Melatonin can help you feel sleepy at bedtime, but timing is everything. If you take melatonin at the wrong time, you could make yourself feel drowsy during the day or push your circadian rhythm, or body clock, back — meaning you sleep later than usual.
So how long before bed should you take melatonin exactly? Below, we’ll dive into what scientific research and a sleep doctor have to say. Plus, we’ll cover how the RISE app can help you make sure you take melatonin at the right time for you, and how it can help you get a good night’s sleep if you decide to skip the supplements altogether.
“Melatonin works best when you’re using it to shift the timing of your sleep schedule," says Dr. Chester Wu. "To sleep earlier, I usually tell my patients to take melatonin about four hours before the time they’d like to be asleep. To sleep later, take melatonin in the morning. Take melatonin 30 to 60 minutes before bed if you’re taking it to fall asleep, but know it may not be as effective at this time.”
Dr. Chester Wu is double board certified in Psychiatry and Sleep Medicine, and provides sleep medicine services, medication management, and psychotherapy to adults at his private sleep medicine and psychiatry practice.
How long you need to take melatonin before bed will all depend on what you’re trying to do.
Melatonin is best used to change the timing of your circadian rhythm, your roughly 24-hour body clock that controls your sleep-wake cycle. It’s not as effective when used like a traditional sleep aid to fall asleep.
That means melatonin can be useful when:
Melatonin supplements work best when your natural melatonin levels are low, i.e. during the day. This is why you take it during the day to shift your sleep-wake cycle, and why it can help you sleep at times you usually wouldn’t (like a night shift worker trying to sleep during the day).
If you take it before bed at night, you may fall asleep faster, but only by a small amount — or you may not notice any difference at all. We've covered other reasons why melatonin may not work for you here.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) classifies melatonin as a dietary supplement, so there are no set guidelines around when to take melatonin. But here’s what we know about when to take melatonin before bed.
You can take melatonin to help you get over jet lag faster. In this case, the best time to take melatonin will depend on which direction you’re traveling in.
More research needs to be done on the exact timing, but here’s what one paper suggests based on multiple studies:
For eastbound flights up to nine hours long:
For westbound flights up to nine hours long:
For flights in either direction that are 10 to 14 hours long:
The more time zones you’ve crossed, the longer it can take to adjust.
Heads-up: Many experts recommend taking small doses of melatonin of 0.5 mg to 3 mg. Most clinical trials study 2-mg doses, so larger doses aren’t as well-researched.
Plus, research shows 0.5 mg of melatonin is just as effective as 5 mg for treating jet lag, although 5 mg can help people fall asleep faster than 0.5 mg doses. Doses larger than 5 mg may be no more effective.
Large doses can increase your risk of side effects, make you sleepy during the day (when you don’t want to be), and if you wake up with elevated melatonin levels, this may push back your sleep cycle when you’re trying to bring it forward.
We’ve covered how much melatonin to take for jet lag here.
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If you work nights and need to sleep during the day, or work rotating shifts and need to sleep at different times throughout the month, melatonin may help you adjust to the new sleep schedule faster.
However, even though research shows melatonin can be useful for shift workers, not everyone agrees it’s the right option. According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), studies looking into this are small or inconclusive.
And some experts advise against it. Josephine Arendt from the University of Surrey wrote in the Journal of Biological Rhythms: “Sleepiness/poor performance in the workplace or on the flight deck is a potential short-term problem with wrongly timed melatonin administration; hence, I strongly advise shift workers and flight crew members not to self-medicate with melatonin at present; that is, until we can be certain of correct timing.”
To avoid the risks of drowsiness at work, light therapy may be a better option for shift workers. Alternatively, melatonin can help you get back to a normal sleep schedule after a stint of night shifts.
If you’re a night owl trying to become a morning person, taking melatonin short term can help you shift your sleep schedule earlier.
One study found taking 0.5 mg of melatonin in the afternoon is enough to shift your sleep schedule earlier when coupled with bright light exposure in the morning.
