Myth or fact

Is melatonin safe for kids because it's natural?

Short answerNot the way you think

By GyroscopeUpdated November 14, 20268 sources

Not the way you think. Your child’s brain does make melatonin, and the melatonin in a gummy is the same molecule. But natural tells you where the molecule comes from, and nothing about how much is in the jar. A gummy can hold over three times what its label says, nobody has settled what dose suits a child or what years of use do, and poison center reports of children swallowing melatonin rose 530 percent from 2012 to 2021.

Why it seems obvious

The body makes it, so it sounds like topping up something your child already has. It’s sold as a supplement, and many of the gummies are flavored. Next to a prescription sleep drug it feels like the gentle choice.

Sunlight is natural too

Sunlight is natural. You still put sunscreen on a toddler at the beach, because natural says nothing about how much is the right amount.

With melatonin, your child’s brain makes a little every evening, and the amount in a gummy is set at a factory.

What nobody knows yet

The US National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health lists the open questions. There’s uncertainty about what dose to use and when to give it, about the effects of using it for long periods, and about whether the benefits outweigh the risks. Because it’s a hormone, it’s possible it could affect development, including puberty, menstrual cycles and another hormone called prolactin, but nobody knows for sure. Its advice is to work with a health care provider if you’re considering it for a child.

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine has issued a health advisory on melatonin use in children too. We don’t give a dose or a window for anyone under 18.

What the jar can hold

In the US melatonin is a supplement, so nobody checks the label before it’s sold. As the American Heart Association put it, over-the-counter supplements in the US don’t need government approval for quality and consistency, so brands can vary in strength and purity.

In a 2023 test of 25 melatonin gummies sold in the US, 22 didn’t match their label. One had no melatonin at all. The rest held 74 to 347 percent of what the label said, and most held 1.2 to 1.7 times. A child given a gummy is often getting more than the label says, and nobody can tell how much more.

Why poison centers see so much of it

US poison centers got 260,435 reports of children and teens swallowing melatonin from 2012 to 2021, and the yearly number rose 530 percent. In 2020 melatonin became the substance children most often swallowed in poison center reports.

• 94.3 percent were accidents, 99.0 percent happened at home, and 83.8 percent involved children 5 or younger.
• 82.8 percent of the children had no symptoms. Most never needed a trip to a doctor or hospital.
• Of the 27,795 seen at a health facility, 4,097 were admitted to hospital and 287 needed intensive care. Most hospital stays involved teenagers who took too much on purpose.

A CDC report counted about 11,000 emergency visits from 2019 to 2022 for children 5 and under who got into melatonin on their own. Where the form was written down, gummies were the most common, and more than a third of the children had got into 10 or more pieces. The report’s advice was to keep all medicines and supplements, gummies included, out of children’s reach and sight.

The best case for “it’s fine”

“Doctors do give it to some children, and most kids who swallow it are fine.” Both are true. A 2019 review of 18 small, short studies in children, many with conditions like autism and ADHD, found melatonin helped them fall asleep sooner and sleep longer than a placebo. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine’s 2015 guideline supported timed melatonin for some children and teens with neurological conditions. And most children who swallow a gummy have no symptoms.

In those studies, researchers chose the children, the reason and the dose. For an ordinary child who’s slow to settle, the advice is a routine and morning light first, and a conversation with the doctor before any jar.