justamom Report post Posted July 9, 2006 Hi all, I was wondering, i know that alot of your children are taking medication for sleep difficulties but what time do you give them the medicine... Keegan has been taking them for 1 week now, he has to take 2 tabs to help with sleep. Monday night I gave him the tablet at 8.30 and by 10 he was sparko. But the rest of the week i have been given it to him earlier because on tuesday night gave him the tablets at 8.30 he did not sleep until 11.30, Wed night i gave it to him at 8.00 and he did not sleep until 1.30 I have now been giving him the tablets earlier and earlier and tonight he went swimming all afternoon and gave him the tablet at 7.00 he is still stimming upstairs, i thought with all the swimming it would make him tired but not him he is still on the go and this is what i was saying to the dr it takes him so long to wind down, he just cant switch off. Have any of you found the same happens??? He usually reacts to medicines so i was very wary of giving him these... My father has been prescribed the same tablets and he is a big man (about 18 stone) and the tablets knocked him out until 1 o clock the next day.... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
UltraMum Report post Posted July 9, 2006 J has Melatonin - we give it to him about half an hour or so before bedtime. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lisann Report post Posted July 9, 2006 Char has melatonin too we give it 30 mins prior to bedtime but we do find he has to take a very strong dose for it to work.Go back to Doc's and have a chat with him/her it could be it needs uping the dose each child/person is different it doesn't work for everyone. Lisa x Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
stressedmumto2 Report post Posted July 10, 2006 T has melatonin times 2 3mg given an hour before bedtime, an hour later he's usually asleep. When he was much younger I used to try to give it to him earlier probably too early and it never worked. I've found giving it nearer the time the child would go to sleep is better Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Flora Report post Posted July 10, 2006 When William first started on the Melatonin it took about 2-3 hours to work; so giving him at between 5 and 6 ensured he was asleep by 8.30. He now takes it about half an hour before bed time because he was starting to be asleep by 7pm with the earlier dose! That sounds ideal except he was up at 5am!! Lauren Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
justamom Report post Posted July 10, 2006 I think i will give it to him tonight at about 6ish and see we do have an app this week with the GP and next week with the Paed so i will ask them for advice just incase he needs a diff dose. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tez Report post Posted July 10, 2006 The advice I was given by the Paedatrician was to make sure that you give the melatonin about 1 hour before you want them to sleep. You must then create a situation which allows them to wind down without undue stimulation and in which they are trying to prepare for sleep. Since melatonin is stimulated in the brain by falling light levels, experimentation has shown that melatonin given orally needs the same conditions to be effective, so no television, no computers aor hand held gameboys etc. and the room lighting should be dimmed as well. The child has to want to go to sleep otherwise the melatonin will not work. If this is still not sufficient to help the child sleep, it may be necessary for the Paediatrician to adjust the dose. Hope this is of some help. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites