Melatonin for a flight or jet lag: is it safe for a baby or toddler?

Q: Melatonin for a flight or jet lag: is it safe for a baby or toddler?

Only with your pediatrician’s direction. According to the AAP, melatonin should be used only after you have discussed it with your pediatrician. It is sold as a supplement, the strength of products varies a great deal, and poisonings in children climbed steeply over the last decade. Light, meals and naps timed to local time move a young child’s body clock with no supplement needed.

About the scope of this page: Dr. Sam holds a Doctor of Pharmacy and is a licensed pharmacist; she is not a physician. Here we explain, in general terms, how a medicine, supplement or remedy relates to sleep, and this is no substitute for your child’s pediatrician. Talk to your child’s pediatrician before giving your child any medicine, supplement or remedy, and always follow the product label.

In brief

Giving a single dose just for a trip may seem harmless. Yet the concerns match those of nightly use: there’s no way to be sure how much the product contains, research in babies and toddlers is thin, and travel bags are exactly where curious toddlers discover gummies. With a young child, building the trip around light and schedule sidesteps all of that.

Families getting ready to travel often bring up melatonin with Actually Sleeping first. Since a pharmacist leads our practice, we treat the question seriously and send the medical side of it to your pediatrician. The sleep side we plan around your child, travel and all.

What regulators and the evidence tell us

Talk to the pediatrician first. According to the AAP, melatonin should be used only after a discussion with your pediatrician. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends that parents speak with a health care professional before giving children melatonin or any other supplement.
Strength isn’t regulated. Melatonin is marketed as a dietary supplement. The AASM points to a study where actual melatonin content ran from under half to over four times the labeled amount, and chewables varied the most. CDC travel guidance likewise notes that the FDA does not regulate melatonin.
Poisonings. According to a CDC report, melatonin ingestions among children rose about 530% between 2012 and 2021. Most reports involved children aged 5 and younger, and two children under 2 died.
Helping jet lag isn’t the same as being safe. NIH says melatonin might help with jet lag, but its long-term safety hasn’t been established.
It doesn’t help ears. CDC guidance states antihistamines are contraindicated for children under age 1 and haven’t been shown to ease ear pain during flights; swallowing is what helps. On descent, let babies nurse or suck on a bottle or pacifier.

How a body clock really adjusts

According to CDC travel guidance, people adapt by about 1.5 hours a day on average after flying west, and 1 hour a day after flying east. Bright light in the morning shifts the clock earlier, while light in the evening shifts it later. The CDC also points out that jet lag disrupts children’s sleep in the same way it does adults’. A toddler’s tools are therefore the same: light, meals and the timing of sleep.

How trips unravel sleep, and how to prevent it

Jet lag passes. What sticks are the changes made along the way: a baby who dozed off in a carrier every night of the vacation, or a toddler who ended up in the parents’ bed at the hotel. Those changes travel home in the suitcase. The levers that shift a body clock (light, meals and sleep timing) are well understood; applying them to one specific child on one specific itinerary is the tricky part. You’ll find more background in keeping your baby sleeping while traveling.

Packing safely

If any adult in the family uses melatonin, keep it in a locked or zipped compartment and never leave it out on a hotel nightstand. If a child swallows any, call Poison Control at 1-800-222-1222.

Questions for your pediatrician

“Is there anything, like an ear infection, that means my child shouldn’t fly right now?”
“Is melatonin suitable for my child in the first place? If it is, which product and what timing?”
“What medicines should I bring in case my child gets sick on the trip?”

Travel sleep isn’t solved by medicine

A child who falls asleep independently at home takes that skill along on vacation. That ability is the true safeguard against a ruined trip, and it can be fixed at any age. Actually Sleeping writes a plan around your child’s age, temperament and schedule, coaches you bootcamp-style before the first night and checks in 1:1 every day as it settles in, so you set off with a child who already sleeps well. Parents describe the difference in the client video reviews.

Have a trip on the calendar? Book the free consultation and get your child sleeping well before you go.

Want your baby sleeping like this?

With Actually Sleeping you get 1:1 coaching: Dr. Sam writes a sleep plan for your baby, we coach you bootcamp-style before the first night, and we check in daily until it is working. We have coached 700+ families, collected 129 video reviews, and put our guarantee in writing: 8–12 hours through the night within 14 days, or a full refund.

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Common questions

Is melatonin okay for my 1 year old on a long flight?

Only when your pediatrician recommends it. The AAP advises using melatonin only after a conversation with your pediatrician, and product strength varies a great deal. The usual tools are feeding, holding, and daylight once you land.

How long will a toddler’s jet lag last?

According to CDC travel guidance, the body adjusts by roughly 1 to 1.5 hours a day on average, more quickly after flying west than east. Daylight in the morning and meals on local time help the clock move. The CDC points out that jet lag disrupts sleep for children just as it does for adults.

Can melatonin help with jet lag?

NIH says it might help with jet lag, though its long-term safety hasn’t been established. For young children, the AAP and the American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommend speaking with a health care professional before giving it.

My toddler ate melatonin gummies. What do I do?

Call Poison Control at 1-800-222-1222. If your child collapses, has a seizure, has difficulty breathing or can’t be woken, call 911. The CDC reported that child melatonin ingestions rose 530% between 2012 and 2021.