Have you ever read a magazine in a dentist's chair, and it made you want to jump out of the chair? That is what happened to me when I saw the ad, which is the photo of today’s blog.
I was completely shocked that people in the industry would have the nerve to imply that taking a drug is how a small child “sleeps naturally.”
What a horrible message to spread because it has a serious risk of creating the belief that a pill/gummy/something ingested is needed to sleep — which is one among several risks associated with creating a psychological dependence.
Another concern is the specific ingredient in that particular gummy: Melatonin. While there are already known issues with its use, the long-term effects on children remain largely unknown.
Yesterday, we released my latest Podcast titled, “The Sleep Crisis: Addressing Melatonin and Tech As Sleeping Aids.” Below, I share a few key points from the podcast, but as always, I hope you will tune into it.
Are you wondering how melatonin relates to screen time / Screenagers? Let me explain...
1. Our tech revolution impacts a child's or teen's routine to prepare for sleep, There are healthy habits and risky ones. In today's blog, I discuss melatonin and also the issue of using a tech-dependent activity to fall asleep.
2. The fact that ads for melatonin and everything else show up in so many more places in our lives than any time before.
3. It’s important to give our kids and teens some media literacy around how they are getting marketed to. Show your teen the ad in this picture and point out its claims. How can they say it does not cause dependency!? True in the short term the child may only cry if they don’t get their candy-flavored gummy. But what about dependency over the long term?
4. This issue also ties into screen time, as parents now face the challenge of getting their kids to fall asleep amid the stimulating activities made possible by interactive screens. I don’t fault parents for wanting help when it comes to their kids and sleep time. All of this makes parents particularly susceptible to ads claiming to help their children sleep. (By the way, the effectiveness of melatonin, beyond the placebo effect, hasn’t been definitively proven in scientific literature.)
Below are two highlights from the 25-minute podcast episode: the risks associated with melatonin use, and the challenges of using technology to fall asleep, along with safer solutions.
In this section, I talk with Dr. Judy Owens, a professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School who has been researching sleep for children and adolescents for 25 years.
Me: Let's talk a little bit more about melatonin and biology. Like, the impact of it on youth biology. What do we know, and what do we not know?
Judy Owens: We know that melatonin actually has an effect on reproductive hormones. So in other words, hormones increase around the time of puberty. And so, the evidence is a bit mixed right now, and there aren't a lot of studies.
Suggesting that there may be some impact on pubertal development of melatonin. Melatonin in humans could potentially have two different effects. It could delay the onset or the beginning of puberty development because it has these suppressing effects on reproductive hormones, or alternatively, if you stop Melatonin use in a prepubertal child.
In other words, like a young child that hasn't yet gone through puberty, you could actually trigger them into early puberty.
Me: Can we see that with animal models?
Judy Owens: Yes, we have data in animal models that suggests that melatonin has these effects. We don't have that evidence yet in humans, but I think, given how common the use of melatonin is in young kids, that's something that we really need to monitor.
Some children really like to listen to music or a story online to fall asleep. However, there are real risks of having tech in children’s rooms, particularly ones they can control, because, over time, they may start to interact with the device and stay up later.
In the pod, I say the following:
Me: If you have a young person who, for example, falls asleep with music, ideally, you could use a Bluetooth type of a situation that could pipe in music into their room could be helpful, but the key is not having electronics that they are in control of that they might end up using through the night or be tempted to or have those issues that we've been talking about.
Really trying more soothing things, helping them to learn how to self-soothe, self-relax at bedtime, whether that's reading a book, which sometimes can be really activating for young people. So, you have to see what works for your child. Sometimes parents will have the kid read a book that they've already read, or listen to a book on tape that they've already read.
Of course, there's journaling, writing a story, or doodling. We want to find other ways to help young people to fall asleep.
Questions to get the conversation started today with your family or group.
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Have you ever read a magazine in a dentist's chair, and it made you want to jump out of the chair? That is what happened to me when I saw the ad, which is the photo of today’s blog.
I was completely shocked that people in the industry would have the nerve to imply that taking a drug is how a small child “sleeps naturally.”
What a horrible message to spread because it has a serious risk of creating the belief that a pill/gummy/something ingested is needed to sleep — which is one among several risks associated with creating a psychological dependence.
Another concern is the specific ingredient in that particular gummy: Melatonin. While there are already known issues with its use, the long-term effects on children remain largely unknown.
Yesterday, we released my latest Podcast titled, “The Sleep Crisis: Addressing Melatonin and Tech As Sleeping Aids.” Below, I share a few key points from the podcast, but as always, I hope you will tune into it.
Are you wondering how melatonin relates to screen time / Screenagers? Let me explain...
1. Our tech revolution impacts a child's or teen's routine to prepare for sleep, There are healthy habits and risky ones. In today's blog, I discuss melatonin and also the issue of using a tech-dependent activity to fall asleep.
2. The fact that ads for melatonin and everything else show up in so many more places in our lives than any time before.
3. It’s important to give our kids and teens some media literacy around how they are getting marketed to. Show your teen the ad in this picture and point out its claims. How can they say it does not cause dependency!? True in the short term the child may only cry if they don’t get their candy-flavored gummy. But what about dependency over the long term?
4. This issue also ties into screen time, as parents now face the challenge of getting their kids to fall asleep amid the stimulating activities made possible by interactive screens. I don’t fault parents for wanting help when it comes to their kids and sleep time. All of this makes parents particularly susceptible to ads claiming to help their children sleep. (By the way, the effectiveness of melatonin, beyond the placebo effect, hasn’t been definitively proven in scientific literature.)
Understanding just how much insufficient sleep affects our children is a motivator to help them get the best sleep possible. As kids return to school, resetting sleep habits and rules around tech in the bedroom is hard but imperative. I share why sleep is so important and what you can do to help make a tech-free bedtime less painful. Most importantly, I share some of my favorite ways to set and maintain rules around sleep time - They might surprise you!
READ MORE >
Today I discuss powerful research regarding how sleep deficiency can impact brain development. Having a calm conversation about the latest science of sleep and brain development before even broaching the ideas of new sleep rules can be effective.
READ MORE >
Before I put on my clinical hat and tell you lots of things I have found interesting about sleep research these days, I want to mention what some parents I have spoken with have told me. They tell me that their kids have devices in their bedrooms and their children are getting good about not using them by a certain hour. And my response is YES! AND … although this is probably true, once they hit the preteen and teen years and perhaps a boyfriend or girlfriend comes into the picture, or say another drama has really hit the road, or… – resisting devices can become impossible. (Not to mention they are tired so executive function, i.e. willpower and self-control goes down exponentially).
READ MORE >for more like this, DR. DELANEY RUSTON'S NEW BOOK, PARENTING IN THE SCREEN AGE, IS THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE FOR TODAY’S PARENTS. WITH INSIGHTS ON SCREEN TIME FROM RESEARCHERS, INPUT FROM KIDS & TEENS, THIS BOOK IS PACKED WITH SOLUTIONS FOR HOW TO START AND SUSTAIN PRODUCTIVE FAMILY TALKS ABOUT TECHNOLOGY AND IT’S IMPACT ON OUR MENTAL WELLBEING.
