Tart Cherry Juice to Help Kids and Toddlers Sleep {Naturally raises melatonin levels}

Tart Cherry Juice to Help Kids and Toddlers Sleep {Naturally raises melatonin levels}

Sleeping dominates many a mother’s group discussion.

Is your baby sleeping through the night? (no), sleep training? (no again), when will they move out of your bed (I moved mine when I weaned them – around 2.5-3).

What time do your kids go to bed? (7-8).

When do they wake up? (until now at 5:30-6 every.single.day.)

Until now.

Then a couple weeks ago I was in the grocery store with only one child (as opposed to 3 – when I do it with 3 I’m not reading labels or looking at anything except for exactly what is on my list). I saw this tart cherry juice on the shelf, checked quickly for other juices in it (the cheaper version had apple juice – you want 100% tart cherry), and then I gave about 2 ounces to my kids.

They wanted to know what ‘tart’ meant, I explained it was kind of sour. They didn’t think so, and they’ve been thrilled to have it daily since then, other than the times that we’ve run out.

How did it work?

It worked great- The kids who had been consistently up with the sun no matter what time they had gone to bed (even after watching fireworks for the 4th!) have been sleeping til 7 or so. They’re also sleeping deeper.

I love mornings, I’m a morning person and I’m most productive then. But I had given up getting up before the kids a couple years ago since no matter how early I got up, they woke up when they heard me get out of bed, no matter how quiet I tried to be. When they have the cherry juice I”m able to sneak downstairs and work, cook, clean, do laundry, and they still stay asleep until 6:30 or 7, so they’re able to get the rest they need to learn and play all day long.

I’m hooked!

Real placebo controlled studies

I love it when there are placebo controlled studies for things that I try, and there are for this. See the study here, showing the increase in sleep quality associated with taking tart cherry juice.

What we buy

I’ve bought the juice pictured above, and I just added this tart cherry juice concentrate to my Amazon subscribe and save order to keep on hand. My kids are thrilled because we rarely buy juice. I’ve added a little to smoothies as well.

How we use it

I just give my kids a couple ounces in the morning or afternoon – for us we seem to see the benefits regardless of the time they drink it.

And a recipe

I like to make this into gummies, they’re super easy to make, and the gelatin is good for their skin and gut :) See my Superhero Gummie Recipe here.

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Original article and pictures take healthhomeandhappiness.com site