so our son can get some of the sensory input that helps calm him down.

 

Near the end of the bath, he gets a syringe full of warm water and 1/4 teaspoon of Calm magnesium supplement, 1/4 teaspoon of GABA powder, and 0.15 mg of clonidine. 15 minutes after his meds, he's out of the tub. He can't stand to sleep with much on, so it's a diaper and sleep shorts every night. He sleeps in our room at night, mainly so he doesn't disturb any of the other kids. Once he's ready, he's put in the bed. We have a board book for him to look at. The TV is on Pandora, with really soft instrumental music playing. I sit next to him while he lays there and "reads." We have a ceiling fan on high and turn the AC down low. He won't tolerate a sheet when he's tired, so it's just him laying on the pillow.

 

Within ten minutes, he's out. At that point, I cover him up and usually my husband and I will watch a show or read until we're ready to go to bed after a couple of hours. We take turns sleeping in the room with him. The other person is in charge of the baby during the night and sleeps in the boys' room with our oldest and the little one. It actually started out as a break for the person with the baby because Oliver was up screaming for hours and hours at night. Now, after all of these modifications, the person with Oliver is the one who sleeps. Before turning in, we turn on a white noise machine at a pretty loud setting.

 

Most nights, he wakes up again briefly about three or four hours after he initially goes to sleep. When he does, we immediately give him 7.5 ml of Benadryl. We keep that in a syringe next to the bed. We also check his diaper to make sure he's dry. He rarely voids at night anymore, but when he did he'd have to get changed or he wouldn't go back to sleep. He's usually back to sleep within 15 minutes and he doesn't have the screaming fits that he used to.

 

Sounds pretty extreme, right? We've come to this very gradually and always with guidance from our pediatrician and his therapists. Thankfully, he sleeps a good 11 to 12 hours a night now and we're all much better for it. Hopefully, we'll be able to taper some of this off as he gets older. When the baby's a little older and we're up for the challenge, we're planning on transitioning him back to his own room. Until then, we do what we have to do to get everyone some rest.

[amo_mea_filiis.]

If you're willing to try it, go for the lowest, longer acting dose possible.

 

I would really want a sleep study. Sleep apnea is very common and is usually treated by removing tonsils and adenoids.

[T'smom]

We've tried it in the past. It certainly helped our son get to sleep, but he wouldn't stay asleep. The extended release melatonin is in a capsule form and he couldn't swallow that at such a young age.

 

We've evolved into a pretty complex nighttime behavior and medication routine over the past half year or so. All of this is with our doctor's input and guidance, by the way. Our son is diagnosed PDD-NOS and has sensory issues. This is the only thing that has brought us all back from the brink of hallucinations due to lack of sleep.

 

Bath time is at the same time every night. It's a lukewarm-warm bath with lavender epsom salts added. The lights in the bathroom are off and we have a couple of candles lit. We give all of the kids some glow-in-the dark stuff to play with in the bath so our son can get some of the sensory input that helps calm him down.

 

Near the end of the bath, he gets a syringe full of warm water and 1/4 teaspoon of Calm magnesium supplement, 1/4 teaspoon of GABA powder, and 0.15 mg of clonidine. 15 minutes after his meds, he's out of the tub. He can't stand to sleep with much on, so it's a diaper and sleep shorts every night. He sleeps in our room at night, mainly so he doesn't disturb any of the other kids. Once he's ready, he's put in the bed. We have a board book for him to look at. The TV is on Pandora, with really soft instrumental music playing. I sit next to him while he lays there and "reads." We have a ceiling fan on high and turn the AC down low. He won't tolerate a sheet when he's tired, so it's just him laying on the pillow.

 

Within ten minutes, he's out. At that point, I cover him up and usually my husband and I will watch a show or read until we're ready to go to bed after a couple of hours. We take turns sleeping in the room with him. The other person is in charge of the baby during the night and sleeps in the boys' room with our oldest and the little one. It actually started out as a break for the person with the baby because Oliver was up screaming for hours and hours at night. Now, after all of these modifications, the person with Oliver is the one who sleeps. Before turning in, we turn on a white noise machine at a pretty loud setting.

 

Most nights, he wakes up again briefly about three or four hours after he initially goes to sleep. When he does, we immediately give him 7.5 ml of Benadryl. We keep that in a syringe next to the bed. We also check his diaper to make sure he's dry. He rarely voids at night anymore, but when he did he'd have to get changed or he wouldn't go back to sleep. He's usually back to sleep within 15 minutes and he doesn't have the screaming fits that he used to.

 

Sounds pretty extreme, right? We've come to this very gradually and always with guidance from our pediatrician and his therapists. Thankfully, he sleeps a good 11 to 12 hours a night now and we're all much better for it. Hopefully, we'll be able to taper some of this off as he gets older. When the baby's a little older and we're up for the challenge, we're planning on transitioning him back to his own room. Until then, we do what we have to do to get everyone some rest.

 

:grouphug::grouphug::grouphug: I csn't imagine.

[Denisemomof4]

Dd9 and I both hallucinated from it.

[justLisa]

Dd9 and I both hallucinated from it.

 

See I thought I was crazy for thinking something was wrong with me after taking it. My sleep was horrid because I had the most insane dreams you could imagine. it was disturbing.

[*Michelle*]

:grouphug::grouphug::grouphug: I csn't imagine.

 

:001_smile: Our nights are pretty peaceful now. The candlelight and music and scents are a nice end to the day for all of us. Plus, I have fun finding light-up bath things. Right now, we're doing glow stick bracelets. We had them inside water balloons for awhile and they all liked playing with those. We had a good run with a set of submersible LED tealights, too.

 

Thankfully, the other kids are great sleepers. They fall asleep on their own in their own beds and stay there all night. That certainly helps!

[swellmomma]

I would not without consulting with a Dr. Older kids no problem but that little not without talking to the dr first.

[Stayseeliz]

IMO that's WAY too young.

[Kaleidoscope]

Our neurologist started dd on it under a year old.

 

But my understanding is that it's for falling asleep and not so much for staying asleep.

[sbgrace]

by "dark room" - do you mean completely? we have a very low level night light just for safety purposes. maybe too much?

 

 

and btw' date=' dh said she fell asleep for about 15 min today and now she is WOUND UP. normally, she'd be falling asleep right about now. just one little cat nap totally ruins bedtime. but she's not "dropping naps" - she's basically refused naps for a year now. it's only rarely that she just collapses during the day, but when she does, it ruins bedtime. so weird.[/quote']

 

Well, his room is completely dark, yes. :tongue_smilie: He will stay awake with any light at all. As in stay awake all night. His "record" was 20 hours of being awake with no sleep--exhausted but staying awake anyway. So for us it takes more than melatonin.

 

I always feel like I have to add that his twin has a night light in his room! I always feel weird when I write what we've done for my son's sleep but for some kids it really does matter. He's had major sleep problems since he was extremely young. I do think a sleep study is good to rule out fixable problems. My son's was abnormal in that he had an extremely delayed sleep onset and a large number of partial arousals (coming out of sleep stages to almost wake up) throughout the night. He had some apnea but under the thresh-hold they use. So we didn't get any help but I'm still glad we ruled out treatable stuff.

Edited October 9, 2012 by sbgrace

[Melissa in Australia]

NO

[Laura Corin]

I'd go with more exercise instead. How much time does she spend running around outdoors each day?

 

Laura