If your child takes melatonin, do you have to keep increasing the dosage?

[6packofun]

I'm losing my mind.  Ds9 CANNOT fall asleep and has always had problems with this.  He seriously does not get tired until well after midnight.  Every. single. night.  We started out almost 2 years ago with just 1/2 mg of melatonin and now it's not helping him unless he takes about 2 mg.  I don't like the idea of continuing to increase this, but doctors offer nothing except every other thing we've tried like lots of exercise, warm baths, no screen time at least 2 hours before bedtime, a soothing bedtime routine, moving his bedtime a LITTLE bit earlier every week...on and on.  I'm freaking exhausted spending up to 2 hours with this kid every night.  He shares a room--we have no choice--with his 15yo brother and I feel terrible for subjecting him to this, too!

 

Has ANYTHING worked for you?  (Btw, ds is going to be evaluated by a doctor soon, but we're pretty sure we're looking at Tourette's, ADHD and possibly some kind of OCD/mild sensory issues stuff, too.)

[Rosie_0801]

Have you tried feeding him foods that contain the ingredients for serotonin?

[Tap]

Insomnia is common at that age and with the increasing hormones, I wouldn't be surprised by the increased dosage.

 

3mg is a common dosage at that age, so 2mg may not even be a therapeutic level for him. 

 

DD17 and DD9 take Schiff Melatonin 3mg Ultra, which has a few other ingredients for sleep as well. They like it better than Melatonin by itself, but everyone is so different that I can't say that it would work better for your son or not.  They are both asleep within 30 minutes of taking it, so I know it really works well for them.  One time I forgot to add it to dd9s nighttime med tray and after two nights of her struggling to go to sleep (2+hours) I finally thought to check her tray.  Sure enough, I forgot to add it.  I gave it to her and she was asleep in about 20 minutes.  She has a diagnosed sleep disorder, and this med not only helps her go to sleep, she wakes up much easier in the morning, so it doesn't give her brain fog like some other sleeping meds will.  

Edited April 4, 2016 by Tap

[6packofun]

 

 

3mg is a common dosage at that age, so 2mg may not even be a therapeutic level for him. 

 

DD17 and DD9 take Schiff Melatonin 3mg Ultra, which has a few other ingredients for sleep as well. They like it better than Melatonin by itself, but everyone is so different that I can't say that it would work better for your son or not.  T

 

OK, I will up his dosage and see how he does.  I don't really want to go over 3, but I'm not sure why...I've never had a clear picture on dosages because it's a supplement, you know?  He's a scrawny little guy and I don't want to overdo it. The Schiff product looks good, although I think I recall trying Valerian and it gave him nightmares.  BUT they have one with melatonin and l-theanine that I may give a try.  Thanks!

[Joker]

Oldest dd could never tolerate the 3mg prescribed by our doctor. She did take 1mg for a while but she complained she didn't like the way it made her feel during the night or the next day. She eventually refused to take it at all.

 

She now falls asleep quite easily listening to a Youtube video with whispering. I would have to ask her tomorrow exactly what it is but it's worked wonders. Her therapist was happy to find it through dd as well. Since dd is already taking meds for anxiety, depression, and low b12/anemia it was nice to find something that worked that wasn't a medication. She now goes to sleep at 10pm and gets up at 6am to go to ps and there are no issues. 

[TechWife]

Ask the pediatrician. That's who figured out the correct dosing for my son. He's never had to increase his dose.

[HSmomof2]

Definitely see the dr., but I understand your exhaustion. We've been dealing with dd(10)'s insomnia for about 2 years. She was a terrible sleeper as a baby/toddler but got better until she was 8. We tried everything we could think of to help her sleep. Melatonin wasn't working. Finally saw ped. who referred her to neurologist. She was also having headaches, so had an MRI to rule out anything bad. Neurologist put her on trazadone for 3 months to break the insomnia cycle. She now takes a low dose of clonidine(which is a bp med) and is sleeping much better. She occasionally takes melatonin but not often anymore.

[Spryte]

Yes, ask the pediatrician.

 

DS12 takes 5 mg, based on doc's rec. We use Source Naturals - the kind that dissolves under the tongue. It's the best one we've tried, and we've tried a lot. Yes - we. I take it, too. :)

[Tap]

OK, I will up his dosage and see how he does.  I don't really want to go over 3, but I'm not sure why...I've never had a clear picture on dosages because it's a supplement, you know?  He's a scrawny little guy and I don't want to overdo it. The Schiff product looks good, although I think I recall trying Valerian and it gave him nightmares.  BUT they have one with melatonin and l-theanine that I may give a try.  Thanks!

I should add that the ingredients in the combo med were cleared by dd's sleep specialist, but you may want to check with your doc before introducing a combination product. DD9 has a fairly significant sleep disorder, so what she takes may not be what is recommended to other kids.  She also takes 2 other medications for sleep on top of this.  Clonodine and Trazodone, those 2 meds alone would knock most adults on their butts. LOL 

[StephanieZ]

Do you make sure he gets plenty of morning sunshine? On days it isn't possible to get lots of morning sunshine, I'd use a high quality light therapy light. 

 

FWIW, I've been taking melatonin to get to sleep for years and it really helps me, but I have been able to gradually decrease the dose, not increase it. I started at 5mg, went to 3 after a few weeks, and got down to 2 after a couple years. I'm still hoping to decrease more. :)

 

I do feel hung over and foggy the next day if I take 5mg. 

 

So, based on my experience, I'd just try to keep to the lowest effective dose if I were using it. I'd be leery of using it long term on a young child, though. Who knows what it really does to us .  . .  

 

Do you have the option to just let the kid go to bed late?? Give him a book (or pile of soft quiet toys) and a safe nightlight???

 

My mom let me fall asleep in my toys every night as a little tiny kid. Seems like a good option to me. 

[gardenmom5]

dudeling was taking more than that when he was 6. 

 

what's his heavy metal intake like?  mercury is in tuna and high fructose corn syrup (caustic soda has mercury - and it is used to extract the sugar from the corn).  dudeling's  Hg was really high (he was drinking soda while doing the blood draw, that was likely a contributing factor), and we ended up doing 12 weeks of glutathione injections (natural antioxidant - and the only way to get it into the cell is via injections. capsules don't work.) to help him metabolize the Hg. the interesting thing was during the process, I had to reduce the amount of melatonin he was getting, and he finally stopped needing any.  he now only needs it occasionally.

 

so, no tuna, or HFCS.