Hiya Bedtime Essentials vs. Zarbee's Gentle Bedtime Gummies vs. Olly Kids Sleep

Bedtime struggles with my toddlers is real. And it's somehow become a marathon of negotiations, storytelling, one more snack requests, and exhausting attempts to get both my kids to sleep, especially my son. 😫 So, I recently decided to explore kids sleep support supplements. I needed something to seamlessly integrate into our bedtime routine and an option that would help them unwind and relax their restless bodies and minds. 

After a ton of research, I narrowed down my options to a traditional bedtime support supplement, Olly Kids Sleep, but wanted to explore something new too so I grabbed Hiya Bedtime Essentials and Zarbee's Gentle Bedtime Gummies. We tried them all, and now I'm sharing our experience with you!

Magnesium vs. melatonin for a kids sleep support supplement

Many bedtime support supplements for kids include melatonin, a hormone our bodies produce naturally to regulate our sleep patterns. But there's growing concern about the potential risks of using melatonin as a supplement on a regular basis. Another way to encourage better sleep is by utilizing specific nutrients that relax the body and prepare it for rest. Researchers have found that magnesium can help relax the stress hormone cortisol and naturally increase melatonin in the body. After reading about the potential side effects and risks of melatonin, I prefer to use a gentler formula in our regular routine.  So, that’s why I started looking into alternative sleep support formulas that help kids wind down naturally.

What I looked for in a kids' sleep supplement

Before diving into the specifics, here’s what I was looking for when testing out each kids sleep support supplement:

• Ingredients – I’m always picky about ingredient lists. If I’m giving my kids a supplement, I want it to support their health. So I looked for calming, sleep-supportive ingredients like magnesium. Even more importantly perhaps, what I didn’t want? Unnecessary fillers, artificial dyes, or excessive sugar hiding behind a “sleep support” label.
• Sugar content – It’s great when my kids happily takes a supplement, but not at the cost of extra sugar. Even more confusing, why is there added sugar in something that’s supposed to help with sleep?
• Effectiveness – I wanted something that encouraged natural sleep support without grogginess the next morning.
• Taste & texture – If my kids won’t take it, it doesn’t matter what’s inside. But I also don’t love a supplement that tastes too much like candy.
• Value – Price per serving matters, but I also consider the overall benefits. A cheaper option isn’t always the best choice if it’s loaded with sugar or unnecessary fillers.

Keeping all this in mind, here’s how Hiya, Zarbee’s, and Olly stacked up.

Modern ingredients

Hiya

Instead of inducing sleep through melatonin, Hiya goes a different route and utilizes a blend of vitamin B6, L-theanine, magnesium, chamomile flower extract, and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), all aimed at calming and relaxing the body before bedtime. Hiya Bedtime Essentials is designed for children 2 years and older.

Here's how these nutrients can assist your little one with their bedtime wind-down:

• Vitamin B6: Stimulates the body to naturally produce melatonin itself.
• L-theanine: Helps alleviate stress and reduce feelings of anxiousness.
• Magnesium: Promotes muscle relaxation and soothes the nervous system.
• Chamomile flower extract: Calming and may enhance sleep quality.
• GABA: Reduces stress and soothes the nervous system.

Zarbee’s 

Instead of melatonin, Zarbee’s uses just chamomile flower extract as its primary supplement source, which helps both the body and mind relax before bedtime. While chamomile extract is a good option, Zarbee’s lacks a variety of nutrients that can really help the body relax, like magnesium for example. But bonus points that these gummies get their natural color from carrot and black currant concentrate and the gummy texture comes from apple pectin. Zarbee’s Gentle Sleep is designed for children 3 years and older.

Olly

Olly includes melatonin to make kids feel sleepy, while ingredients like L-Theanine, chamomile, passionflower, and lemon balm help them relax. Also, the gummies get their chewy texture from gelatin. Olly doesn’t include artificial colors or flavors, and they're gluten-free too. Olly Kids Sleep is designed for children 4 years and older.

