Child given melatonin without our consent

[HuckleberryBlackcurrant]

DS6 went to his first sleepover last night, at a close friend's house. 4 other kids were there also, ages 6-8.

His friend's mum messaged to say he was asleep shortly after 9 which I found unusual because he would usually stay up later with all that excitement. But I thought that he was just very tired. We have been very busy recently, he has been in swimming lessons and football and was starting a mild cold.

This afternoon when I picked him up it was casually mentioned that the kids were all dosed with melatonin. I know it's super common to do so but our son has never had melatonin, and we certainly would have said no if we were asked.

It put him into a really deep sleep, causing him to have an accident in the night which really embarrassed him.

I didn't really say anything when my friend mentioned this. I was a bit blindsided, and the party was still going on so I didn't know how best to address it.

My husband is really irritated that they went ahead and dosed our child without our consent. Melatonin has been something we agreed not to give our children unless medically directed. He wants me to say something to the parents. I'm inclined to leave it as he's unlikely to go there for a sleepover again for quite some time. I was thinking we could just bring it up if he ever sleeps there again.

My husband thinks that on principle, you don't give a child anything without their parents' consent, so we should raise the issue and set the boundary now. Our children do play there occasionally in the daytime. Usually he is the non confrontational one and I am the one bringing these things up. Idk if it's because I'm 38 weeks pregnant so I just don't feel like pursuing it?

What would you do? Are we right to be irritated?

Didn't you say it was a 1mg dummy? That's honestly a small dosage.

When my 3 year old was prescribed 2mg we could take up to 4mg

Not in the US, which is relevant in this situation, there its a dietary supplement, not a drug.

Someone posted an example of day care worker being arrested for giving children melatonin in a day care facility. It was about the consent to give medication.

these supplements are not authorised for sale in the UK and it's a prescription-only medicine. legally, Any sale of Melatonin within the uk without a doctor's prescription is illegal in the UK because it's a prescription-only medicine. If you can find it for sale form within uk it needs to be reported as it is illegal.

i could buy all sorts of shit on line that’s sold as treatments into the uk form foreign distributors, with no authorised and registered manufacturing processes. I used to work in pharma manufacturing and we had to follow , by law, something called GMP. Christ knows where the online tablets you buy are made- they don’t even have to list source of manufacture , they are unlicensed in uk and therefore could be filled with horse shit for all you know , or more likely talc - but hey you want to fill your body with potential crap or worse, crack on

The point being, in the uk, the MHRA deems it not safe to use OTC , and is therefore prescription only. For a bloody good reason

If someone drugged my child I'd have to resist the urge to punch the person that did it.I'd be reporting the incident to the police if it was me but I'm UK based and the use of non prescribed melatonin isn't common here.

Are you in the US?

@bryceQ

The package my son thought he recognized were 0.5mg a gummy. We want to double check though and not go off the say so of a 6yo.

The ones available in the UK are almost certainly genuine US supplements but, as you say, illegally sold. I agree that buying medicines illegally on the internet is insane behaviour - I don’t understand why anyone would take the risk.

I don’t know how the melatonin dealers are getting away with it really - the MHRA is usually all over this kind of thing.

In the uk, “loads” of kids are NOT prescribed melatonin by NHS.
It can also be prescribed in adults of all ages for treatment of jet-lag or other sleep conditions. It rarely is prescribed for long term use. NICE determine the benefits (effectiveness ) vs costs and side effects, and do not allow it used as standard treatment for children sleep problems. Children with certain medical conditions may be prescribed melatonin as a licensed product but much prescribing in children and young people will be 'off-label' if your doctor believes the potential benefits outweigh any risks. Off label is named patient.

if you have a child with one of conditions that typically is off label, and mix a lot with other parents who have kids in same position, it might seem like loads. But in normal population it is rare

The ones available in the UK are almost certainly genuine US supplements but, as you say, illegally sold. I agree that buying medicines illegally on the internet is insane behaviour - I don’t understand why anyone would take the risk.

you under-estimate the hell some autistic children and parents have gone through before the decision is made to buy it from the US on the internet.

It's perfectly legal to buy melatonin from the US or Spain online from the UK how strange you think it's isn't.

