Is melatonin safe to give my three year old who stays up all night?
No it’s not a good idea. Melatonin is a hormone that acts as a neurotransmitter. It sends signal about circadian rhythm- natural body cycles of sleep and awakeness, but it also is tied up somehow with other hormones. There is NO scientific evidence that it is safe for 3 year olds. It could end up screwing up your child’s brain signals. We don’t know enough about how it works, and it does NOT work well for everyone. Your pharmacist is right and your doctor is wrong. Get a second opinion, or better yet, get your doc to send you to a clinic where the child can have a complete workup. Find out what the problem is before anyone starts prescribing meds for a toddler to fix the symptom. I empathize with you- I had one child who was 3 !/2 before sleeping thru the night. He had a baby sibling who slept thru at 4 weeks old and he was still up five times a night. It makes a mom a little edgy to be so short on sleep. I commend you for wanting more information- most sleep-deprived parents would jus
