Melatonin for Autism - Help!

[rebkat82]

My 5yr old son has been prescribed melatonin. He has diagnosed autism and suspected adhd and isn't a fan on sleep. How do people get their children to take it? I crush it but he's such a fussy eater that i can't hide it in anything. I've heard about gummies but i can't seem to buy them anywhere in the uk. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

You can get the gummies from biovea.com. I always used to give my children tablets in Nutella. Biovea also have quick dissolve tablets that are nicely flavoured, they might even have it in liquid form.

I’ve used them for years and I know gps that have suggested the website to their patients.

Not melatonin, but I used to have to forcibly syringe medication into DC2's mouth. Not ideal though. Can you put it on a spoonful of jam or honey? Or in a hot chocolate?

I wouldn't advise trying to hide it. It's more important that your child trusts you to be open and honest, so if he doesn't want to take it then you shouldn't make him. I get that it's very difficult to persuade an autistic 5yo. The easiest way for a young child to take a tablet is with food, rather than liquid. A small snack like a piece of bread and honey or Nutella, and instruct him to have a mouthful and chew it up, then just before swallowing, he pops the pill in among the chewed up food he is about to swallow and it all goes down together. If he takes a drink of milk next, that will wash it all down nicely.

We used to crush the tablet in to a powder with the back of a table spoon and mix it in a yoghurt. It does say not to crush but our Pediatrician said this was ok, as there was no other way for him to take it. It was “slow release” and crushing it stops it from being slow release, so instead of it dissolving a bit all night keeping him asleep if ingested whole, he would have the dose all at once with it being crushed, therefore waking up from 2/3/4am. If it doesn’t work for you there’s other forms you can try. I believe there’s a liquid too, perhaps you could put it in juice if your ds would tolerate that? But if he’s anything like mine and has ARFID too, it can be tricky as they’re extremely sensitive. Is your ds verbal or does he have any understanding? Could you try to make him a visual timetable with his melatonin on it as last thing before bed, and give it him crushed on a spoon with something rather than trying to disguise it? So he expects what’s to come and will perhaps slowly get used to it, if its consistent daily on his timetable as part of an evening routine?

My son’s Paed tried him on tablets then once we found they worked for him, she told us just to buy gummies online from iherb. It has made a huge improvement in his sleep pattern, and is part of his evening routine now

Hi, I just wanted to say that you can get melatonin in liquid form if you are struggling. I would go back to doctors and push for that instead. It is hard to disguise crushed up tablets even in yogurts. My ds is autistic and also has ARFID. He only eats yogurts and over the years we have encountered things like this, he would absolutely not eat it if a tablet had been crushed into it. We stopped doing it as it was his safe food and we were worried he would stop eating them. Since then doctors prescribe liquid form for him that is plain.

Thank you for all the replies. We managed to get it in him with the help of some nutella. For the few nights he has had it, miracles have happened. He's slept from around 8pm until 7ish, depending on how loud his little sister is in the morning.