Rise in melatonin use to help children sleep leads to safety warning

Tens of thousands of children and young people are being given the hormone melatonin to help them sleep, prompting concern that the medicine is being handed out too readily with little evidence of its effectiveness and safety in long-term use.

Melatonin, a hormone the body produces naturally in reaction to darkness and which helps prepare us for sleep, has been authorised for use among the over-55s, and has been hailed as a less addictive alternative to drug treatments for insomnia.

More >> Rise in melatonin use to help children sleep leads to safety warning

How melatonin is helping kids sleep

Note: Should be titled, How melatonin is being sold to parents

Many parents will be only too familiar with the problem of children tossing and turning for hours before they finally go to sleep.

Rather than put up with it, a growing number of Australian families are turning to prescribed melatonin to help children fall asleep. For many it's a revelation.

More >> How melatonin is helping kids sleep