Where can I buy melatonin online in the UK for a child?

[SwanRose]

Please can someone tell me where I can buy melatonin in the uk online? I know it’s only given via a prescription but I’m sick of jumping through hoops and waiting months to see a paediatrician meanwhile my child is up every night till 3/4am unable to sleep. I think I read of people buying it online from other countries? any advice on where from? Thanks

(I realise it needs a prescription here but many other countries sell it over the counter)

If you know anyone going to Spain, they sell it in Lidl. In Italy we used to buy it from the Co op.

If you gave your child alcohol to make them sleep, "I can’t work, I don’t have a life, and my other kids are suffering" wouldn't wash as an excuse. Same if you duct-taped your child to the bed.

lol yeah thats comparable!

Oh wow! I might have to see if I know anyone

Thank you

They sell it at French pharmacies too, regular shelves, if you know anyone going. Or if you're in London, you can sometimes get super cheap day returns on Eurostar and stock up.

21 hours sounds horrendous but self prescribing without knowing the full risks and dismissing them‘because it’s available in other countries’ isn’t credible reasoning. You really should go to the GP first try to get an understanding of what help can be offered by the NHS. And look into the side effects of this and see if dependency is worth the result. How long the decency lasts, how easy it is to stop taking it and sleeping naturally, can it chemically alter neuron pathways for sleep etc. I can’t imagine how difficult it is when you are dealing with a situation like this, but in the long term it might cause you more issues.

Weve been to the GP they cannot prescribe it have to wait for paediatrician which it’s a 6-12 month wait

The standard dc dose in the USA is .5 or 1mg dose. There are chemist own brand versions here ( similar to Boots)
There is significant over reaction by some posters.
It isn't a magic wand and it works better with getting dc off to sleep rather than keeping them asleep but to help develop better sleep patterns it can be really useful.

I'm not sure I'm not in the UK. But we can buy it over the counter in Spain. So maybe worth asking your pharmacist?

I hate being negative and not being able to offer solutions and your situation needs a solution! I would still hang fire for that appointment, my area is pretty much at the bottom of the league tables for healthcare and I was told similar that an appointment would take months and I got one in a couple of months. I asked Gemini if it was a good idea. And the response was no for the following reasons, it should only be given to children whose melatonin has been disrupted (ie ADHD and some other neurological pathways) it’s a hormone and study’s although safe in short term, longer term studies haven’t been done and there is a fear it can interfere with puberty, growth and in the long term stop natural production of melatonin. When suddenly stopping the body struggles to readjust, research has found particularly in gummies that the amount on the bottle is not what’s in the gummy often doses are much higher.For these reasons, paediatricians generally recommend that if melatonin is ever used, it should be paired with a clear exit strategy.

Then asked: The wait for a paediatrician can be up to a year, this is a nightmare for a parent with a child who is awake most of every night what is the alternative. Interestingly if not neurological sleep deprivation might be caused by low iron levels, breathing issues, allergies, silent reflux (I had that it’s horrendous) food intolerance.

they offered these alternatives:
The Sleep Charity / National Sleep Helpline: They run a free, trained helpline (tel:03303%20530%20541 03303 530 541) and accredited sleep clinics. They provide personalised, multi-week sleep plans specifically tailored to children's behavioural patterns and sensory profiles.
Health Visitors & School Nursing Teams: If your child is primary school age or younger, you can self-refer directly to your local 0–19 public health nursing team. They often run dedicated sleep clinics and home-visit behavioural assessments with virtually no wait time compared to hospital outpatient clinics.

I would just do some research into whether melatonin is the best option, you know your child best, there maybe other explanations that might be the cause. As I said earlier sorry if I’m being negative, but the side effects of melatonin use seems to be something to consider and I’m actually quite concerned about friends who are using this too!

If you look on the disney florida Facebook pages theres loads of Americans who you can place a walmart order with and they will go get it for a fee and ship it via DHL in a matter of days

I don’t think they will allow my response because it had a sleep charity phone number on! Whoops

Did it make a difference?

GP absolutely can prescribe it, we got ours from the GP. Unfortunately our problem isn't so much DC going to sleep, as constant waking in the night, and melatonin isn't much help with that.
I understand the desperation. It's been 25 years of getting up here (with different DC) and I'm broken. So is DC.

This thread has been so interesting because I recently saw a specialist who told me to buy melatonin for sleep. I told them I thought you couldn't get it in the UK and they said of course you can and then put that they recommended that I do this in my report. I couldn't find any, emailed their PA for advice, and was told to go online to Amazon, Boots or Holland & Barrett! Even medical professionals seemingly aren't all aware of the limits. I haven't gone back to them about it because I was already told, in person, I was wrong but clearly I wasn't!

Just because yours did doesnt mean all can, ours specifically told us we would need a referral to a paediatrician and a sleep clinic

There may be an underlying reason yes, and that can be looked at whether or not OP's child has support for sleep

But lack of sleep like this can cause significant physical and mental health problems and you have to treat this. I believe other countries are not 'more cavalier' I think our physicians dont seem to think that children deserve the same health care standards as adults. If this was an adult, they would be seen by their GP and treated for the sleep problem itself.
Same with other MH issues like depression, children are rarely diagnosed and treated

OP I hope you find what your child needs.

I don't think it's that so much as a shortage of paediatricians and heavy gate keeping of access to them by the NHS.

It took us years to see one even with really serious problems.

My friend, bringing up her similarly aged children in another European country, gets an annual check up with a paediatrician as a matter of course each year!

The GP mentioned will have had to have it signed off by a consultant of some kind (possibly withi the clinical care group so the poster wasn't aware?). That is the system with this drug in this country, such as it is, amd explains the long delays, because the consultants are few and far between.

This will be down to the individual GP practice.
My son has a sleep disorder as part of his genetic condition, and takes Melatonin.
Originally it was prescribed by his consultant, and my son's GP continued the prescriptions... however the practice managers decided that this GP could no longer prescribe it and we had to get the prescription filled out by a paediatrician.
We have appealed this several times, but the practice say that most areas will only allow the prescription to be completed by a paediatrician (the initial prescription should always be issued by a paediatrician or a clinical psychologist eg via CAMHS).
We now have to get his paediatrician to issue the prescription every 2 months, which goes to the hospital pharmacy and is then sent to our local pharmacy... its a bit of a ball ache!!

Oh and, yes we do all the things that are recommended by sleep clinics alongside the Melatonin.

Someone above mentioned a magnesium supplement, just to warn you I had very very vivid dreams (sometimes horrific night terrors) on magnesium and woke up with a headache daily, I just always mention it as people think of it as a wonder supplement

biovea

Lifesaver for our ND house and saved me after three decades of insomnia