I'd have to go with the sleepy time tea, because the valerian I used to take came in horse pill form. Can't swallow them anymore. I've heard of melatonin, but never tried it.
My parents were great believers in holistic medicine, and I have an out of date book for herbal cures. I took garlic gel caps and vitamin C to ward off colds for years. This stuff just ain't cheap though, and I realized that I was probably taking too much without thoroughly checking for interactions.
I'll write down the info, and ask the doctor first. If he says no problem, then I'll look for it in liquid form and mix it with a non caffeinated tea. Thank you for the info!
The valerian capsules at Walmart aren't horse pills if that helps at all.... my husband has a hard time swallowing large pills and these give him no problem. A bottle of melatonin there is about $4 -- check the label for the 3mg, not the lower dose. They do have a version of the sleepytime tea with valerian added to the formular. My husband doesn't like the taste as well as the regular sleepytime tea.