Valerian Root for Sleep?

[lagoon66]

DS (15 months) has never been a great sleeper. I am reading stuff about valerian root products designed for kids. Are these safe? What about kava? I hate to 'drug' him to sleep but we could all use a little rest.

[Erinne]

We have given dd valarian root tea and melatonin starting around 2yrs old. Her doctor said it was fine as long as it wasn't in massive doses, but even 2-3x a full adult dose wouldn't hurt a child (not that we gave her that much obviously, but just that it would take a lot to hurt her). At some point, the long term effects of sleep deprivation for both you and your child need to be factored in as well.

[GEM Cloth]

I don't know how it affects a child that young but it doesn't make us sleepy, just cranks us down a few notches. I give it to my two younger kids and melatonin as well. I wish I had known about natural stuff like this when my first child was the age of yours.

[RainandRedemption]

I think herbs for kids make a valerian root tincture, I'd give that a try. But I would not use kava kava for kids.