Evidence is insufficient to guide melatonin discontinuation in children
A systematic review found that some sleep effects fade after melatonin is stopped, but it could not establish how treatment should be discontinued.
Based on the published abstract. The full paper may contain additional methods, results and limitations.
The 30-second takeaway
The review found that several effects on sleep timing, duration, efficiency and nighttime activity disappeared after melatonin was discontinued. It could not support evidence-based guidance on treatment length, dose, administration timing or stopping method. The abstract also reports that a pretreatment measure of melatonin timing may help predict what happens after discontinuation.
The abstract does not give study counts, participant totals, follow-up lengths or estimates of predictive performance. It therefore cannot show how accurately the timing measure predicts an individual child's experience after stopping treatment.
What the timing measure means
DLMO is short for dim light melatonin onset. The authors distinguish melatonin's sleep-promoting effects from its effects on daily rhythms, and propose that measuring its timing before treatment can help interpret those effects.
Prediction is a separate question
Predicting a response and identifying the best stopping method are separate questions. Although the review describes predictive value for pretreatment DLMO, it still concludes that evidence is insufficient to formulate a discontinuation guideline.
The original publication
[The importance of a DLMO-measurement when starting and stopping melatonin in minors].
Baens M, Danckaerts M
Tijdschr Psychiatr · 2026
- PubMed ID
- 41733025
- Record checked
AI-assisted research and writing. This explains one selected publication; it is not a complete review of everything known. Our approach.
One more question, understood.
Keep track of the research you’ve explored.