Melatonin

I don't believe it to be necessary at that young age and not even beneficial for the child. On the contrary, it can get the body used to melatonin already ready offered to the body, instead of the body creating it naturaly on its own and thus can affect badly future sleeping patterns even as an adult.

Giving melatonin every night will stunt her body's ability to learn to fall asleep on its own. Its just one of those things that you'll have to keep working on. She's not even 2 yet give it some time

Wouldn’t! I’m pretty sure anything that is a sleep aid inhibits their sleep/wake cycle. Them waking nightly is healthy and part of development! It’s a safety mechanism so that they don’t end up with SIDS.

Melatonin cannot be given to a child without a doctor's recommendation

At that age, sleep issues aren't hormonal, they are either behavioural or developmental or both. You have to address the root issue (or, if it is developmental, it needs to just pass on its own), or any sleep aids you give will be useless anyway. As others have mentioned above it will inhibit the body's natural melatonin production. Even in adults it's not recommended to take long-term. Your body produces hormones through negative feedback, and if there is a lot of melatonin present in your blood, your (or your child's) body will assume there isn't as much need and will make less melatonin naturally.

We give melatonin if our son doesn’t take a normal nap time. If he skips a nap; he doesn’t need it. There are alternatives just like melatonin you can give her at that age. Melatonin is 4+ I think but we use a toddler based sleep agent to help him stay asleep at night. He turns 3 in October. And everyone can come at me but my child is autistic and he literally won’t sleep so people can judge. To ones there own

Absolutely do not give it to her she will learn how to sleep better on her own.

Put Epsom salts in the bath to relax before.

I would seek the advice of a professional.

You would really need to discuss this with a doctor. Not sure where you are but in the UK this wouldn’t even normally be prescribed this young. This is because of the side effects. When they take melatonin they stop producing their own so become dependent on it.

Our Paediatrician did actually prescribe it for us, but this was after months of intense sleep deprivation due to medical issues. So a very extreme situation, not just not settling well in a new room which is completely normal and expected.

We still decided not to give it as we didn’t feel comfort making our baby dependent on it.

I understand your point and if your son is being seen by a doctor who recommended to give melatonin you are doing the best thing

Thank you everyone