The journey of having kids is a wild, wonderful, and crazy one. If there’s one thing that most parents can relate to it’s a lot of sleepless nights. While the learning curve for children varies from person to person and family to family, genuinely the process of learning how to have a good, healthy, and strong sleep schedule can be rocky.
It’s a normal thing for kids of all ages to either struggle with not wanting to fall asleep, or just understanding why they need to sleep. For a lot of non-health-related reasons, sleep can just be hard! Whether it’s because the little ones don’t want to stop playing, or they might be scared of the dark, there can be a number of reasons why sleep is a challenge.
In some cases, there are medical concerns about why sleep is challenging, in those cases a medical professional should always be consulted. For a parent, it’s also normal to seek out methods of helping your family find the strongest, safest way to get good quality sleep. One question that comes up quite often on this journey regards the safety of the most popular sleep supplement, melatonin.
What Exactly is Melatonin?
Melatonin is a hormone that the body produces that helps to start natural sleep pathways. During the nighttime, or periods of darkness, your body naturally produces melatonin, which will start your sleep pathways. During the daylight, your body naturally suppresses the production of melatonin which helps to keep you awake and alert.
People who suffer from sleep disorders, may not be able to produce adequate melatonin to fall asleep which is why medications containing melatonin or melatonin supplements may be used. Melatonin can be synthesized or extracted from animal sources and it can be consumed in pill, liquid, or even path forms. There are even dietary products that have melatonin like herbal teas. For the most part, melatonin is seen as being a safe, natural way to help supplement your body’s natural ability to fall asleep.
Is Melatonin Bad For You?
Here’s the thing about melatonin, it’s not necessarily bad for you, but it’s not good for everyone. It’s not uncommon for people to have sensitivities to melatonin. These sensitivities can cause side effects that can be unpleasant, and sometimes can actually even form habit-like symptoms. Some symptoms of melatonin can involve feeling groggy and tired when you wake up, which can even negate the use of them.
While melatonin is largely considered safe and is an over-the-counter product that you can buy, it still is a supplemental hormone. For kids, this can be an issue of concern that should be brought up with their pediatrician.
What About Melatonin-Free Products?
While there are cases where melatonin can be safe for children, melatonin-free products that help to create strong sleeping habits are also a powerful tool to use. These melatonin-free sleep aids are designed to be specifically non-habit-inducing, organic, natural solutions to help your children get the sleep they need and you deserve!
How Do Melatonin Free Sleep Aids Work?
The first step to creating safe, effective melatonin-free sleep aids is making sure that all of the ingredients are organic, non-GMO, that have no synthetic colors, parabens, or sulfates. The second step is to develop products that are backed by scientific research into natural, healthy sleep pathways. These products work on routes like using scent and using the kid’s sleep spray that uses natural olfactory sensors to create an environment of rest and relaxation for your child to fall asleep in.
One of the most important steps is to create a product that is specifically pediatrician-approved. This means that every single formula is built with only the best natural, safe ingredients, and everyone is approved by real medical professionals.
By creating comfort products that naturally promote your child’s rest and relaxation pathways, you can use these products with complete ease of mind. Shampoo, lotion, and even teething gel, all of these products are made with the greatest attention to detail so you can rest easy knowing your child isn’t getting anything harmful or toxic.
Creating Routines That Improve Everything
One of the most important aspects of finding healthy, strong sleep is in creating a routine to allow your body to learn how to rest and fall asleep. Even for individuals who need specific medication, routine is still drastically important. These melatonin-free products are built with the idea that they can help give you the tools you need to build healthy sleep routines for your child.
It’s not about just getting your child to fall asleep, it’s about holistically creating a good relationship with sleep that they will benefit from their whole life. The products support strong, healthy sleep hygiene, and can help lessen the tension around bedtime.
