My ds successfully used melatonin for sleep. Once he started guanfacine, it no longer was necessary. My child weighs 1/2 your child's weight, so he's not an accurate indicator, but he did well on 1 mg.
You might need to give her body some time to adjust to it. I'd talk to the dr. about how long to try it and then give up if she's too tired.
At the nutrition shop today, the owner said "Oh, she's too young" when I asked for melatonin. She is a 95 lb., tall 10 yr. old. When I explained that 2 different pediatricians had recommended it to me, he was very helpful in finding chewable tablets. Has anyone else ever dealt with the safety side of using melatonin? He kind of took me by surprise.
my pediatrician told me about it and the "boy" at GNC told me that it was not for children. My son weighs 40 pounds and is 6. He's been taking it for over a year. I take it myself sometimes when I am having trouble falling asleep. I take 3 mg, but I give my son 1 mg.
Sleep is such a BIG issue at our house. My daughter has not been able to get to sleep easily all of 3rd grade, all of 4th grade, and it continues this summer. This is true whether she takes her Adderall XR or not. I don't know how she functions going to sleep at 11:00 or 11:30 on a school night and waking up at 6:30. I have not felt rested in about 3 yrs., because when she can't sleep she wants me to be up with her. No amount of routine affects this girl! Even Benadryl doesn't make her sleepy.
I called the pediatrician because we need help. He suggested 3mg of melatonin. I have been hesistant to try it, but reading these posts is encouraging. However, she can't swallow a pill yet, so that might be a problem. I am on my way to a nutrition store today, but I am trying not to get my hopes up.
momluv2teach
The GNC cherry flavored one we get melts in your mouth. No need to swallow. I guess if your kid has bad reactions to artificial flavoring or something it might not be good, but even my 8 yr old non ADHD dd takes them occassionaly with no problems. She won't even try to swallow a pill.
I know exactly what you mean about a child that can't sleep wanting you to be up with them. Ds is that way. He is 11 and still can't stand to be awake alone. Drives me crazy because I need my sleep to be a pleasant person.
I also buy the cherry flavored ones at GNC that melt under your tongue. Someone else has posted that they buy a liquid orange flavor cersion as well.We tried melatonin a year or so ago and didn't think it had any affect on ds. However, when school started this year and he couldn't go to sleep at night and then couldn't get up in the morning, we tried it again. He has had good success with it at 1 mg. We use the same that you have from GNC and he asks for it at night. He is 11 and about 68 pounds. I'm not sure how much weight has to do with it. We started at 1/2 then worked up to 1 mg. He has never complained of nightmares and we have never tried to increase it.
I have heard that if the dose is too high, you can have nightmares. I too wouldn't jump too high without trying lower does first. I had no problem cutting the pill in half with a pill cutter. We also noticed that getting ds in as much of a routine as possible, also helped in conjunction with the Melatonin. We try to give it at the same time each night during school anyway and then have him read or do something restful before "trying" to sleep. It's hard when they have sports or other evening activities but it really helped him. We give it at 8 each night during school or as soon as we get home from sports if later. If we give at 8 and he stops activities that keep him up, he is often asleep by 9:30....sometimes 10 pm. That seems like a huge miracle to me!
Hope it works for you.
DD uses .33 mgs as needed, not every night. I personally would start low and go slow. some kids have nightmares at higher doses.
I have found the lowest dose works better for DD. I got .33mg tablets at wal mart .
edbson39278.7338078704My daughter was never a good sleeper ... not since she was born.
And now on meds it is even worse. The neurologist gave us a prescription for sleeping medication BUT I just don't want to medicate her any more.
Several folks suggested we try melatonin.
My daughter is 12 years old and weighs a little under 100 lbs.
Dr said an avg adult should take 3mg and my daughter should take less. We purchased the 1 mg tablets at GNC that are cherry flavored and melt under your tongue.
Well 1 mg is not enough and when we give her 2 mg she can't get up in the morning.
Anyone having luck with melatonin? What dose are you using? How much before bed time are you giving it?
Any info would be appreciated. We are at the end of our rope.
DD age 11 uses Melatonin 3mg. with wonderful success! Started using 1mg last fall and it didn't help too much. I read up on it and found it probably wasn't enough. Was told by Ped. Neuro. to try 3mg.....Perfect!Hi
I actually tried melatonin for myself last week. I did not like it AT ALL. I took 3mg as was recommended for an adult. I had vivid dreams all night, didnt like it. Woke up very, very groggy and headachey, nauseous. That lasted most of the day. Please give a small dose for starters.
I am planning to start it tonight, actually. I can't fall asleep fpr 1-2 hours after I go to bed, but I have even more trouble waking up in the morning so I am a little apprehensive about how it will affect me in the morning. I already have vivid dreams (every night, or 5-6 nights/week) would melatonin make it worse? I thought it would help to calm my mind down so I don't dream so much. I think I am going to start with a half, though, because I do have to be up early tomorrow and I don't really know what to expect. I actually posted a thread recently ("sleep/wake cycle") similar to this one...don't know who's replied, so sorry if I'm repeating myself. Do you think it would make my dreams or my trouble waking in the morning even worse? I think I don't take enough risks in my life so I'm going to give it a shot tonight.My 11 year old son is on Concerta and has a hard time falling asleep at night. I give him 1.5mg of Melatonin 30 minutes prior to bed (as long as he has settled down by then). It works great for him and my doctor doesn't think there is any downside to using it....we have been using it for almost 2 years. When we tried a higher dose it actually did not work as well.