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Sunrise, sunset

I have finally found a benefit to living in a country where the sun comes up mid-morning in the winter: the girls are sleeping until almost 8! It’s been a glorious few mornings. Sleep science says that babies have sleep-wake cycles that are in tune with the sun and will adjust their nightly sleep/wake times with their exposure to natural light. However, when we traveled to NY last month, I was unsure how that was going to go and was really quite scared about having 2 infants waking at 3 am thinking it was time to play.

Of course, I had no reason to fear. It took them exactly 3 days to switch to a reasonable bedtime and they weren’t up before 6 in the morning. That was probably still a bit early for their mother, who was trying to see friends in the evening and ended up seriously burning her candle at both ends, but I couldn’t really complain. It was much better than my imagined scenario. It’s been reported that babies will actually do much better with a big time change of several hours than a simple one like we just had with Daylight Savings. I know many of you are still bitter on that one.
Now my sister is planning a trip to visit us on this side of the pond and is getting herself all worked up about how my niece will handle the flight and time change. To the point that she’s been soliciting advice and called today, asking if she should get some melatonin for Olivia. Melatonin is a natural hormone produced in our brains that is involved in our sleep patterns and many people use it as a “natural” sleep aid. But does it work? Does it work for jet lag? Is it safe for kids?
I did a little research (because I can’t know everything but I do know where to look) and here’s what I’ve found.
There are no good studies looking at the safety or efficacy of melatonin as a sleep aid (long or short term) in babies or young children. All the studies were done on older children with neurodevelopmental disorders, such as cerebral palsy or autism. The hormone was given for a short period of time and the results are mixed.  It isn’t without side effects, which can include irritability and drowsiness and is reported to leave you with a “hangover” effect if used in larger doses. (Who wants a hangover if you didn’t get the margarita?! Seriously!) Then again, we are talking small doses for a couple of days while she adjusts to the time. So it isn’t likely to be harmful per se.
That said, I’ll leave it to my sis. Armed with the information I’ve laid out here, I’m not too worried if she gets some and I’m also not concerned that she won’t do fine without it either. But if you want to try it, better buy it over in the States. The UK hasn’t approved it for sale here. It is a hormone, after all.

Dr. Lara Zibners, Nov 16, 2010

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