Melatonin - looking for tips

[VyneVibes]

My ASD child has been taking GP prescribed melatonin for a few months now and it is working wonders.

However getting her to drink it is a nightmare! The GP says it needs to be crushed in a small amount of water. We’ve settled on using fizzy squash and a straw but it takes her as long as 20 minutes to drink it as she can’t stand the taste/texture. We crush it as small as possible but it never dissolves very well.

Does anyone have any tips on making it more palatable?

Does she like sweets? As you can get it in gummy form.

If you leave it in water for a bit will it be less gritty?

does it really have to be crushed? Learning to swallow a pill would probably be just as easy as getting it down in other ways.

Thanks for replies - maybe I can check with the doctor if they can prescribe the gummy ones.

It has to be crushed - something to do with the speed of release I think.

Maybe I’ll try a smoothie as the grittiness witll be less noticeable.

If you are crushing prolonged/modified release tablets, you could ask for immediate release liquid instead.

I found that crushing pills then leaving them to bloom in water for a bit, and then putting them in a syringe most successful. Have you got a proper pill crusher? If not two spoons will work. Crush, shake a little then crush again will give a finer powder.

Hopefully Mumsnet HQ will approve my post - contains a link to a pdf but it's an NHS one so not dodgy!

To summarise: you can crush it and add it to yogurt, jam, orange juice, most things.

Just to echo what UniversalTruth has said - for several years I would crush it and then hide it in a teaspoon of whatever I had to hand - usually yoghurt, but sometimes custard/jam/chocolate spread etc. I have been known to hide the powder inside a grape or large blueberry when away from home with nothing else suitable! Now DS is a bit older, he just chews the tablet, which has the same effect as crushing it. I can't imagine it tastes nice exactly, but he's in control and it's over with quickly.

Thanks for all your replies, I’ve got a proper pill crusher now and putting it in a smoothie has worked wonders.

That's great news