Melatonin for child - GP or private?

[Fandangofarago]

Can anyone whose child takes melatonin tell me how this was prescribed? My autistic DS age 9 has never slept well (never napped as a baby, night terrors as a preschooler, regularly wide awake at 3am) but it’s getting worse to the point where some nights he hardly sleeps at all. His school have flagged his tiredness as a concern & his teacher has just called again to tell me that he’s really not functioning well at all.

He has a good bedtime routine (no screens, in bed reading by 8pm, lights out at 8.30pm) but just can’t get to sleep, or if he does fall asleep he can’t stay asleep.

I’m wondering if it might be time to try melatonin but I’m not sure how to go about getting this prescribed. I’m not sure if it makes a difference but he was diagnosed with ASD privately so isn’t in the NHS system for this.

It might be worth asking in the SN Children Section how to go about getting Melatonin.

Ours is prescribed by the paediatrician who we were assigned following my dc's diagnosis(nhs). I'd probably go to the GP who can either prescribe (?) or refer you on to paediatrics to discuss sleep concerns / melatonin.

In our area initial prescribing is by community paediatrician only…. Who then contact gp to continue providing repeat prescriptions….any tweaks to dose etc always come from paediatrician not the gp

I think it can only be prescribed by a pediatrician, so gp would need to refer on if your not already under a pediatrician. Once you have it approved by the pediatrician I believe the gp can take over repeat prescriptions.

It’s a good wait for a referral where I am….round about 9 months…..maybe go private again OP

Only paed here too and a private gp wouldn't do it either. Ask for a referral to community Paeds or an adhd nurse

GPs can’t prescribe unfortunately, it has to be prescribed by specialist. We buy ours from biovea.com. Have done for years. You don’t need a prescription, nor is it illegal.

You can buy it online.

I would advise updating your son’s GP records with his autism diagnosis. It’s probably also worth being asked to be referred to somewhere (could be paeds, could be CAMHS or similar) for some support.