Unfortunately, I know from experience, that just because they are sourced from US supply chains, it doesn’t mean the active pharma ingredient or even the bulk tablets come from USA.

there are tin shack companies out in counties like India that make very clever counterfeit active pharma ingredients, that “supplement” manufacturers ( who are not governed by GMP ) are using ( not always deliberately) because their supply chains are not fully validated in same way as pharma companies have to.
There are massive amounts of money to be made form making snake oil, especially where you can sell it into more “ethical” supply chains.

yep, it’s insane people buy this potential shit and run this risk. But unfortunately most people don’t realise differences between controls on liscensed medication and the cowboy world of “supplements”

Read up the law and precisely what I said 🤦‍♀️

See I'm a Brit living in the Cayman Islands and all melatonin is sold on the shelves along with ashwaghanda, magnesium, calms, phenergan a here they're supplements/vitamins and not controlled at all.

DS1 is nearly 12 and takes half a mg a day as he doesn't go into deep sleep otherwise.
Doesn't need to be prescribed here. Can't say I'd give it to another child without consent of a parent, but I don't think I'd be particularly concerned, given it's a naturally occurring hormone and unlikely to do any harm. No worse than giving a child some Bach Flower Rescue Remedy to help with anxiety/nightmares.

Actually, if someone is selling from Spain into uk or any other Eu country, that is also illegal. It is prescription only all over the centralised Eu regulatory area. And uk as was part of that till brexit.

us source, yep they can sell as supplements to stupid people. Hey ho.

https://www.healthychildren.org/English/healthy-living/sleep/Pages/melatonin-and-childrens-sleep.aspx

The ones available in the UK are almost certainly genuine US supplements but, as you say, illegally sold. I agree that buying medicines illegally on the internet is insane behaviour - I don’t understand why anyone would take the risk.

You don't seem to be making the distinction between buying illegally and selling illegally.

Melatonin doesn't stay in the body long. A low dose would be eliminated within 6-8 hours so unlikely the cause of the ongoing bed wetting if it puts your mind at rest.

@Appleofmyeye2023 - errr why are people in the US (or any other country where melatonin doesn't require prescription for that matter) stupid for buying a perfectly legal supplement?

I'm in the US and this is NOT prevalent where I am and I most definitely would not give it to my kids without a pediatrician's say so AND I most certainly would not give it to someone else's child. If I found out someone had given it to my child, I'd have reacted the same as if they gave my young child alcohol, coffee or weed. It's not on.

A lot of Americans are overprescribed medications plus we have high rates of addictions. What this family did seems par for the course if you want to set your kid up to be a lifelong pharmacology patient.

Unfortunately, I know from experience, that just because they are sourced from US supply chains, it doesn’t mean the active pharma ingredient or even the bulk tablets come from USA.
there are tin shack companies out in counties like India that make very clever counterfeit active pharma ingredients, that “supplement” manufacturers ( who are not governed by GMP ) are using ( not always deliberately) because their supply chains are not fully validated in same way as pharma companies have to.
There are massive amounts of money to be made form making snake oil, especially where you can sell it into more “ethical” supply chains.

yep, it’s insane people buy this potential shit and run this risk. But unfortunately most people don’t realise differences between controls on liscensed medication and the cowboy world of “supplements”

Just how stupid do you think everyone is? It's a bit like saying I mustn't buy online from Boots because the website is most likely some < chunter on racist shit about India> posing as the UK online pharmacy. Nobody is sitting around in feat that if they order their usual antihistamine or painkillers online instead of going to the high street to get them, that they'll be fake, duds or adulterated.

90% of people can safely navigate the internet and the real world. Admittedly the other 10% seem to congregate semi regularly on MN to tell each other their real names and towns of residence or some such stupidity but really, most of us can cope.

You know people travel and immigrate and work internationally very freely now? It's very easy to buy while abroad or to identify mainstream retailers and buy what you used to buy in person with international shipping. Globalisation. I'm still going to use the occasional insomnia remedy I used to buy and use abroad. That's modern life.

My 18 year old has friends who were put on ADHD meds as children round about your son's age... and they are all coke-heads now, because their brains are chasing the next high. My son, with a childhood TBI, is the most rational out of all of them. He's the kid who calls the ambulance when one of them overdoses, who meets his curfew, whose brain is wired to the best of its ability, because he wasn't dosed up to make my life easier. Because that's what it boils down to. These kids being casually dosed without their actual consent, is to make the "parent(s)" life, or lives easier. And it needs to be recognised for what it actually is.

Seriously, if you're the moron who wrote this pile of shit, please do fuck off. Genuine ADHD kids do not have meds to make their parents lives easier. And they do not all become coke heads. The most ill informed post I"ve read all day.

I didn’t say it was illegal to buy it. I said it was illegal to sell it. Which it is.

I absolutely am.

Ah I see I missed out a word. Buying medicines sold illegally on the internet.