It’s horrifying that daycares in Maine can give children melatonin or other medications without parents’ consent.

This practice is not only a violation of trust but also a dangerous risk to our children’s health. No parent should worry that their child is being medicated without their knowledge or approval.

Just like many parents, Laura Putnam never imagined that her children would be given melatonin at daycare. But she learned the painful truth when she discovered that her son had been given melatonin gummies daily without her consent.

She found out through a former daycare employee who revealed that melatonin was being given to children, including her son, for no medical reason. Her son, who was only 4 at the time, even described how the gummies made him sleepy. This experience was a betrayal of trust that no parent should have to face.

Daycares should be a safe place for children to grow and thrive, not a place where staff medicate kids for convenience. Not to mention, secretly medicating children is especially cruel when they may not understand why their bodies are suddenly feeling different.

No daycare should make the decision to medicate a child without parental consent.

Maine law currently allows this practice, but it must change.

Daycares should be required to obtain written parental consent before giving any medication or supplement. If a daycare administers something like melatonin without consent, they should be held accountable. Parents deserve to know what’s happening with their kids, and we need to stand together to protect them from this kind of behavior.

Join me in demanding that daycares get parental consent before medicating children. Our children deserve to be treated with care and respect, not as a means to an end for daycare staff.