Sharing this in hopes another parent avoids what we went through
Sharing this in case another sleep-deprived parent needs to hear it. We tried melatonin, but it really was not a good fit for us. It seemed to make sleep more restless and the weird dreams were not worth it. What helped the most was getting much more consistent with the bedtime routine. Same wind-down time every night with very dim lights, bath or quiet play (nothing to get him excited), books, white noise, and keeping the room cool and non-melatonin sleep support. Stuck with the routine instead of changing things every few nights.
After a couple weeks, things felt a lot calmer and everyone in the house was sleeping better. I’m glad I knew how to search Reddit because some random parent threads ended up helping way more than Google or any pediatrician did.