Would I be out of order to ask him to pay half?

[justamumseekingadvice]

So following on from my last post, about my daughter’s sleeping issues - I have had an appointment with her paediatrician and yes he recommends melatonin but it is no longer NHS funded in our area…

He recommended the biovea (I think it’s spelt like that!) website but I don’t think any of the products are suitable for my 6 year old… I don’t think she would like the texture of the gummies (she won’t even take vitamin gummies) and the only liquid drops available contain alcohol which a pharmacist couldn’t confirm they would be safe or suitable for her to use…

So I’m left with the option to try and get a private prescription for them which is going to cost a fortune… £275 for a consultation with a private paediatrician and then the pharmacy charges (the price set out from the supplier) £240 per 160ml!

I’m so disappointed because it could literally make all the world of difference for DD and actually get her off to sleep at night rather than spending 4 hours screaming the house down (I have tried all the sleep hygiene and routine stuff and even consulted a sleep consultant).

She currently isn’t seeing her dad due to it going through the courts and CAFCASS recommending no interim contact due to safe guarding issues, but would it be completely cheeky and out of order for me to ask my solicitor to contact him and say that DD has medical bills and could he pay half?

He only pays £30 a month child maintenance because he isn’t working but I know for a fact that either his family would pay towards it for her or he would find the money somehow if he knew it was for medical reasons because they have previously for other things (when she needed a new carpet for her room etc).

Normally I would just crack on with it myself but I’ve already had to pay legal fees this month which crippled me because of this upcoming court case and I want to be able to provide this for DD because I think it would make bedtimes a lot easier for her and just allow her to function in daily life a lot better once she has been rested.

WIBU to ask?

REPOSTING WITHOUT THE NAME I ACCIDENTALLY INCLUDED THAT IS OUTING

@BonnesVacances so it will basically be a version without alcohol in it because it was the alcohol in it that all 3 pharmacists were really iffy about my daughter having and yes she would need the one to just help her get off to sleep only x

@Pluvia

Can you disguise the gummies? Chop them up very small, mix them with something sweet? Melt them gently into something she'll eat or drink?

Or cut up in in icecream so they are firmer and are swallowed rather than chewed?

What volume of the liquid would she be consuming?

It looks as though the biovea liquid (1mg berry?) is only 10% alcohol:

www.natrol.com/store/natrol-melatonin-liquid-sleep-support-berry-dropper

So if she was e.g. taking 4ml that would be 0.4ml of pure alcohol. So 4% of one unit.

For reference things like orange juice can be up to 0.5% alcohol due to sugars fermenting in the fruit - so a 200ml glass of orange juice could have 1ml of pure alcohol in it and this wouldn't worry us about a 6 year old.

I'm not a doctor but my non professional assessment would be that the liquid will be absolutely fine assuming it is the stuff I have linked above which is 10% alcohol.

@fleapriest

Have you tried promethazine?

Camhs will not prescribe melatonin unless a sleeping course and the maximum dose of promethazine has been tried

Not true. My son has Melatonin, and has never taken promethazine.

@Nixbox that’s a really good point - I’ve added my email address for them to notify me when it’s back in stock - I don’t know how long that’ll be though! X

You could ask him. However I'm sure you're aware he has parental responsibility and can access her medical information and records himself via the GP, he is also entitled to attend the medical appointments irrespective of any Court order because he can arrange an alternative time to speak with your daughters medical team. I personally would try over the counter. You're opening yourself up to a can of worms if you ask your solicitor to ask him, simply because he has parental responsibility.

@Kimexela I don’t care if he speaks to her medical team that wasn’t what the post was about, so why would it be opening a can of worms exactly? You can’t buy over the counter in UK.

Well you said safeguarding issues. So was just ensuring you're mindful of that. If you have no problem with it then go right ahead.

@Gladioli23

What volume of the liquid would she be consuming?

