Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsWhat Is Melatonin?BenefitsRisksOther OptionsWhen to See a Healthcare Provider
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
What Is Melatonin?
Benefits
Risks
Other Options
When to See a Healthcare Provider
If you have trouble sleeping while you’re breastfeeding, you may consider takingover-the-counter (OTC) sleep aidslikemelatoninto help you sleep. While these products can be safe and effective in general, there has not been enough research to prove whether taking melatonin while you are breastfeeding is safe or not.
This article explains what’s known about melatonin, its potential benefits and risks, and non-medication alternatives that may help you get better sleep while breastfeeding.
nathaphat / Getty Images
Postpartum Insomnia: Symptoms, Causes, and What to Do About It
You can also buymelatonin supplementsat most pharmacies and drugstores. However, since these are dietary supplements, companies are not required to prove safety and effectiveness before marketing the products.There can also sometimes be differences between labeled and actual ingredients or amounts.
Some people have reported using melatonin supplements while breastfeeding without any safety concerns, according to the Drugs and Lactation Database (LactMed).
Still, there is not enough research yet to definitively say if melatonin use is safe while breastfeeding.You should always speak to your healthcare provider to discuss using any supplemental aid while breastfeeding.
There are some potentialbenefits and risks to using melatoninat any time, not just while you’re breastfeeding. You should talk to your provider before trying melatonin.
Possible Benefits
Melatonin has relatively few side effects. Some people experience headaches, dizziness, nausea, and drowsiness when they take melatonin but these side effects are usually mild.
Although some studies have concluded that melatonin supplements can help you fall asleep faster, they do not seem to work for everyone. Some people report sleeping longer when taking melatonin, while others report no effect at all.
The effects of melatonin also tend to wane over time and there isn’t yet enough information on long-term effects. Therefore, melatonin supplements are really intended for short-term rather than ongoing relief frominsomnia, or an inability to get enough sleep.
Potential Risks
If you took melatonin before or during your pregnancy without any problems, you might wonder if it’s safe to keep using it while you are breastfeeding.
It’s not clear how melatonin might affect a breastfed infant. However, melatonin can cause side effects like agitation, sleepiness, and bet-wetting in young children.Melatonin is not recommended for any child under the age of 3 years old.
There has been very little research on melatonin’s safety for babies, so we do not know for sure how they would be affected.Since melatonin can make you sleepy, it’s possible that an infant who has been exposed to supplemental melatonin might get too drowsy.
You should talk to your provider about what would be safe for you. For example, your provider might approve of you taking a small amount of melatonin for a short time while you are breastfeeding. If not, they can recommend an alternative.
How to Improve Your Sleep
Drugs and supplements are not the only way to address sleep problems. By making a few lifestyle changes, you might be able to cope with insomnia without using medications.
Somenon-medication ways to improve your sleepinclude:
For some people, breastfeeding can actually help with insomnia. The hormoneprolactin, which is responsible forlactation, also plays a role in moderating stress in people who are nursing.As long as you continue nursing, your prolactin levels will remain high.
10 Bad Habits That Lead to Insomnia
Regularly interrupted sleep can lead tosleep deprivation, which can compound and worsen over time. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), around 55% of people are still nursing their babies at 6 months while 35% are still nursing their 1-year-olds.
When your concentration, moods, and ability to function are impaired, it’s important that you reach out to a healthcare provider for help. While making the adjustment to parenthood could certainly be contributing to poor sleep, there could also be other causes that your provider will want to rule out.
Your provider can also help you find ways to improve your sleep and may recommend treatments for you to use while you are breastfeeding.
Summary
While melatonin supplements may help some people fall asleep faster, they don’t work for everyone and they tend to lose effectiveness over time. Currently, there isn’t enough research to say definitively whether melatonin use while breastfeeding is safe or not.
Lifestyle changes may help overcome insomnia. This includes improving your sleep habits, exercising routinely, and creating a bedroom environment that fosters sleep. Speak with your healthcare provider if sleep problems persist. If needed, you may be referred to a sleep specialist for further investigation.
A Word From Verywell
12 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health.Melatonin: what you need to know.Vine T, Brown GM, Frey BN.Melatonin use during pregnancy and lactation: A scoping review of human studies.Braz J Psychiatry. 2022;44(3):342-348. doi:10.1590/1516-4446-2021-2156Katzer D, Pauli L, Mueller A, et al.Melatonin concentrations and antioxidative capacity of human breast milk according to gestational age and the time of day.J Hum Lact. 2016;32(4):NP105-NP110. doi:10.1177/0890334415625217National Institutes of Health Office of Dietary Supplements.Dietary supplements: what you need to know.Drugs and Lactation Database (LactMed®) [Internet]. Bethesda (MD): National Institute of Child Health and Human Development; 2006-.Melatonin.National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health.Melatonin: what you need to know.Ferracioli-Oda E, Qawasmi A, Bloch MH.Meta-analysis: melatonin for the treatment of primary sleep disorders. Romanovsky AA, ed.PLoS ONE. 2013;8(5):e63773. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0063773Marseglia L, Gitto E, Laschi E, et al.Antioxidant effect of melatonin in preterm newborns.Oxid Med Cell Longev. 2021;2021:6308255. doi:10.1155/2021/6308255Wahl S, Engelhardt M, Schaupp P, Lappe C, Ivanov IV.The inner clock—Blue light sets the human rhythm.Journal of Biophotonics. 2019;12(12):e201900102. doi: 10.1002/jbio.201900102American Sports and Fitness Association.The benefits of exercise for improved mental wellness.National Library of Medicine.The physiological basis of breastfeeding.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Breastfeeding: facts.
