Melatonin For Autism Spectrum Disorder

Melatonin well-tolerated sleep aid in children with autismVanderbilt Sleep Disorders Center researchers are reporting that melatonin, an over-the-counter and relatively inexpensive dietary supplement taken for insomnia and jet lag, shows promise in treating children with autism who have difficulty falling asleep. The results are published in the February issue of the/Journal of Child Neurology/ <http://jcn.sagepub.com/>. The study is the largest of its kind, looking at the medical recordsof 107 children with autism, ages 2-18, who had tried varying dosagesof melatonin for insomnia. Twenty-five percent of parents reportedthey no longer had sleep concerns after using melatonin, 60 percentof parents reported the sleep problems had improved, 13 percent stillhad major concerns and only 1 percent (one child) had worse symptoms.Only three of the 107 children studied reported mild side effects.

Does it work? My child with Autism Spectrum Disorder is on Melatonin and usually falls
asleep within 15-20 mins of taking it. We give it to him in a syringe mixed with a little bit
of juice. He now will fall asleep at 9Pm on school nights when in past it was after 11 PM,
sometimes later.