Ingredient winner: Hiya Bedtime Essentials

Sugar content

Hiya

I appreciate that Hiya Bedtime Essentials are sweetened with a monk fruit extract blend instead of added sugar and formulated as a chewable tablet without the gummy stuff that gets stuck in teeth, especially right before bed. 

Zarbee’s

Zarbee’s has 2 grams of added sugar per gummy. And their gummies are sweetened with honey, sucrose, and glucose syrup. Personally, I'm not a fan of gummy vitamins because they appear a bit too much like candy. Sugar and candy are not habits I want to encourage before bedtime.

Olly

Olly contains 1 gram of added sugar from glucose syrup and beet sugar. Again, introducing sugar and candy before bed seems very counterintuitive to the purpose of a kid's sleep support supplement (scratches own head…)

Sugar content winner: Hiya Bedtime Essentials

Taste

Hiya

These chewable tablets are sweet with a slight fruity taste, and remind me of Smarties candies.

Zarbee’s

These gummies taste like raspberry lemon gummy bears and are coated in sucrose, which definitely enhances the flavor—but also adds extra sugar right before bed.

Olly

These gummies taste slightly less sweet than Zarbee’s, but still taste like raspberry flavored gummy candy.

Taste winner: Zarbee's Gentle Bedtime Gummies

Cost

Hiya

Each bottle of Hiya contains 30 servings. Your first month is 50% off for $17.50, that's about $0.58 per serving.

Zarbee’s

Each bottle contains 30 servings. At $12.99 per bottle, that’s $0.43 per servicing for kids aged 3 to 6, and $0.87 per servicing for children older than 7.

Olly

Each bottle contains 50 servings. At $14.99 per bottle, that's $0.30 per gummy.

Cost winner: Olly Kids Sleep

My pick for the best toddler bedtime support supplement is Hiya.

Although Hiya costs a bit more, the real value lies in the modern approach to bedtime support supplement ingredients. And combining that value with an easier bedtime and a healthier wind down routine at night for my toddlers, it's pretty much priceless to me. Hiya has become a part of our nightly routine and I’m so glad we have it!

Why I love Hiya as our go-to kids sleep support supplement:

✅ No melatonin

✅ No added sugar, but still tasty and kid-approved

✅ Gummy-free

✅ First month is 50% off

✅ Eco-friendly, reusable packaging

Get 50% your first purchase with code: NMM50

Hiya's additional vitamin offerings

The NMM team *loves* Hiya. And there are a lot of other great vitamins they offer.

Hiya Vitamins

Hiya Kids Daily Multivitamin is made without added sugar. The ingredients sourced are not only non-GMO, organic, vegan, gluten-free, and dairy-free, but also carefully selected for quality. Since these are not gummy vitamins, you won’t find any of the gummy junk in this list (gelatin, pectin). I love the transparency into the manufacturing process: Hiya is produced in a highly compliant facility in the US and undergoes third-party testing to ensure no trace amounts of heavy metals, allergens, or pathogens are present in the vitamins. Check out my full review here.

Hiya Probiotics

Probiotics can support regular bowel movements and reduce constipation, especially if you're running into problems during the potty training phase. I offer my son Hiya Daily Probiotics, and it has worked wonders! It has 10 billion CFUs, zero added sugar, and is free of gelatin, pectin and wax.

Hiya Iron+

Iron is one of the most common deficiencies in kids, and getting enough through food alone can be tough—especially with picky eaters. Hiya Daily Iron+ is a gentle, easy-to-digest iron supplement that includes carbonyl iron (a well-tolerated form) along with vitamin C to boost absorption. Like the rest of Hiya’s lineup, it’s free of added sugar, gelatin, and artificial junk, making it a clean, parent-approved choice for supporting healthy growth and energy levels. See one of our NMM writers and pediatric dietician's review here.

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