Is it safe for my 8 month old? What would be the quantities?

Question

Hello! I found this natural product to help baby sleep. He is 8 months old. On the bottle it says consult a health practitioner for 2 years and under. Here are the ingredients: Chamomile* (Matricaria chamomilla) (Flowers)........................75 mg Passion flower* (Passiflora incarnata) (Herb).................15 mg Catnip* (Nepata cataria) (Herb)..........................................10 mg Hops* (Humulus lupulus) (Strobile)....................................5 mg Skullcap* (Scutellaria lateriflora) (Herb)..............................5 mg Non-medicinal ingredients: Vegetable glycerin, Purified water, Sodium benzoate, Potassium sorbate (food grade preservative), Citric acid. *Organic plants verified by OCQV

Andy Ngo · Accepted Answer

Hello! Thank you for providing so much detail to help us answer the question. Generally speaking, natural health products will have fewer studies to support our recommendations to use them (sometimes because there is no patent and therefore less funding). To answer your question directly, here is what our main database of natural health products says -Chamomile : Not enough study to support use -Passion flower : Limited studies in children (difficult to recommend), shown to be effective for anxiety/insomnia in some studies in adults at 250-900mg/day) -Catnip : Limited studies in children (one case reported in a child of stomach upset, irritability, lethargy and "hypnotic state") -Hops : Studied for insomnia in adults but insufficient data -Skullcap : To treat anxiety in adults but again lack of data In short, we don't have much to confirm that this will be an effective and safe product for your baby. An option that may have already been suggested to you: Melatonin (starting with about 3mg once a day at bedtime) is a short-term option often recommended for children 6 months and older, but we do not know the long-term effects. Please let us know if your child is taking medication on a regular basis, has any allergies or health problems so that we can take this into account.