Is it safe to give kids melatonin?

Inside Health

BBC

Health & Fitness, Science

4.4 • 575 Ratings

🗓️ 19 August 2025

⏱️ 29 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

More and more parents are using melatonin to help their children sleep - but there is little research on the long-term effects.

So, what do we know about the risks and is it ok to give it to children as an aid to help sleep?

James chats to Paul Gringras, professor of children’s sleep medicine and neurodisability at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust and Vicki Beevers, chief executive of The Sleep Charity.

Also this week, resident GP Margaret McCartney on the potential promise - and peril - of doctors using AI in the NHS, and should you eat your placenta? We hear from a dietician on whether there’s any evidence it’s good for you.

Presenter: James Gallagher Producers: Tom Bonnett, Debbie Kilbride & Gerry Holt Editor: Ilan Goodman Production coordinator: Ishmael Soriano

This episode was produced in partnership with The Open University.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hello, I'm Greg Jenna and good news, Your Dead to Me is back for a new series. Here we go. Yes, we'll explore Emperor Nero's notorious reign with Professor Marybeard and Patton Oswald. I would not want my daughter having the remote control, not alone an empire. We'll dissect the decadent life of Philippe Duke-Dor-Leon with Tom Allen. I've often tried to pretend I'm an aristocrat and being very quickly knocked down.
0:23.0	And there'll be so much more with comedians like Olga Koch, Mike Mosniak and Rihalina.
0:26.9	Unexcited.
0:27.6	You're dead to me.
0:28.5	The comedy podcast that takes history seriously.
0:30.9	Listen first on BBC Sounds.
0:34.5	BBC Sounds. Music, radio, podcasts.
0:38.1	Hello there and welcome to the Inside Health podcast. I'm James Gallagher.
0:42.4	Would you ever eat the placenta after giving birth?
0:46.4	We're going to assess the evidence after a celebrity couple kicked up a storm.
0:50.8	And we've also got the latest in our series on how artificial intelligence is changing
0:55.6	healthcare and this time we're heading to the GP surgery. But first, would you give your child
1:02.3	melatonin to help them sleep? So melatonin is a hormone that's produced by the body and it makes
1:08.0	a sleepy in the evening. And in some countries it's considered a dietary supplement rather than a drug and you can
1:14.6	buy them as like chewy sweets or gummies.
1:17.6	And that includes in the US where this phenomenon of giving children a bedtime melatonin started.
1:24.6	But the same trend seems to be taking off here too, so let's find out what's going on
1:29.0	whether we should be giving them to children as a sleep aid and what any risks might be. So to discuss,
1:35.2	I'm joined by Paul Gringrass, Professor of Children's Sleep Medicine and Neurod Disability at Guys
1:40.2	and St Thomas's NHS Foundation Trust and Vicki Beaver's chief executive of the sleep
1:45.7	charity. Welcome both of you and first things first. Who got a good night's sleep?
1:50.5	Me? Oh, I can't comment. Fifth Amendment.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.