Experts believe the reason for increase in reports may extend farther than issues of melatonin safety.
Insomnia and melatonin supplements might not be words you’d often connect with kids, but a recent study in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Pediatrics says that lots of U.S. children and teenagers are using melatonin.
Approximately one in five U.S. kids use melatonin to help them sleep, and some parents start giving it to their kids when they’re as young as 1 year old.
In the United States, the use of melatonin among kids has gone up quickly due to sleep problems. Some doctors think these sleep issues are linked to more mental health problems and spending too much time on screens.
According to the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) research, from 2017 to 2018, about 1% of kids and teens under 19 took melatonin in the last 30 days. The JAMA Pediatrics study compared this with their research and found that the use has gone up from 1% to about 20% – that’s a 20-fold increase. Parents said their kids take the supplement around two to five days a week, and some take it every day.
Because melatonin is used so much, there’s also been a big increase in melatonin poisonings. Between 2012 and 2021, poison control centers in the U.S. saw a 530% increase in reports of kids ingesting melatonin. Some of them had to go to the hospital or even died, as shown in research from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR).
Lack of sleep is a common issue for children. “A lot of people think that kids don’t have sleeping problems, and that is absolutely not true,” says Dr. Gayln Perry, who is an expert in sleep medicine for kids. Kids have always had sleep problems, and their problems aren’t very different from adults’.
The COVID-19 pandemic made these problems worse. About 25% of kids had trouble sleeping before COVID-19, but in 2020, it went up to almost 46%.
Just like stress, anxiety, and depression can make it hard for grown-ups to sleep, it’s the same for kids who have their own worries like schoolwork, peer pressure, and social media.
A lot of teenagers are also super busy with school stuff, which makes it tough for them to go to bed on time. During the pandemic, when kids were homeschooling, they spent more time on screens, which can mess up their sleep. Screens are super stimulating, and the light from them can make it hard for kids to fall asleep.
Electronics, in general, are a big problem. “Some parents really have lost control,” says Dr. Perry. Kids might wake up in the middle of the night or early in the morning to play video games or use their tablets or phones.
Sleep problems are also linked to autism and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorders, which are becoming more common among kids.
Because of all these sleep issues, parents and caregivers are turning to melatonin. Melatonin supplements for kids are easy to get, don’t need a prescription, and come in gummy or liquid forms that kids like.
Dr. Perry says, “Most parents who come to my clinic have tried melatonin, or their kids are already taking it – either because their regular doctor recommended it or on their own.” From 2016 to 2020, melatonin supplement sales went up by about 150%, according to the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
People also use melatonin for reasons other than sleep – like for its antioxidants, anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, and brain-protecting effects. Melatonin is a hormone that our bodies make naturally to help with our sleep-wake cycle. It gets released from a gland in our brain when it’s dark, and light makes it stop.
Normally, you’re supposed to take melatonin supplements one to two hours before bedtime to copy the body’s natural cycle. If you take it too late, it might not work as well. “It can help you fall asleep faster, but it won’t be in your system long enough to improve the quality of your sleep,” says Dr. Perry. Parents usually see a short-term benefit when they give melatonin to their kids, but over time, it might not work as well, so they might have to give a higher dose.
Dr. Husmann has noticed this in his patients too. “It used to bother me when I met patients who had been using it for months. I asked them to try stopping, but it wasn’t always successful,” he says.
Whether using melatonin for a long time makes you get used to it, like with other sleeping pills, is still up for debate. Studies have different findings. But usually, it’s not a good idea to use it for a long time.
Doctors usually advise against giving melatonin supplements to healthy kids under 3 years old. Sleeping problems in such young children are typically linked to behavior. But there have been cases of melatonin being used in babies and toddlers.
It’s concerning that some deceased children have had high melatonin levels. Dr. Muhammad A. Rishi, a pediatric sleep medicine expert at Indiana University Health, thinks that easy access to melatonin and a mistaken belief in its safety are the main problems.