On the flip side, melatonin can help you stay up longer. If you’re an extreme early bird trying to sleep in later, take melatonin when you usually wake up to push your sleep cycle back.
Once you’ve shifted your sleep schedule, use good sleep hygiene to stick to it, rather than relying on melatonin supplements.
Heads-up: Sleep hygiene is the set of daily habits you can do to fall and stay asleep more easily each night. RISE can guide you through 20+ sleep habits and tell you the best times for you to do them to make them more effective. More on these below.
Learn how to reset your sleep schedule here.
Melatonin doesn’t knock you out immediately like some sleeping pills can. That means you shouldn’t take melatonin as you crawl into bed if you want to fall asleep straight away. And you shouldn’t take it if you wake up in the middle of the night and struggle to fall back to sleep, either.
The one caveat here? Melatonin works best when your natural melatonin levels are low. So the earlier you take it, the more effective it’ll be. But this can make you feel sleepy earlier than usual. If you take it late in the evening, you may only fall asleep a few minutes faster (which could be the placebo effect), or you may get no real effects at all.
To take the guesswork out of it, RISE can tell you the best time to take melatonin to feel sleepy earlier.
Speak to your healthcare provider if you’re interested in taking melatonin to help with a sleep disorder. They can advise you on the best course of action.
The best time to take melatonin will depend on what you’re trying to do. To fall asleep earlier than usual, take melatonin four to five hours before bed. To fall asleep later than usual, take melatonin at your usual wake-up time. To fall asleep at bedtime, take it 30 to 60 minutes before bed (although, again, it may not be as effective at this time, even if you time it right).
There’s no set time to take melatonin before bed, however, as melatonin affects us all differently. And if you’re taking an immediate-release or fast-release melatonin, you may feel the effects sooner than if you’re taking a slow-release or extended-release tablet.
Higher doses may also kick in faster than lower doses, and therefore you’ll feel the effects sooner.
These timing recommendations also apply to when you want to get a full night’s sleep. If you want to take a nap, it’s not advisable to take melatonin. The supplement can last in your system for four to eight hours, so you may feel drowsy after the nap and mess with your circadian rhythm, disrupting your next night of sleep.
If you’re planning a nap, do it during your mid-afternoon dip in energy to fall asleep more quickly. RISE can tell you when this will be each day.
Melatonin is a natural hormone your brain makes to help you feel sleepy and wind down. As long as it’s dim enough, the pineal gland in your brain will start producing melatonin about two hours before your biological bedtime. This moment is called the dim light melatonin onset, or DLMO.
Melatonin lowers your body temperature, blood pressure, stress hormones, and your alertness levels, helping you fall asleep. It plays a part in keeping your circadian rhythm in check.
Most of us have all the melatonin we need to fall and stay asleep. But aging, certain medical conditions, and medications can disrupt or reduce our melatonin production. And there may be times when we want to shift our sleep schedule or sleep when we typically wouldn’t — and this is when melatonin supplements can come in handy.
The hormone can be made in the lab or from animal glands, and you can buy melatonin pills, gummies, capsules, patches, and sprays. This synthetic melatonin can trick your brain into thinking it’s sunset, making you wind down for sleep when you wouldn’t normally be doing so.
However, it doesn’t force you to sleep like over-the-counter sleep aids do. It works best when your natural levels of melatonin are low — hence why it’s best used to shift your sleep schedule or sleep when you usually wouldn’t, like during the day.
And it doesn’t necessarily make you sleep for longer or increase the amount of deep sleep you get. Instead, it works by shifting the timing of your circadian rhythm, changing the times when your body naturally wants to sleep. When you take it at night like a traditional sleep aid, it may help you fall asleep a few minutes faster.
Melatonin can be useful when overcoming jet lag or shifting your sleep schedule. And they can be prescribed for sleep problems. They may also help those with ADHD, pre-surgery anxiety, high blood pressure, and cancer.