It looks as though the biovea liquid (1mg berry?) is only 10% alcohol:

www.natrol.com/store/natrol-melatonin-liquid-sleep-support-berry-dropper

So if she was e.g. taking 4ml that would be 0.4ml of pure alcohol. So 4% of one unit.

For reference things like orange juice can be up to 0.5% alcohol due to sugars fermenting in the fruit - so a 200ml glass of orange juice could have 1ml of pure alcohol in it and this wouldn't worry us about a 6 year old.

I'm not a doctor but my non professional assessment would be that the liquid will be absolutely fine assuming it is the stuff I have linked above which is 10% alcohol.

I agree.

OP I would send an email to the paediatrician's secretary with a link to the one that is in stock and ask him if it's ok for your DD to take.

I genuinely don't think the ethanol is going to be an issue in those tiny doses. Especially as it's not alcohol as we know it.

You can buy it in European countries too including France. Maybe someone you know is going on holiday soon?

Is this any good?

www.carethy.co.uk/nutrition-and-supplements/plameca/p-12171?r=8435100844094&offer_id=ef045ba2-1bf8-4ea6-8173-bdd2428d1032&gclid=Cj0KCQiAu62QBhC7ARIsALXijXRVk4Dd8IjFoQSspgAd2T2ckfA_iIn915HIkjxyTDMzCyyLxPO6MFcaAmPIEALw_wcB

have you looked on Piping Rock? No prescription needed and multiple strengths.

Hi @justamumseekingadvice - Amazon UK has children’s liquid melatonin & lots of other children’s over-the-counter sleep stuff.

I have come up against this problem too and previously bought Melatonin from this website and they delivered to the UK.

https://www.evitamins.com

When I was in America on holiday in October 2019 I went to a pharmacy to stock up on it and was surprised it was the same price as I was paying to get delivered to the UK.

However I haven't ordered from this website since 2019.

My DD has been prescribed this, she's autistic aswell, unfortunately doesn't work for her though 😕 we could only get it through the hospital even tho the consultant wrote to the gp asking them to keep prescribing it if it worked but they wouldn't x

She's only 4 though x

You can buy very small melatonin tables that dissolve almost immediately, I use PipingRock website, you can get more like the typical tablets on Biovea. There's no need to go private, honestly, the ones we have dissolve so fast, you could put them in a drink or in food or just pop them in the mouth and they just disappear. Worth a try, they do them in 1mg and 3 mg, so you can use a small dose and trial them.

I order them for my teenager who developed a completely upside down biorhythm in lockdown, sleeping all day, awake all night and it's been helpful to reverse that, not used every night, but a great option.

I don't think Biovea ones are their own brand anyway, so I don't see why not order some from one of the other websites.

Hi OP
Not read the whole thread but Biovea sell this product (which I use with my kids) and there’s no alcohol in it - I’ve included an ingredients list in a photo. www.biovea.com/uk/productlist/results?KW=melatonin&FiltersObject=%7B%22SortValue%22:%7B%7D,%22PageSize%22:%2212%22,%22CompareProducts%22:%5B%5D,%22Brands%22:%7B%7D,%22FormValues%22:%7B%7D,%22PriceRanges%22:%7B%7D,%22Categories%22:%5B%5D,%22objects%22:%5B%5D,%22Pages%22:%7B%22CurrentPageNumber%22:2%7D%7D
Using melatonin nightly changed my life and the kids went to sleep!!!

I don't know why the UK seems to have an issue with melatonin. It can make a huge difference. We have gone from hysterical 2-4 hour episodes with our ASD/ADHD DC nearly every night to normal/average sleeping patterns. We were prescribed it privately by a paediatrician and then asked the NHS GP to prescribe, which they have done for about 18 months now.

I don't really understand why the paediatrician has to be involved at all (we needed to see one for diagnosis so the prescription was a beneficial side effect).

Seeing a paediatrician in the UK is very difficult!