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Home Features Parenting Melatonin: Dracula of Hormones 

Melatonin: Dracula of Hormones 

By Sabrina Stempel 

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“But it’s natural!” is often the argument given by parents with whom I consult. Melatonin supplements are all the rage amongst millennial parents. Melatonin, or “the sleepy hormone,” is produced in the pineal gland which controls sleep and wake cycles. Over the last 15 years, melatonin supplement sales have gone up by 500 percent, according to the Nutrition Business Journal, as it is becoming more readily available.  

The popularity of melatonin supplements is due in part to modern parents’ desire for quick fixes and immediate results. A parent struggling with a young child’s sleep may turn to these supplements thinking it’s “natural” so it can’t hurt. It’s certainly better than giving a child Benadryl on a daily basis but there is a lot to understand when it comes to using melatonin supplements safely. 

There is a false sense of security with a “natural” product. The U.S. Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 allows synthetic melatonin to be sold as a dietary supplement without needing approval by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) because it is found naturally in some common foods. Since it is not a controlled substance, the FDA does not regulate the supplement and the dosages listed on the bottle are not controlled either. This can lead a consumer to give a child the wrong dosage or to administer the correct dosage at the wrong time of day. Research is still being done to figure out what dosage is appropriate for each type of sleep problem or disorder and the timing for taking it. Taking the wrong dosage or taking the right dosage at the wrong time can reconstruct your biological sleep wake cycles in the wrong direction.  

It is important for parents to realize that this is a hormone, not a vitamin or herb, and to familiarize themselves with the possible negative effects. Some concerns over the chronic use of melatonin supplements are the premature onset or delay of puberty in children. Some parents have noticed their toddlers start to sweat a lot, experience night terrors, or fall asleep abruptly in the middle of an activity. Another concern is that chronic use of melatonin supplements actually creates a self-inflicted deficiency. Over time, the body becomes so used to not needing to produce melatonin naturally that it thinks it does not need to produce the hormone at all anymore.  

Australian Professor David Kennaway, who has studied melatonin for 40 years, published a paper in the Journal of Pediatrics and Child Health stating that while there have been no thorough, long-term safety studies of the use of melatonin to treat sleep disorders in children, studies done on humans and animals have shown that the supplement causes changes in physiological systems, including the reproductive, cardiovascular, immune and metabolic systems. There is lesser concern for occasional use of the supplement, but even in those cases, parents should use the smallest dosage possible.   

Some of the reasons why synthetic melatonin was first introduced to the market were to help adults who work night shifts or have jetlag from frequent traveling or for autistic children who may have insomnia due to dysregulation of the melatonin pathway. Once parents started to see these supplements on the shelves of pharmacies and grocery stores, a lightbulb went off! What a great, quick fix for solving my child’s bedtime battles! Parents and physicians are too often quick to give a pill or supplement before even looking further into behavioral or medical issues that could be the root of the child’s inability to fall asleep quickly.  

Research has shown no difference between the desired effect of melatonin supplements and consuming foods which contain higher levels of tryptophan and limiting light exposure. Tryptophan is an amino acid that increases the neuro-transmitters, serotonin and melatonin in your brain’s pineal gland. Both of these brain chemicals control the timing of your biological clock’s sleep-wake cycle.   

Some of these foods include legumes, red meat, poultry (turkey in particular), oats, cheese, fish, eggs, and bananas. Choosing some of these foods for dinner along with a glass of warm milk or “sleepy time tea” (which can be found in any grocery store) can help the serotonin and melatonin flow in time for bedtime. There are also foods to avoid which can keep a child up. Included in this group are foods containing caffeine, such as chocolate (that means no chocolate milk), soda, caffeinated tea, or coffee. Foods which are difficult to digest, such as broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, corn, and sugary foods or drinks, should also be avoided. Cutting out the “waker foods,” as Dr. William Sears, author of The Baby Sleep Book, likes to call them, in the second half of the day and including “sleepy foods” in your child’s dinner will make a tremendous difference.  

Melatonin is sometimes referred to as the “Dracula of hormones” because it is only released in the dark. Aside from keeping the house dim when it’s close to bedtime and setting the sleepy tone in the home, it is key to avoid bright or blue light, which is emitted from screen exposure, before bedtime. When the eyes’ retina absorbs bright or blue light, melatonin production will not happen. The best thing to do is to avoid screen exposure 30-60 minutes before bedtime.   

Lastly, parents also need to reflect on their child’s schedule. Is your child napping at an age-appropriate time and length? Is bedtime too late or too early for their age? Bedtime that is too early will only frustrate a child and build up anxiety and negativity toward sleep. Bedtime that is too late produces overtiredness and irritability, creating negativity and frustration.   

While the safety of melatonin supplements is still the subject of research, I urge parents to try natural ways of triggering melatonin flow. Speak to a sleep professional before administering melatonin supplements and about what other factors you should investigate that may solve your child’s sleep problems.   

 

 

Sabrina Stempel is Certified Pediatric Sleep Consultant, the Founder of Baby Sleep Train, and the Midwest Regional Director of the Association of Professional Sleep Consultants. She works worldwide with families of children ages 0-6 years and can be reached at [email protected].