I have three kids. Two of them have no problem sleeping, and never did. One does and always has. He wasn’t colicky, but getting him to fall asleep was like putting together IKEA furniture (which in my opinion is impossible). I remember the first night he slept through the night, he was 18 months old. And it didn’t last.
He couldn’t just fall asleep, right from birth. He needed white noise. He needed to be in a swing. I can remember swinging that damn car seat back and forth back and forth so he would doze, even if it was only for 20 minutes.
We sleep trained. We don’t have electronics before bed or in his room. We gave tough love. We gave soft love. We do sports. We eat well. It didn’t matter, it was always 2hours from the time we started the sleep process till the time he was actually asleep.
Sleep deprivation is one of the toughest parts about parenting. It’s also hard on the kid who isn’t getting the sleep he/she needs to be the kid he/she is. They are grumpy, you are grumpy. Life is unfun in a non sleeping home.
After a recommendation from a trusted friend, we started using melatonin. It was literally the magic pill. Life changed for everyone.
Diagram courtesy: http://anti-aging-for-all.com/melatonin-benefits-side-effects/
Apparently I’m not alone in my appreciation and use of melatonin as a sleep aid. More and more parents are using it and relying on it.
The problem is no one is sure if there are long term effects when kids use the hormone. A new research study is underway to learn more about the potential dangers and risks of using melatonin in children. CTV National and medical correspondent Avis Favro, visited our home to find out why we use it.
To watch the feature CLICK HERE.
To watch the extended interview CLICK HERE.
I should also mention that my naturopath told me that melatonin only works in people who need it. I found that interesting because it doesn’t have any effect on my daughter or myself.
I have also had parents tell me that too much (dosage) melatonin can cause night terrors in their children.
You can get different doses. We have scaled back from 5mg to 3mg. One friend suggested GABBA as a better solution than melatonin, but we didn’t have any luck with it.
Sweet dreams.
MF
