Anonymous wrote:I'm thinking about jumping onto the Melatonin band wagon but have some lingering doubts.
Can you get hooked on Melatonin? I mean I know it's not addictive but does your body grow a reliance on it to go to sleep?
What happens when your kid doesn't take Melatonin, are they able to go to sleep on their own at a reasonable hour?
I guess my fear is that by dosing my kid with Melatonin each night, they will grow dependent on that to go to sleep -- maybe not a physical dependence but a mental dependence if that makes sense. Then, they will graduate to Ambien or something stronger later on in life.
Am I crazy to think that?
I give my kids Melatonin but they have adhd. What we tried first was lots of excercise followed by sleep hygiene..which basically means a strict bed time routine. It was only after those things that we went to Melatonin.
There are some articles that say if you should take a break from it once in a while or the body will stop producing it naturally. I'm not sure if that's accurate. We have given it many many months in a row and they are still able to fall asleep on their own when we don't.
As for a psychological dependency... I'm not sure if Melatonin is a gateway supplement? I mean why wouldn't they just keep taking Melatonin if they think they need it?