How long it takes you to fall asleep after taking melatonin will depend on when you took it and how large of a dose you took.
If you take melatonin before bed, you may fall asleep within 30 to 60 minutes. But melatonin isn’t as effective when taken in the evening as your natural melatonin levels are already high.
If you take it in the afternoon or evening, you should feel sleepy around four to five hours later.
And if you take melatonin in the morning, you should feel sleepy later than usual (useful for shift workers or those battling jet lag).
But melatonin doesn’t force your body to sleep, so things like late-night light exposure or caffeine can keep you awake.
Larger doses may help you fall asleep faster than smaller doses, but they increase your risk of side effects, morning grogginess, and accidentally pushing your sleep cycle back.
More research needs to be done to find out how long after melatonin you’ll fall asleep, and how gummies, patches, and sprays work compared to pills.
If you’re taking melatonin before bed, it’s recommended you take it 30 to 60 minutes before bed.
Taking melatonin 20 minutes before bed may work, but it also may not help you fall asleep much faster. And if you take a high dose, you may still have high levels of melatonin in your system in the morning, which can push back your circadian rhythm.
It can take melatonin 15 minutes to 3.5 hours to kick in and reach maximum levels in your system. Melatonin can then take a long time to wear off, and the effect it has on your sleep will depend on when you took it.
Taking melatonin in the morning can push back your sleep cycle, whereas taking it in the afternoon or evening can bring it forward to help you fall asleep earlier than usual.
Taking it before bed may not be that effective as your natural melatonin levels are already high.
Larger doses may kick in faster than smaller doses. But large doses are not usually recommended.
You shouldn’t take melatonin at 3 a.m. Melatonin won’t force you to sleep, make you drowsy straight away, or change how restful your sleep is. Instead, it can change the timing of your circadian rhythm.
If you take melatonin at 3 a.m. you may wake up with high melatonin levels, which can push back your circadian rhythm the next night.
Instead of popping a melatonin, we’ve covered what to do if you’re awake at 3 a.m. here. And the RISE app has many tools, guides, and soothing sounds to help you fall back asleep.
Melatonin can last for four to eight hours. It has a half-life of 20 to 45 minutes, meaning it takes 20 to 45 minutes for your body to metabolize half of the amount of melatonin you take.
But how long melatonin lasts can depend on your age, and whether you’ve had caffeine, if you’re a smoker, or if you’re on any medication.
It also depends on the type of supplement you take. Immediate-release melatonin kicks in faster and can last less time than extended-release melatonin.
We’ve covered more on how long melatonin lasts here.
There’s no set time limit on how long you should take melatonin for. If you’re using melatonin to adjust to jet lag, a new shift work schedule, or a new sleep schedule, take the sleep aid until you’re adjusted.
Some experts, like the National Health Service (NHS) in the UK, recommend taking melatonin for jet lag for a maximum of five days.
If you’re taking melatonin for sleep issues or a circadian rhythm disorder like delayed sleep phase disorder, your healthcare professional will be able to tell you how long to take it for.
Melatonin may not work long-term. One study found participants taking melatonin saw sleep improvements after taking the supplements for three months, but not after taking them for a year. But these participants did have a health condition, though, so more research is needed.
While melatonin appears safe for short-term use, there are no studies on the safety of melatonin in the long run. So we don’t recommend taking melatonin every night to fall asleep.
The common side effects of melatonin supplements include:
Expert tip: Melatonin can make you feel sleepy the next day if you’ve taken a high dose close to bedtime. If this happens, try taking a smaller dose. We recommend Thorne and USP tested as reputable brands to increase your odds you're taking the amount advertised on the bottle.
Less common possible side effects include:
Melatonin isn’t considered addictive. But taking high doses can increase the odds of side effects.
Heads-up: Melatonin can cause serious health issues in children. Seek medical advice before giving your child a melatonin supplement. The use of melatonin is on the rise and a 2023 study found calls for pediatric melatonin ingestions to US Poison Control Centers increased by 530% from 2012 to 2021. They were linked to over 4,000 hospitalizations and two deaths.
