If You Tween Takes Melatonin--How Much?
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Anonymous
| My 11 year old needs melatonin to sleep because of the side effects from her ADHD medication. She has been taking 1mg of melatonin for a year now and it really is not helping anymore. I'd like to increase it to 2mg. I'll ask our doctor, but was curious if your tweens take melatonin, are they taking more than 1mg? |
Anonymous
| Our kids take 2.5. |
Anonymous
OP here thanks. Do they take gummies that come in that dosage? My daughter takes a 1mg gummy right now. |
Anonymous
| We went to 5mg after two years on 1mg. We buy it at Whole Foods and it's a small chewy tablet. I didn't talk to doctor when I increased it, figured it was normal to need more. |
Anonymous
| should have said for my 15-year old. So also figured she had gotten bigger in those two years. |
Anonymous
| 2mg (12 y.o) |
Anonymous
| Is there any side effect of Melatonin on tweens? |
Anonymous
|
Our pediatrician told us it’s pretty much impossible to overdose, so small increases until you find what works should be OK.
But I do find that it doesn’t work well for us long-term, at any dose. Try taking a break, the restarting at the old dose. If that doesn’t help, then increase a bit at a time until you get to a dose that works. |
Anonymous
| Our 12 almost 13 year old takes 2 gummies. He only takes it when he needs a sleep reset where he hasn't been able to fall asleep easily. No issues. |
Anonymous
No, it's a chewable table that comes in 5 mg, and we just cut it in half. |
Anonymous
| OP here thank you all! spoke to our dr and she said generally 3-6mg is safe for teens, but to start incrementally to see what works. we'll go up to 2mg for now. |
Anonymous
| You all should read the medical reports about melatonin. Taken every once in a while is fine, but the body should not be on it daily, and certainly taking a few weeks off every few months. |
Anonymous
|
You can try supplementing with magnesium, many people are low in magnesium and magnesium is what enables your body to naturally produce melatonin.
We use drops and my child takes 1 drop. A dropperful is 3mg/1ml, and a drop is 1/3 of that. I figure that a drop directly into the mouth also helps with effectiveness. |
Anonymous
| My 15 year old takes 3 mg up from 1 when she started a few years ago. She doesn’t take it every night. We do a pill. |
Anonymous
|
3-5 mg but my kids are older teens (15 and 17) and pretty much the size and weight of small adults. One is taller than me already.
They only take it occasionally not nightly. |