In North Carolina, a report mentioned seven cases where melatonin might have been involved in child deaths. One case involved a 3-month-old baby given 8 to 10 daily doses of 5 milligrams of melatonin, way more than recommended for any child. However, the exact cause of death remained unclear.
Deaths related to melatonin supplements are rare, forming only a tiny part of melatonin poisoning cases. Dr. Perry has never had a patient die from melatonin, believing it to be generally safe since it’s a natural hormone in our bodies. Dr. Husmann agrees, saying the main issue is that many kids need it in the first place.
But Dr. Rishi argues that melatonin is a drug because it changes a person’s mental or physical state and should be treated as such. Common side effects include dizziness, daytime sleepiness, low blood pressure, nightmares, increased bedwetting, and agitation. Long-term effects are uncertain as there haven’t been long-term studies, but it might delay puberty, which usually happens when melatonin levels drop.
Ms. Edemann Callesen pointed out that there’s limited safety data. While nonserious issues are more likely, the full extent isn’t clear.
A Deeper Concern
Taking store-bought melatonin supplements carries risks like overdosing and getting contaminated products. Since melatonin is sold as a supplement, the FDA doesn’t regulate it as strictly as other over-the-counter meds.
Children need very little melatonin, about 0.05 to 3 milligrams, but supplement dosages can vary, even within the same batch. A Canadian study found significant differences in melatonin content among 30 supplements, some having up to five times the listed amount. Chewable tablets showed the most variation.
Around 25% of these supplements were also tainted with serotonin, which can cause seizures, tremors, and even death at high levels. This raises concerns about possible links between serotonin contamination and deaths related to melatonin.
There’s also a chance that melatonin supplements could make the body convert melatonin into serotonin, as shown in animal studies. This underscores the importance of standardized melatonin dosages. Dr. Perry recommends pharmaceutical-grade melatonin for short-term use.
Pharmaceutical-grade melatonin meets strict purity standards and doesn’t contain fillers or additives, reducing the risk of contamination. There’s a difference between taking supplements and letting the body regulate melatonin levels naturally. Melatonin isn’t always present, and its secretion by the pineal gland follows a rhythm that affects various bodily functions, including body temperature, blood vessel tone, and other hormone secretion.
Research suggests that melatonin supplements cause higher peaks in melatonin levels compared to the body’s natural nocturnal levels.
Addressing the Core Issue
Dr. Perry, a sleep expert with over 30 years of experience, explains that for kids, insomnia often boils down to behavior. She points out that most children face behavioral insomnia or restless legs. Restless leg syndrome can be linked to low iron levels, and taking iron supplements can help.
Behavioral insomnia comes in two forms: sleep-association insomnia and limit-setting insomnia.
Limit-setting insomnia happens when parents can’t enforce bedtime rules because the child uses tactics to avoid sleep. These tactics might involve crying, tantrums, endless questions, throwing things, frequent bathroom trips, requesting drinks and extra hugs, and pretending to have important things to share.
Sleep-association insomnia occurs when a child relies on a parent lying beside them to fall asleep or needing a parent to return to bed in the middle of the night.
But here’s the good news: by establishing a consistent bedtime routine as a family and setting clear boundaries, both kids and parents can enjoy restful nights.
Another factor is screen addiction, which can disrupt sleep. Dr. Perry notes that parents are often unaware of how screens affect their children’s sleep. Some parents have even resorted to turning off the internet to remove the temptation to get up at night.
Parents play a crucial role in modeling good sleep habits for their kids. Changing a child’s sleep behavior often means changing the entire family’s routines.
Dr. Husmann has observed that in recent years, more kids are going to bed later, especially in households where family members tend to stay up late and use screens excessively. Younger kids often follow these nocturnal patterns.
This situation is similar to addressing childhood obesity, according to Dr. Perry. To combat it, changes need to happen within the whole family. However, convincing parents to alter their habits can be a challenge, even when it’s for the benefit of their children.
Reimagined By Digi Girl
DISCLAIMER: Author is under many pen names. This article was rewritten based on these links: Are Smartphones Really Making Kids Dumb? | The Epoch Times
