While melatonin is widely available, effective, and generally well-tolerated for short-term use in children, there is limited data on its long-term safety. Studies looking at the longer-term effects of melatonin are reassuring but have limitations.

Any infant death is awful. Little is known right now about why some infants are more susceptible to SIDS than others. The truth is that this research is promising, but it doesn’t change much from a practical perspective.