We have a 5 year old daughter.  she is on Focalin XR, and 2 others.  She was not get a lot of sleep before she was on the ADHD meds.  She was getting 6-7 hours a night.  Her Doctor told me to try Melatonin it is a vitamin to help go to sleep.  They make it is a pill, I think 6, 10, and 15mg’s.  Plus they do make it in a liquid. It has to be ordered by a pharmacy.  It works very good.  We give it to are daughter every night to help her sleep.  Know she is sleeping 9 hours a night, and sometimes 10 or 11.  I know 10-12 hours of sleep are need for a 5 year old, but i’m happy with 9 too.  It’s a lot better, then what she use to have.  I know they make a liquid one, becouse we use that.  Again it is called Melatonin.  I hope this helps.            Tony

I also swear by melatonin. My son, now 5 yrs old, has never been a good sleeper, not before or during ADHD meds. We were able to give him a 1mg tablet, which I then cut in half to only half of a mg, per night, and that’s enough to help him fall asleep better. It doesn’t make him stay asleep, but it did seem to get his sleep rhythms back on track and now he sleeps through the night (8-9 hrs or so)  95% of the time. (plus, he even chews the tablets and that doesn’t seem to matter, if pill swallowing is an issue).  Worth a try, at least, but I would start low and slowly increase (and ask your ped about it). Our ped suggested we start with 3mg, but I know my son, and know how strongly he reacts to meds, so we started with just half a mg, and that turned out to be plenty.  Your mileage may vary.  Good luck!

I personally would not allow my son’r doctor to put him on Remeron to treat the side effects of ADD meds. Here is a link to what I found online when I googled it. It starts out with a great big black box warning against using it on children and even adults up to age 24. I trust this site because it is sponsored by the the NIH.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0000995/

Instead of using Remeron, ask your doctor to take your daughter off any time released ADD meds. If she is a slow metabolizer, the meds will stay in her system into the evening and might delay sleep onset.

For sleep, we give my son 1 mg of melatonin as directed by his doctor. He also takes an antihistimine like Claritin or Zyrtec, for allergies, but this helps him sleep as well. I don’t know if these will help your daughter sleep but they are certainly more benign than another psychotrop.

I have also heard good things about 5HTP, but have not yet tried it.

I hope you find this information helpful.

I myself take Remeron and I also have to agree with the others: I would not give this to a child.  The brain is developing and SSRIs can really effect the brain’s development. My son also takes melatonin successfully and the antihistamine is a good idea.  I was allowed to take it while pregnant when I was off all SSRIs.  There are other things to help with sleep: warm baths, lavender oil massages, and special breathing techniques.  I’ve used them with my daughter who has insomnia from time to time.  It helps the mommy too.  Good luck!

Oh, dear, I take Remeron also. I take 15mgs. If you lower the dose it makes you even more sleepier. It is a very different med in the sense the lower you go, the sleepier it makes you especially during the day. I seriously could not function during the day when I cut the dose in half which is 7 1/2 mgs even with my ADD stimulant.
  Wonder if Trazadone would be better? It doesn’t hv the added effect of weight gain though. I wouldn’t adjust a child’s meds without talking to the doctor. He should have told you that about Remeron. It is very important.

HI,

I’ve been feeling badly about my response from 2/7.  Who am I to say whether or not you should give your child Remeron?  As I said, I take it and it is a god send.  Perhaps a low dose would do the trick, there’s nothing worse IMO than anxiety.  Hope things are better!

take care!