Does anyone use Melatonin to help their child with ADHD sleep?

[Beantrees]

8 yo daughter recently diagnosed, no meds or treatment plan yet.

[Chatito]

Yes, sometimes it helps, not all the time.

[Onthemove1971]

yes, but we have him take it about 20-30 min before he goes to lay down so he is not sitting in bed waiting for it to help.

I feel it helps a lot. I also asked his psychiatrist and she said it would be ok to use.

I would also like to suggest a weighted blanket, white noise machine and making sure it is cool enough in your child's room. I have also learned that if our son goes to bed with lots of energy it is hard for him to get to sleep.

Good luck.

[Beantrees in reply to Onthemove1971]

Thank you for your input! We are just at the beginning of this journey, but I am trying to investigate all options. Honestly this quarantine is the culprit. Once she is able to go to daycare and school she has no trouble.

[Hillardt]

My daughter is 9. I give her 3 mg and it works I do on occasion. Look up calm music on you tube helps too

[KCsBM]

Yes, we sometimes use Melatonin. I say "sometimes" because we use it when needed. Our son is 8 years old, diagnosed with ADHD combined and ODD. Aside from trying to get him to bed, we struggle with him sleeping in his own bed (although partially my husband's fault on constantly giving in to that). Anyway, all in all, Melatonin is helpful for us. His pediatrician & other providers have also approved.

[Mogodicomo920]

Yes, our 10 year old takes a 2.5mg gummy about 30 minutes before bed and it really helps. He doesn’t always stay asleep although a weighted blanket has helped there too. Good luck to you!

[MomAndy]

My son takes 3mg sometimes if I can tell he’s particularly amped and it does help. He also likes a weighted blanket.

[4schnookie]

I have used Melatonin to help my son sleep for years. He was diagnosed with ADHD in 1st grade. When he was younger I'd stay in the room with him monitoring his wiggles so his brain would be 'still' enough to go to sleep, but as he got older I needed to make a change. This is when we started using Melatonin, 3 mg, strawberry flavored fizzle tablet, about 30 minutes before bed, every night. We made it part of the bedtime routine before his shower, so by the time his head hit the bed, he was out and he'd stay out pretty much all night. He's 13 in a week & a half and doesn't need to use it every day, which is also his preference. On occasion, when he's bouncy, he still uses it, but he's up to 5 mg now.

His complaint with it was that it was harder to wake up in the morning, but I think that's when he'd take it later at night, then would be upset when he wouldn't wake up at 5:00am to play video games before school. So take his issue with it for what it's worth.

[fredsmummy]

Yes I use it too, my son is 6 but the size of an 8 year old. I try not to use it too often but it really is good. He has a longer sleep also. He only needs 1mg or less. We use the gummy bear chewy type ones. Not sure if it’s the same in the US

[momwifedaughtersis]

We also believe melatonin helps our 8yo son fall asleep. We give a 5mg gummy about 1 hour before bedtime. This article linked below describes a couple (small) studies of melatonin in kids with ADHD. Unfortunately the weighted blanket didn't seem to help our son. He loved it at first and then rejected it after a week.

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

[Onthemove1971 in reply to momwifedaughtersis]

Just curious have you tried a white noise machine? They sell them at amazon. Thanks

[Beantrees in reply to Onthemove1971]

We used to have a window a/c unit that helped but have central air now. It's like she can't get her brain to slow down, even on a busy day. She is tired, but can't fall asleep. And she reads to herself but then needs to finish the book.

[Adam081911]

Yes, my 8 year old son has been taking melatonin 3mg, sometimes 5mg to help him fall asleep for 2 years. We had a behaviour consultant to try different strategies but none of them didn't help. She suggested to talk to our developmental pediatrician and her advise was giving him melatonin. Without it, it takes my son over an hour, sometimes 2 hours to fall asleep. With help of melatonin, he can fall asleep within expected time (within 30 minutes).

[mom2eandb]

yes. we use it occasionally and it is very effective. we experimented with dosing and found that less than .5 mg works best. less is more! if it doesn't work as expected, try reducing the dosage a bit to find the sweet spot.

[Aspen797 in reply to mom2eandb]

We found the same. We cut our son’s 1 mg Zarbee’s melatonin tab in 1/4’s and less works better!

[coopha]

Yes, started using it when our son was in 4th grade. He’s 14 now and barely uses it since he’s having huge growth spurts and sleeps well because of it, but it works well. He’s on meds and the stimulant does mess with his natural sleeping pattern.

[Sofi515]

I got a bottle of liquid drops with melatonin that also has vitamin D and elderberry. My son is 10 years old and has ADHD and ASD. He is taking it almost every night. It seems to help him. He has a hard time getting settled down and quiet enough to get to sleep. I like that it has the vitamins in it too, so he gets all of that. Sleep has a huge impact on him. When he doesn't get enough of it, it really impacts the way he can get through the next day. I asked his pediatrician about it and he said it was fine to give it to him. I don't think it helps everyone, but I think it's helping him because he must have a deficiency of melatonin and the liquid drops are getting absorbed and helping him get that slowing down for sleep feeling he is lacking. I'm sure some of it is because he believes that it helps him too. He thinks it works and I'm sure it does a little. No harm in trying in out and seeing if it helps.

[oxa128]

Yes. It helps at times but start low. They make chewable tablets . You can buy a 3 mg and break it in half. Then go up to 5 mg as needed.

[anirush]

My two teenage grandsons take the 5mg chewy to help reverse their ADHD medication. The older one and I also take Valerian a natural substance for sleep. I have a restless night if I forget to take it.

[angelinal25]

No i used Ritalin for ADHD treatment and i found it pretty helpful. I am sharing the link so you can check it out.

ridofdepression.com/product...

[waterfalls]

Hi my son, aged 11 uses a tip of a spoon less than 1.25 ml because I tried 2.5ml first night doctor recommended it but he is also sensory and before giving it to him and I tried it. I was zoned out, scared me because I tried to wake and cudnt function. We are at the stage if after 45 mins of relaxing trying to sleep , he will ask for less than 1.25 ml probably 2or 3 nights in a row and that might be it for a month.

I wish you all the best.

[Tiredmama8713]

I use it for my 7 year old on occasion if he gets off schedule. It seems like it helps to regulate his sleep. I also read him a meditation story that the therapist gave us. He requests it now and says it helps him calm down. I would’ve never dreamed how much it would make a difference. I honestly thought he’d want nothing to do with it but now it’s his go to and we rarely have fights to get to bed as long as I read his story to him.

[Lighteningbolt]

We have been giving our son 1-2mg of melatonin at dinner time since he was about 4 years old. It is a small dose and it just takes the edge off so he goes to sleep about 3 hours earlier than usual. It’s been a life saver!