A Mom Wants To Know If She's Overreacting After Her Kid Was Given Melatonin At A Sleepover

It’s hard to know when to ask permission from other kids’ parents. Do you text them about whether their kid can eat sugar? Whether they can see certain TV shows? Wether they can jump on a trampoline? It’s hard to know when kids have allergies or limitations, but you also don’t want to bug a kid’s parents about every little thing.

However... when it comes to giving kids medicine and medicinal items... you’d think you’d call or send out a little text before dosing a kid in your care, right?

One mom on the Parenting Reddit forum wants to know if she’s overreacting after another family gave her son melatonin multiple times during a trip.

“I am feeling so shocked and angry,” she wrote. “My son came home today from a 3 day vacation with his friend and his family. We were all talking about his time and he mentioned he’s excited to sleep in his own bed tonight as he was sharing a bed with his buddy during the trip. We asked if he was hard to sleep with and he answered with ‘well nobody snored and we took melatonin.’”

This was the first she had heard of it.

“The way my husband and I begged his pardon, [our] son thought we were mad at him,” she continued. “Obviously not his fault. But we weren’t asked if they could give him anything.”

Not only is she upset that they didn’t ask permission, she’s also angry with herself for not teaching her kid not to take medicine from people who aren’t his parents or his doctor.

“I am feeling very irresponsible for not having a talk with him about this,” she wrote. “Never taking anything from anyone, even parents. But it just didn’t cross my mind, I didn’t think I needed to. That was so incredibly stupid of me. I can’t believe it.”

She also wanted reassurance that she’s not overreacting.

“This is as f*cked up as we think it is, right?” she asked. “I am so mad. At myself and at them. Sadly I had to tell my son he won’t be joining them any longer. And I’m not a confrontational person so at this point I don’t even know how to bring this up with them.”

Down in the comments, almost everyone agreed that giving another person’s kid melatonin without asking for permission is not acceptable — and even downright shocking.

“It's not a good idea to give something without checking with the parent first,” one of the most popular comments reads. “Its certainly possible to be allergic to something in the pill or whatever form the melatonin is given.”

Another person added, “Google says it can significantly impact other medications. That is honestly the worst possible thing. Especially at that age the kid might be responsible for his own medications. They have no idea if giving him any sort of pill could interact. Honestly, I would not give a kid Tylenol or vitamins or cold meds without a direct okay from the parent.”

Many other parents encouraged the mom to reach out to the parent and explain the situation instead of keeping quiet.

“I would have a civil conversation with said parents and let them know that it shouldn't happen again,” one person recommended.

“I think if they've taken your child on vacation for 4 years then you should be comfortable talking to them about this,” another expounded. “They probably just think it's harmless and didn't think twice about it (which is unacceptable, but not malicious). Just cancelling all future trips with no explanation is passive aggressive and punishes the children more than anything.”

Melatonin is often seen as a safe and natural sleep aid that is okay for kids — but it’s ta little more complicated than that. While it’s a natural hormone produced by the body, and while taking supplements can help with sleep in some cases, it’s also a poorly regulated product that may vary widely by dose if consumed via gummies. It’s also possible for kids to overdose, and these cases are on the rise. As stated above, it can also interact with other medications.

The bottom line? While melatonin isn’t technically a drug, it is a supplement that could affect kids in an adverse way — and you should always check with parents or guardians before giving it to kids that aren’t yours. And in general, check with parents before giving kids anything that could affect their health.