Throughout history, parents have searched for the secret to a smoother bedtime: sleeping together, sleeping apart, the “Ferber method” war of wills, offering stuffies and pacifiers and warm milk, even spending $1,600 on a “smart” bassinet that responds to a baby’s cries with white noise and motion.
In recent years, melatonin supplements have become an increasingly common child sleep aid that in the U.S. requires no prescription and is only lightly regulated by the FDA.
In 2021, Americans spent $1.09 billion overall on melatonin supplements, a nearly 150% increase over 2018 sales, according to data provided by NielsenIQ.
Meanwhile, the number of reports of melatonin poisoning involving young children — meaning they ingested excessive dosages — more than doubled from 2017 through 2021, according to the American Association of Poison Control Centers.
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The American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends against the use of melatonin for chronic insomnia in both adults and children and will soon release a health advisory stating that melatonin should not be used in children without a physician’s supervision, said Dr. Muhammad Adeel Rishi, co-chair of the group’s public safety committee and a sleep specialist at Indiana University.
