State investigates complaints that Falmouth day care gave melatonin to children

Dec. 27—A state investigation has found that a Falmouth day care provider gave the sleep aid melatonin to children without parents’ consent, but the provider denies the allegations and plans to appeal.

State officials are considering licensing action pending an appeal of the investigation’s findings, a spokesperson said.

“The report of melatonin being administered to children without parent/guardian consent was received by the department back in August,” Lindsay Hammes, DHHS spokesperson, said in a written statement. “That constitutes a licensing rule violation.”

Hammes said that the Office of Child and Family Services “quickly addressed the issue with Apple Blossom Childcare and put an end to that practice.”

Alison Lakin, owner of Apple Blossom, said in a written statement Friday that she is “working with a lawyer to appeal the results of the investigation due to a lack of merit based on tainted evidence reporting, uncorroborated evidence and failure to interview key witnesses during the investigation. Any potential violations discussed during the investigation would have been corrected immediately, prior to the conclusion of the investigation, as my program has not had a licensing violation since it opened in January 2012.”

Melatonin is a hormone commonly used as a sleep aid. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends against routinely using the over-the-counter supplement for children, saying it should only be used for short periods and under the supervision of a pediatrician.

It is against Maine’s day care licensing standards to give children medications without parental knowledge and consent.

After DHHS made sure melatonin would not be given to children, Hammes said, it conducted an investigation. The agency told parents the investigation supported their complaints, but Hammes would not provide details of what the investigators found or what licensing action might be taken.

“The department’s licensing actions based on identified violations in the investigation are made public only once the appeal period has been exhausted or waived, and if appealed, after a final decision is rendered,” Hammes said in an emailed response to the Press Herald.

Apple Blossom was given 30 days to appeal, and that period is not yet over, Hammes said. She said no immediate enforcement action was taken because Apple Blossom was “compliant and cooperative with the department, satisfying requirements in order to continue operation.”

A group of parents interviewed by the Press Herald said they are angry about what happened, and that it’s taken far too long for DHHS to investigate after they complained in August.

They said they removed their children as soon as they learned, through their children and other parents, that the day care had been giving melatonin “gummies” to help their children sleep at nap time.

The parents spoke about the complaints on the condition that they would remain anonymous for fear of retaliation by the day care’s owner.

“We gave (DHHS) an overwhelming amount of evidence. They sat on it for so long,” one parent said.

The parents said they shared with state officials a series of emails and text messages between them, other parents and Lakin.

One parent said her toddler told her directly that children were given gummies to make them go to sleep. Another parent said her child typically only took 45-minute naps at home or skipped them, but while at Apple Blossom, they were taking two to two-and-a-half-hour naps.

Two of the parents shared letters they received from DHHS in December confirming that the state investigation supported the allegations and that the findings were being reviewed for potential licensing action.

“The information obtained during this investigation did support the allegations and your child has been named in the record as a victim of abuse/neglect,” according to a Dec. 18 letter to one parent from Angel Jamison, supervisor of the Out of Home Investigation Unit.

The letter also says the findings are subject to appeal under Maine law, “which could result in a change in the finding.”

A similar letter sent to another Falmouth parent said that allegations were supported and that “licensing rule violations were identified.”

Complaints about child care providers giving melatonin to children in their care have been reported and investigated in other states. A day care owner and three employees in Manchester, New Hampshire, were arrested for putting melatonin in the children’s food.

Parents in Falmouth said they contacted local police with their allegations but were referred to DHHS because it is a licensing issue.

Accidental ingestion of melatonin by children also is a concern. A study conducted for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that 11,000 children across the U.S. were taken to hospital emergency departments for accidental ingestion of high doses of melatonin from 2019-22. The hospitalizations were very rare but tended to occur when toddlers accidentally took unsupervised doses. Symptoms of melatonin overdose include stomach aches, vomiting and diarrhea.

According to Boston Children’s Hospital, “in general, melatonin should not be given to healthy, typically developing children under age 3, as difficulties in falling and staying asleep in these children are almost always behavioral in nature.”

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