Meghan King Edmonds’ 3-year-old daughter, Aspen, took a sleeping supplement of her mom’s that she found on Saturday, February 1.
“This angel found a melatonin gummy in mama’s purse leftover from our flight,” the Real Housewives of Orange County alum, 35, captioned a sleeping shot of the toddler on her Instagram Story at the time. “30 min later (that was 2 hours ago).”
Meghan later clarified to Us Weekly that it was “a melatonin gummy for kids, not a sleeping pill and certainly not for an adult.”
“It is completely safe. Aspen found the one little gummy (I had leftover from our flight) in a little baggie while rummaging through my purse,” she explained. “She asked me if she could have it and since it was nap time I told her. ‘Yes.’ In fact, the recommended dosage for this particular brand of melatonin for kids is 2 gummies and I let her have one.”
The former Bravo personality also shares 19-month-old twins, Hart and Hayes with her estranged husband, Jim Edmonds.
Melatonin is a hormone produced by the brain’s pineal gland that rises in the evening to signal sleep, then falls a few hours before it’s time to wake up, while also regulating blood pressure, body temperature, cortisol levels and immune function, according to Healthline. Gummies can be used to help treat insomnia and although short-term use is shown to be safe for children, the long-term effects have not been studied.
Us Weekly broke the news in October that the former reality star and Jim, 49, had split after five years of marriage. In December, the former couple settled on 50/50 custody of their three kids.
However, the Missouri native told Us in January that she wishes her coparenting relationship with the former professional baseball player was “better.”
Aspen and her younger brothers are “so cute” and “doing great” amid their parents’ split, the “Intimate Knowledge” podcast cohost went on to tell Us at the time.
Meghan has clapped back against criticism of her parenting skills multiple times, previously defending her decision to let her eldest sleep in a crib in December. “This girl is a firecrackin individual and I challenge any of you to challenge her,” she wrote on Instagram at the time.
In July, she bashed Instagram trolls who said Aspen shouldn’t run around naked. “She’s rarely clothed at home, and I don’t discourage it,” Meghan wrote of the toddler. “If my parenting makes you uncomfortable, please ask yourself, ‘Why?’”
