Melatonin actually reduces my dreams.
I historically had very vivid and intense dreams. The other substance I used to dampen down my dreams is not legal in my state.
The thing I notice in my child is that melatonin is merely a request to settle down, not an order, so she will still be crazy an hour after taking it, so if I take it (it knocks me out) I must give her a big head start over me.
The product we use is melatonin gummies from Target. There are several other ingredients besides melatonin to aid sleep. I give my kid half of the adult dose, and let her dry out on Fridays/Saturdays.
I also take half a dose and notice
A) it wears off part way through the night, and
B) my body develops a tolerance very quickly.
I think melatonin must affect different people differently as far as dreams go.
I have a grandson who is neurologically impaired. We use melatonin drops periodically as needed to help him sleep. We used to use the gummies, but he got to where he wouldn’t chew and swallow them. He doesn’t speak, so I can’t tell for sure if it gives him bad dreams or not. I have never seen any sign that it does, though.
I do take Benadryl occasionally, and it knocks me right out. It doesn’t ordinarily give me bad dreams. I have found that other sleep aids do also seem to give me bad dreams, though.