Scientists Warn of Parents' Soaring Melatonin Use

Children are taking more and more melatonin to help them get to sleep at night, researchers have found.

Nearly 1 in 5 kids and preteens in the United States take the hormone to aid their sleep, and many parents regularly give it to their preschool-age children. This has concerned scientists, according to a new paper in the journal JAMA Pediatrics, as melatonin product safety and efficacy data is scarce, and they often lack full Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulation.

"All of a sudden, in 2022, we started noticing a lot of parents telling us that their healthy child was regularly taking melatonin," Lauren Hartstein, a postdoctoral fellow in the Sleep and Development Lab at the University of Colorado Boulder and lead author of the paper, said in a statement. She told Newsweek that parents should aim to limit screen time before bedtime to encourage a natural, consistent routine.

Melatonin is a hormone naturally produced by the body that regulates the sleep-wake cycle. Melatonin is released in larger quantities during the night, making you tired, and released less during the day. Synthetic versions of the hormone can be taken as a supplement to help the user get to sleep.

In the U.S., melatonin can be bought over the counter, sometimes in gummy form, while in other countries, it can only be obtained using a prescription.

In a survey of 1,000 parents conducted in the first half of 2023, the researchers found that 18.5 percent of parents of children ages 5 to 9 had given their kids melatonin in the last 30 days. 19.4 percent of parents of preteens—aged 10 to 13—had given their children the hormone in the prior month, while 6 percent of preschooler parents had done the same.

In 2017-2018, only 1.3 percent of U.S. parents reported their children using melatonin.

The survey also found that the older the children, the longer they had been taking the hormone, and the higher their average dose.

"Melatonin has been found to be generally safe for children and adults with minimal side effects. However, one concern about giving children melatonin is it might just mask any underlying issues causing children's sleep difficulties, preventing accurate diagnosis and treatment," Hartstein told Newsweek. "It also teaches them when they can't sleep they can just take medication at a time when they should be developing healthy sleep habits."

There are also risks involved in taking supplements that have not been properly regulated, especially those that resemble candy. A previous study published in the journal JAMA in April found that of 25 melatonin gummies tested, 22 contained different levels of melatonin than what was claimed on the packaging. One even had three times more melatonin than the label purported, while another contained none at all.

The gummies also look like candies, which the researchers fear puts children at risk of poisoning themselves: the CDC reports that between 2012–2021, there was a 530 percent increase in the annual number of pediatric ingestions of melatonin, mostly in children under 5.

The researchers also suggest that there may be some dangers to children taking melatonin while they are still developing through puberty. However, the limited number of small-scale human studies on this subject have yielded inconsistent results.

"Children's sleep problems have always been a concern for parents, as each developmental stage comes with changes and challenges for sleep. But what these findings indicate is that parents are really searching for solutions, and melatonin is increasingly being marketed as an easy and 'natural' option for parents," Hartstein said.

Alternative ways to help children drift off to sleep include limiting screen time before bed, and enforcing a regular bedtime.

"For children, a consistent bedtime routine is very important to encourage healthy sleep. It is also recommended to limit bright light exposure and screen media use in the hour before bedtime to help the transition to sleep," Hartstein said. "For more persistent or serious sleep concerns, parents should consult with their pediatrician or a sleep specialist to learn more about what factors could be contributing and effective interventions."

While this JAMA Pediatrics study was small-scale, with the authors noting that it may not represent usage countrywide, it flags an issue with increasing melatonin use and the underlying cause of problems sleeping.

Do you have a tip on a science story that Newsweek should be covering? Do you have a question about melatonin? Let us know via science@newsweek.com.

Update 11/14/23, 5 a.m. ET: This article was updated with comment from Lauren Hartstein.