By Stephanie Dalzell and Caitlyn Gribbin, ABC
Parents say some children need melatonin to get to sleep. Photo: Quin Tauetau/RNZ
Australian poisons hotlines received a record almost 1500 calls about children ingesting melatonin last year, in a dramatic spike that has prompted experts to warn it is "purely luck" no one has died.
One popular online retailer recently suspended sales of melatonin to Australia, after reports of a jump in calls to the WA Poisons Information Centre about children taking melatonin.
The ABC can now reveal the true extent of the increase after analysing data from across the country.
The figures showed there were 1478 calls nationally in 2024 relating to melatonin exposure for children aged 14 and under, more than double the number of calls made in 2019.
The reason for the calls varied, but included children accidentally taking melatonin that was not meant for them, incorrect dosages, or having an adverse reaction to the medicine.
An increasing number of parents have used melatonin to help their children sleep, either as a prescription or purchased online, sometimes in the form of gummies.
Senior specialist in poisons information at NSW Poisons Information Centre, Genevieve Adamo, said the figures reflected a growing trend of more people using melatonin to help them sleep.
She said melatonin overdoses could usually be managed at home, with symptoms ranging from headaches and drowsiness to less common cases of nausea and vomiting.
But she said it was concerning there had been such a steep rise in calls, noting many were related to children accidentally taking melatonin products like gummies.
"From my point of view, that means there's a gap in education… We need to make sure that parents and people generally are aware that all medications have risks and need to be stored safely, and particularly with gummy products that there's a distinction and an education with children around the fact that medications are not lollies," she said.
What is melatonin?
Melatonin is a hormone the body produces naturally, which helps regulate the sleep-wake cycle.
A prescription is technically required to use melatonin in Australia and it is only approved for specific circumstances, like short-term insomnia in older adults, or for children with autism.
However, many parents circumvent the process by opting to buy it from online overseas retailers as it is often significantly cheaper and does not need a script.
Royal Australian College of General Practitioners spokesperson, Tim Jones, warned melatonin bought online might not meet the strict safety standards imposed by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), the national medicines regulator.
"Prescription melatonin is more expensive, but safety is absolutely guaranteed. If you're sourcing melatonin online for your child, we have no way of knowing what your child is actually taking," Jones said.
"And we are already seeing unpredictable or unsafe effects in kids reported all around Australia from using these online products.
"We have data from America ... to suggest that melatonin supplements independently tested may contain as little as 10 percent of the melatonin they're advertised to have, they may contain as much as 400 percent of the melatonin it's advertised [to have]."
He said taking melatonin without a doctor's oversight was also deeply problematic, especially if a child is on other medication.
What I am worried about is kids on other prescription medications … having an accidental overdose of multiple medicines in combination. I am concerned that that could lead to serious consequences such as coma or need for intensive care, admission to hospital," he said.
"I think it's purely luck in Australia that we haven't seen a case of that yet."
Last month, data from WA's Poisons Information Centre revealed there was a spike in melatonin calls, mostly related to children who had taken too many gummies.
Shortly after those figures were reported, US-based online provider iHerb said it would suspend all melatonin sales to Australian customers while reviewing its order protocols.
When asked by the ABC whether the poisons data had influenced its decision making, an iHerb spokesperson said: "Any report suggesting our products are adversely impacting our customers is taken with serious consideration and priority."
Parents are giving their children melatonin to help them sleep. Photo: Richard Stachmann/Unsplash
'I thought I'd hit the jackpot'
For the past few years, single Melbourne mother-of-two Julia Yarzar has been giving melatonin to her two daughters aged 8 and 11, who are both neurodiverse.
She said before using melatonin, she had tried "every possible means" of helping her children sleep.
"I just was not coping at all. We were all just exhausted, and bedtime just became quite traumatic for us," she said.
That all changed when her daughters were prescribed melatonin.
"I was pretty shocked at the difference, to be honest. I thought I'd really hit the jackpot," she said.
"Instantly, we moved bedtimes down to being about an hour long, and the calmness that they both experienced was quite mind-blowing."
Julia initially used a script from her GP to buy melatonin from the chemist, but then discovered an alternative brand was available on the iHerb website for one-third of the price.
It also could be purchased without having to repeatedly take her daughter back to the GP.
"It became a challenge to continually be refilling that script. My youngest in particular, does not cope in a medical consult room or in the waiting rooms," she said.
She argued the benefits of melatonin far outweighed any potential risks, and said her children would need heavy-duty medication if they stopped taking it.
"Our moment by moment is what's the cost-benefit ratio of the situation… the dysregulation and the distress they were both experiencing night after night after night at bedtime, and the burnout factor on me, was a huge cost."
Because iHerb has suspended its melatonin sales Julia has just a few weeks of supplies left, as she cannot find the brand she uses stocked anywhere else.
She has since tried different brands from alternative online suppliers, but said her children do not tolerate the taste and there is less information available about how safe and effective they are.
She called for health authorities to consider assessing melatonin purchased online.
"I think it's important to know what the quality of the products are. But you know, I think the action for that could be that perhaps those products can be reviewed so that we do have more information about them and educating people on the uses of them."
The TGA said for medicines to be legally supplied in Australia, a sponsor needed to submit an application so it could establish the "safety, quality and efficacy of the medicine".
"The TGA advises consumers to exercise extreme caution when considering purchasing medicines, including dietary supplements and herbal preparations, over the internet," a spokesperson said in a statement.
"Products that are not regulated by the TGA may not meet Australian manufacturing quality standards and could also contain undisclosed harmful ingredients."
-ABC
