Day-care workers charged with lacing children’s food with melatonin

Day care workers in New Hampshire were charged with giving children the sleep aid melatonin without their parents’ knowledge, police said.

Four workers at a home day care in Manchester, New Hampshire, are alleged to have put melatonin in the food of children in their care, the Manchester Police Department said in a statement Thursday. The parents had no idea their children were being given the supplement, which can cause drowsiness and promote sleep.

Detectives received an allegation of “unsafe practices” at the day care in November and carried out a monthslong investigation, according to the police department. The workers were charged with child endangerment.

“Through the investigation, police determined that the children’s food was being sprinkled with melatonin without their parent’s knowledge or consent,” the police department said.

Sally Dreckmann, 52, the owner; and employees Traci Innie, 51; Kaitlin Filardo, 23; and Jessica Foster, 23, turned themselves in after warrants were issued for their arrests, according to Manchester police. The Washington Post could not immediately determine whether they had lawyers.

Melatonin is a sleep hormone naturally produced by the body, and it is available over the counter. It’s regulated by the Food and Drug Administration as a dietary supplement.

Its use in children by parents has become increasingly popular in recent years, the Post reported in November, though pediatricians say that it should be used only after consulting with a doctor and that more research into its use in children is needed.

Nearly 20% of adolescents are using it – and about 6% of children ages 1 to 4 and 18% of those 5 to 9 are being given the sleep aid by their parents, a November study published in JAMA Pediatrics found.

It’s used regularly, the researchers found. Families most often reported administering it either one or seven days a week. In preschool-age children, the median length of use was a year; it was longer for older children.

In addition, the number of children accidentally getting into bottles of melatonin, which comes in gummy, liquid and capsule form, has jumped dramatically, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found in a 2022 study. In 2020, melatonin became the top-reported substance in calls to poison control centers about children’s accidental ingestion, the CDC found.

Accidental ingestion resulting in melatonin poisoning spiked during the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, when people had more sleep disturbances and children spent more time at home. Exacerbating the risk is the fact that some gummies may contain a much higher dose than advertised.

“Child-resistant packaging for this supplement should be considered, and health care providers should warn parents about potential toxic consequences of melatonin exposure,” the CDC researchers wrote.

While melatonin can benefit children in some cases, including those who have sleep or neurodevelopmental disorders, there is little research about its long-term use in children, and pediatricians discourage using it as a replacement for healthy bedtime habits.

The American Academy of Pediatrics warns parents to use it only after consulting their child’s pediatrician and working to establish a successful bedtime routine. As with all medications and supplements, parents should also store their own melatonin where children can’t access it, the organization recommends.

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Linda Searing contributed to this report.