Melatonin from US for child?

[SpinningTops]

Are there any downsides?

DD may have ADHD. She's 7, she's on a waiting list for an assessment. She finds school difficult.

She finds it difficult to get to sleep. It takes her hours to drift off. Once asleep she stays asleep until morning.

We won't be able to get melatonin without a diagnosis. But it seems very easy to get from the USA.

I'd get a low dose (1mg) from a reputable website (pipingrock).

Would this be dreadful parenting? To get prescription drugs from abroad? I'm torn on what the right thing to do is.

Your GP can absolutely refer you to a paediatrician who can prescribe. How many hours does she sleep? Is it far far less than what is healthy? Is she up constantly and exhausted? You need to make sure she really needs it as it’s a drug.

I gave my suspected ADHDer one last night. Out like a light by 9pm, much better than 2am wandering around her room/house acting on impulsive thoughts.

like when she chucked water over her sleeping brother

she has her ADHD assessment next week and will probably be prescribed it then anyway. I’ll still stick with the gummies as most kids find them easier to take.

Because it’s that easy to access paediatricians and assessments. 🙄 you might be OK waiting years, other people aren’t. Melatonin does not keep kids asleep anyway it just helps them doze off.

I would 100% go ahead and do this - the fact that it can be purchased OTC in so many countries, many of which are highly regulated in this respect, makes me feel completely comfortable with it. Only tip would be to make sure eyou're doing the sort of dose that is routinely recommended for children her age and weight.

Just a note though that DS' doctor (ADHD) mentioned something about how it can be purchased OTC in the UK now in some places. He said he saw some in his local independent pharmacy recently. I've been meaning to start looking around myself whie out and about.

You don’t need a diagnosis my son got this before diagnosis but was prescribed by a paediatrician. Can only pick it up from the pharmacy in the hosp.
I find that it didn’t work anyway but he’s on something new now (prescription) and it worked wonders. Literally sleeps through all night it’s a liquid antihistamine.

I do this for my adhd 8 year old.

He takes 1mg on Sunday nights (he finds school very challenging) and on nights where he is particularly anxious (eg after a bad day at school). We buy it over the counter in France when we’re on holiday.

He wouldn’t get a prescription in the uk (he is typically asleep by 10 on a difficult night) but this has been a key part of the solution in stopping a bad day escalating to a bad week.

Interestingly I’m now certain that this is something his body doesn’t make correctly itself. When he falls asleep normally he just keeps going and going until he crashes out. With Melatonin he tucks down for sleep like my other child.