12 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health.Melatonin: what you need to know.Vine T, Brown GM, Frey BN.Melatonin use during pregnancy and lactation: A scoping review of human studies.Braz J Psychiatry. 2022;44(3):342-348. doi:10.1590/1516-4446-2021-2156Katzer D, Pauli L, Mueller A, et al.Melatonin concentrations and antioxidative capacity of human breast milk according to gestational age and the time of day.J Hum Lact. 2016;32(4):NP105-NP110. doi:10.1177/0890334415625217National Institutes of Health Office of Dietary Supplements.Dietary supplements: what you need to know.Drugs and Lactation Database (LactMed®) [Internet]. Bethesda (MD): National Institute of Child Health and Human Development; 2006-.Melatonin.National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health.Melatonin: what you need to know.Ferracioli-Oda E, Qawasmi A, Bloch MH.Meta-analysis: melatonin for the treatment of primary sleep disorders. Romanovsky AA, ed.PLoS ONE. 2013;8(5):e63773. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0063773Marseglia L, Gitto E, Laschi E, et al.Antioxidant effect of melatonin in preterm newborns.Oxid Med Cell Longev. 2021;2021:6308255. doi:10.1155/2021/6308255Wahl S, Engelhardt M, Schaupp P, Lappe C, Ivanov IV.The inner clock—Blue light sets the human rhythm.Journal of Biophotonics. 2019;12(12):e201900102. doi: 10.1002/jbio.201900102American Sports and Fitness Association.The benefits of exercise for improved mental wellness.National Library of Medicine.The physiological basis of breastfeeding.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Breastfeeding: facts.
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health.Melatonin: what you need to know.Vine T, Brown GM, Frey BN.Melatonin use during pregnancy and lactation: A scoping review of human studies.Braz J Psychiatry. 2022;44(3):342-348. doi:10.1590/1516-4446-2021-2156Katzer D, Pauli L, Mueller A, et al.Melatonin concentrations and antioxidative capacity of human breast milk according to gestational age and the time of day.J Hum Lact. 2016;32(4):NP105-NP110. doi:10.1177/0890334415625217National Institutes of Health Office of Dietary Supplements.Dietary supplements: what you need to know.Drugs and Lactation Database (LactMed®) [Internet]. Bethesda (MD): National Institute of Child Health and Human Development; 2006-.Melatonin.National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health.Melatonin: what you need to know.Ferracioli-Oda E, Qawasmi A, Bloch MH.Meta-analysis: melatonin for the treatment of primary sleep disorders. Romanovsky AA, ed.PLoS ONE. 2013;8(5):e63773. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0063773Marseglia L, Gitto E, Laschi E, et al.Antioxidant effect of melatonin in preterm newborns.Oxid Med Cell Longev. 2021;2021:6308255. doi:10.1155/2021/6308255Wahl S, Engelhardt M, Schaupp P, Lappe C, Ivanov IV.The inner clock—Blue light sets the human rhythm.Journal of Biophotonics. 2019;12(12):e201900102. doi: 10.1002/jbio.201900102American Sports and Fitness Association.The benefits of exercise for improved mental wellness.National Library of Medicine.The physiological basis of breastfeeding.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Breastfeeding: facts.
National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health.Melatonin: what you need to know.
Vine T, Brown GM, Frey BN.Melatonin use during pregnancy and lactation: A scoping review of human studies.Braz J Psychiatry. 2022;44(3):342-348. doi:10.1590/1516-4446-2021-2156
Katzer D, Pauli L, Mueller A, et al.Melatonin concentrations and antioxidative capacity of human breast milk according to gestational age and the time of day.J Hum Lact. 2016;32(4):NP105-NP110. doi:10.1177/0890334415625217
National Institutes of Health Office of Dietary Supplements.Dietary supplements: what you need to know.
Drugs and Lactation Database (LactMed®) [Internet]. Bethesda (MD): National Institute of Child Health and Human Development; 2006-.Melatonin.
Ferracioli-Oda E, Qawasmi A, Bloch MH.Meta-analysis: melatonin for the treatment of primary sleep disorders. Romanovsky AA, ed.PLoS ONE. 2013;8(5):e63773. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0063773
Marseglia L, Gitto E, Laschi E, et al.Antioxidant effect of melatonin in preterm newborns.Oxid Med Cell Longev. 2021;2021:6308255. doi:10.1155/2021/6308255
Wahl S, Engelhardt M, Schaupp P, Lappe C, Ivanov IV.The inner clock—Blue light sets the human rhythm.Journal of Biophotonics. 2019;12(12):e201900102. doi: 10.1002/jbio.201900102
American Sports and Fitness Association.The benefits of exercise for improved mental wellness.
National Library of Medicine.The physiological basis of breastfeeding.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Breastfeeding: facts.
Meet Our Medical Expert Board
Share Feedback
Was this page helpful?Thanks for your feedback!What is your feedback?OtherHelpfulReport an ErrorSubmit
Was this page helpful?
Thanks for your feedback!
What is your feedback?OtherHelpfulReport an ErrorSubmit
What is your feedback?