To boost your natural melatonin levels, improve your sleep hygiene. The key habits to focus on are getting light first thing in the morning and during the day, and avoiding it in the evening and at night.
With good sleep hygiene habits, your brain can make all the melatonin you need to fall asleep. This way, you don’t have to worry about melatonin supplement timings.
And good sleep hygiene is important if you are taking melatonin, too. After all, you don’t want bright lights in the run-up to bedtime to cancel out the effects of your supplements.
Here’s what to do:
RISE can tell you when to do 20+ sleep hygiene habits each day. And the app can act as a safer alternative to melatonin supplements.
As well as getting personalized sleep hygiene reminders, you can use RISE to check when your body’s rate of melatonin production will be at its highest. We call this your Melatonin Window. Try heading to bed during this roughly one-hour window of time to fall asleep more easily.
Good sleep hygiene can help you get enough sleep, or in scientific terms, meet your sleep need. Your sleep need is the genetically determined amount of sleep you need each night. RISE can work out your sleep down to the minute using a year’s worth of your phone use behavior and sleep science algorithms.
You might be surprised by the result. Among 1.95 million RISE users aged 24 and up, 48% need eight hours of sleep or more a night.
You should not use melatonin every night to fall asleep. And you should speak to your healthcare provider before taking it if you’re:
Melatonin can help you shift the timing of your circadian rhythm to sleep earlier or later, but you need to take the supplements at the right time.
Take melatonin four to five hours before you want to feel sleepy if you want to bring your sleep-wake cycle forward. And take them at your usual wake-up time if you want to push your sleep-wake cycle back.
Taking melatonin 30 to 60 minutes before bed may help you fall asleep at bedtime, but it’s also not that effective when taken in the evenings like a traditional sleep aid.
The RISE app can tell you the ideal time to take melatonin supplements to sleep earlier. Plus, RISE can tell you when your natural melatonin production rate will be at its highest and guide you through 20+ sleep hygiene habits to help you get better sleep, with or without melatonin.
Don’t just take our word for it — 80% of RISE users say they get more sleep within five days of using the app.
You should take melatonin about four to five hours before bed to sleep earlier or take it in the morning to sleep later. You can take melatonin 30 to 60 minutes before bed to sleep at bedtime, but because it’s not primarily a sleep aid, it’s not as effective at this time.
It can take 15 minutes to 3.5 hours for melatonin to work and reach peak levels in your system. Melatonin doesn’t knock you out, though, it works best when used to change the timing of your circadian rhythm. Taking it in the morning pushes back your circadian rhythm, and taking it in the afternoon or evening brings it forward.
The best time to take melatonin is about four to five hours before the time you want to sleep if you want to fall asleep earlier than usual. If you want to fall asleep later than usual, the best time to take melatonin is at your usual wake-up time. You can take melatonin 30 to 60 minutes before bed to sleep at bedtime, but because it’s not primarily a sleep aid, it’s not as effective at this time.
How long it takes you to fall asleep after taking melatonin will depend on when you took it. If you take it before bed, you may fall asleep within 30 to 60 minutes, but it’s not as effective when taken in the evening as a traditional sleep aid. When taken in the afternoon or evening, you may fall asleep four to five hours after taking melatonin. And if you take it in the morning, you may fall asleep later than usual.
No, melatonin doesn’t work immediately. It works best when you use it to change the timing of your circadian rhythm, rather than taking it before bed to sleep. Take melatonin four to five hours before the time you want to sleep if you want to sleep earlier, and take it at your usual wake-up time if you want to sleep later than usual.
Melatonin should work the first night if you take it at the right time. Take melatonin four to five hours before bed to feel sleepy earlier or at your usual wake-up time to feel sleepy later. If it doesn’t work for you, make sure you’re keeping the lights low in the run-up to bedtime as this can reduce natural melatonin levels.
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