Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My anxiety disorder kid with allergies takes Benadryl. Before covid, he just took Benadryl when symptoms were really bad, but now he takes it every night because even milder symptoms are a problem.

I was told emphatically NOT to give my child benadryl as a sleep aid because later studies show it crosses the blood barrier in the brain.

As I said, he takes it for allergies.

Sometimes he does. And to the PP asking about activities, he does XC, swimming and track.

Anonymous wrote:How about ease on the Melatonin and have the kids join sports or activities after school?

My teens do sports and they are knocked out when they hit the bed.

I’m the PP with the 16 yr old son. He swims competitively year round, and is avid biker. Why would you think that difficulty sleeping relates to a person not being involved in activities?

How about ease on the Melatonin and have the kids join sports or activities after school?

My teens do sports and they are knocked out when they hit the bed.

My teen has always had a brain that is racing as he tries to go to sleep (spouse and I have always been the same, we relate!) - he also has anxiety and adhd. He takes 3mg of melatonin on nights when he just can’t fall asleep (which are pretty frequent), and proactively on nights like this first week of school when he is anxious and trying to readjust to an earlier bedtime.

I have had the same concerns as a pp about him developing a psychological dependence on the melatonin, but as another pp said, those concerns get outweighed by concerns about him getting severely sleep deprived.

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?

My doc recommended it for 1-2 weeks at a time.

^ that is what doctor ok’d

1 mg of melatonin when going through a rough spell

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can't believe the numbers of different sleeping's aids medications out there for kids. MY DS has sleeping problems sometimes so he take Kids zzqull but can't believe so many teens have the same issue.

Zquill can cause liver injury whereas Melatonin does not and can actually decrease some liver problems.

NP, but I believe kids Zquil is just melatonin.

No zquil contains diphenhydramine. Pure zzz is Melatonin in which case you should just buy Melatonin.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can't believe the numbers of different sleeping's aids medications out there for kids. MY DS has sleeping problems sometimes so he take Kids zzqull but can't believe so many teens have the same issue.

Zquill can cause liver injury whereas Melatonin does not and can actually decrease some liver problems.

NP, but I believe kids Zquil is just melatonin.

No definitely not, and never has.

You should always ask your doctor before giving them something to help them sleep, even if the commercial on the TV told you it was fine.

I find some of this shocking.

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?

There was a lot of fear mongering about melatonin around 5 years ago. I was worried about it especially Liver damage. But our teen with ADHD has terrible times winding down his/ her brain and sleeping and was becoming a wreck from lack of sleep.

Our pediatrician who is excellent assured me there are no side affects and that it is safe to take as long as needed. Obviously, we will try and wean off or reduce dosage if possible.

However chronic lack of sleep is far more dangerous than taking melatonin especially at low levels. Plus, many teens who do not take melatonin vape and drink/ take drugs (according to our teen). So I would much prefer he/ she take melatonin than self medicate on harmful substances.