Melotonin? for a 3 and 4 year old?

Question

is it safe? i need a doctor to tell me and tell me the dosage for it the doctor never told us and there are no markings on dropper it is 1 mg melotonin the bottle says for age 12 and up

Answer 1

I hope not to be as accusatory as on of your other answers!

In answer to your question...I would not give it to a child under 12 either.  I'm assuming this is for a child who is not sleeping well or having sleep issues?

Unfortunately you did not give any real behavior issues or reasons as to why you need assistance...so I am unable to advise further without info.

There are many other safe alternatives to assist with sleep - ask at a health food store near you and look for children's therapies...and addressing any behavior issues would be first and foremost.  If you are having problems with bedtime..I suggest going to the library and getting a book or two from the author John Rosemond...a very well-known psychologist and has many books on the subject.  Hope you find some answers

Answer 2

I don't recommend it for people under 30, because it is a hormone.  However, there are special cases where I use it therapeutically for people in their 20's who are getting off of anti depressants and cannot sleep at night for a while.

Definitely not O K for a toddler, if a toddler is having trouble settling down... It's something that the parents are not skilled at doing that is the problem, not the child.

Melatonin may be natural, but it is still something that causes a hormonal reaction.  Children, especially toddlers have a natural abundant supply of their own melatonin.  

If you interfere with that process by giving them melatonin, their own hormonal signals to make their own melatonin shut down, and then you end up with a worse problem than you started out with.

Go to You Tube and watch episodes of the Nanny when parents have great difficulty getting their toddlers to sleep.  The answer is out there without experimenting with hormones on your children unfairly.  

Children don't have a voice as their care givers decide what to do for them, and you have to be very, very careful.

I mean, think about this extreme.  I was reading an article in the Washington Post that a pharmaceutical company was trying to come up with an anti depressant for crying babies.

Knowing what these drugs do to a malleable growing brain, that's a way to cause permanent long term brain damage by cutting off a normal enzymatic process for normal brain growth.

So, let's start messing with their little developing brain so that it's broken later on in life, right? - I think not and I'm sure you agree with me.

Answer 3

I was told that giving melatonin to children is very bad. That there bodies naturally produce the melatonin necessary for a normal sleep pattern. Consult your family Doctor or perhaps a health care call in like "ask a nurse".

It sounds like a second opinion is in order...I just know that most doctors do not believe in giving children melatonin. I would be Very cautious.