[Barksum]

For those of you who have children who take melatonin, does the time released make a big difference? And also, do your kids tend to wet the bed more when taking the melatonin?

Youngest Ds struggles to get to sleep at night, sometimes not falling to sleep until midnight. When he does finally go to sleep he wakes again by 3 a.m. He's been all over the map lately, and now that the holidays are over we don't have those distractions/schedule upheavals that could be the culprit. We did not do anything on New Year's, so there have been no major routine changes for over two weeks.

Last night after falling to sleep around 10:30 p.m. (after the melatonin kicked in) he wet the bed around 2 a.m. He was awake then, being all wet and cold, and wanted to stay up and play. He suggested snacks, playing, television, etc. I was NOT awake and was uninterested in snacking, playing, or anything else. Mean Me made him go back to bed after getting him, the bedding, and the floor cleaned up. (The liquid absorbing on the top side, water-proof on the underside mattress pad must have been put on wrong side up or something as everything except the pad was soaked and there was a puddle on the floor where everything had 'dripped over' as well. )

This is fairly typical, except that if he doesn't take the melatonin he doesn't fall asleep before midnight and he doesn't wet the bed. Then in the a.m. he's tired when he wakes up and often needs a nap by 10 a.m. again. We can do that, I suppose, but he's just so much happier when he gets proper sleep AT NIGHT.

Now, in between doing the regular and extra laundry and re-cleaning the mattress and floor, I'm trying to figure out how to get some sleep tonight for both Ds and I. He just does so much better when he gets some sleep at night. (As do I!!)

Any thoughts?

[waited2long]

I know it would be a tough day, but could you not allow any daytime naps? Perhaps that will make him more tired at night?

[lucyjoy]

I had to give S his meletonin an hour before I wanted him to go to bed. He didn't wet the bed but he did sleep more soundly so it may be your son isn't waking to pee.

[karla-k]

Funny, DD sleeps so much better with the melatonin and she wakes up dry most mornings after having the pills. I usually just give it to her at bedtime and she seems to fall asleep fairly quickly (compared to before which isn't saying much ) I would say she is asleep within a half hour of taking her pills. We give her 2 most nights.

without the pills she was awake quite a bit and she wet the bed. we woke up to a soaking wet pull up everyday! she is almost 10.

[aspenhall]

We just do the spray....dd hardly ever wets the bed, and I think it's because the liquid form is a fast acting...getcha to sleep then wears off, unlike the pill, which would linger in your system as it was slowly being digested...

Also, I make her use the bathroom right before bed, and only allow her about 1/4 cup of water in her cup by her bed.

I use cotton blankets and towels as a mattress pad on top of the plastic mattress cover.

[Tudu]

We don't see an increase in bed wetting when we give it to any of our kids.

[mrsred]

never had any of mine wet the bed on melatonin

[hrisme]

As an occasional melatonin user (obviously not now, as it is 1 AM and I am still, unfortunately, awake), I would suggest steering away from the time release in most cases. It varies by body weight, tolerance level, and whether the issue is falling asleep or staying asleep, but typically a smaller dose shortly before bedtime is more effective than a dose extended over time. Also, it tends to be a short term solution & looses effectiveness with long term use--I'm lucky if I can get a week or so out of it before it dies out. I've also found the liquid version much more potent & effective than the pills.

There are other ways to induce natural production of melatonin, most of which I am trying to implement right now! Exposure to brighter lighting during the day tends to help, I've replaced the bulbs in the rooms I frequent with daylight bulbs (100 watt equivalent, I think it's 37 watts?). About two hours before bedtime I turn off the lights & use lamps and "mood lighting", which supposedly clues your mind into the fact that it is time to go to sleep. You probably already have a bedtime routine in place, work in additional relaxation activities such as deep breathing, deep pressure massage, and a soothing bath (works better for me than for kids, when is the last time anyone gave a child a soothing bath???). You may want to try aromatherapy oils, lavender is well known for it's soothing effects, but mandarin oil also acts as a mild sedative & may be worth trying.

Sigh....with all this experience with sleep inducing strategies you would think I'd be in bed right now & not sitting around waiting for my body to shut down.

[KarynB]

Hi,

I have a bed wetter and a melatonin users (9 yrs old) - I don't find the bedwetting any worse (it is a rare event in our house now), but after taking his ADHD meds, he really needs the melatonin to help him fall asleep. I have also heard the liquid is more potent, we do use the pills - 3 mg a night. The other night he went to get his melatonin at around 8:30 or 9:00 (weekend night) and took another dexadrin by mistake No danger as it is a low dose, but meant a very sleepless night for all!

Our 2.5 year old also takes FOREVER to fall asleep (last night 2.5 hours) - any ideas on what could help?

[adoptionblessin]

My 4 yr old was on Melatonin up to 6mg and it did nothing, we had to put her on clonidine and even now she does not sleep all night.

[aspenhall]

If it is very difficult to stay asleep try using black out curtains, or taping foil to the windows....and also a white noise machine.

I also use a red bulb or blue bulb in a nightlight around the corner from her room, so there is some light, but it's colored and indirect.

[marythemom]

My 15 year old son has always had trouble sleeping. We think it's his PTSD. He takes several meds that are supposed to help him sleep but don't seem to make a difference. We've tried Melatonin, and it helped for a little while. Now we have him on Rozerem. He's never been a bed wetter.

His 13 year old sister doesn't take Melatonin, but is a bed wetter. She seems to be more likely to wet the bed on nights when she starts a new med. Particularly those that are supposed to make her sleepy, but only for a few days, then the effect isn't as strong. She still randomly wets the bed though, sometimes going for weeks, sometimes every night for a week. Never sure what causes it.