18-02-2025
Caledonia-area day care assures parents melatonin spray won't be used again
CALEDONIA TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) — Some parents are upset after a Caledonia-area day care center sprayed kids' sleeping mats with melatonin without their knowledge.
It happened at Adventures Learning Center on Broadmoor Avenue north of 84th Street in Caledonia Township. A recording of the day care's live feed created by a parent showed a worker spraying three mats with Dr. Teal's Sleep Spray with melatonin and essential oils.
Melatonin is a natural hormone, but it is not approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use in children and parents should consult a pediatrician before using it. A retired pediatrician said it is 'likely harmless' unless a child has a condition like asthma.
'It's likely that it's safe,' Dr. Nick Kokx told News 8. 'There's not a lot of studies recently with melatonin. Most have been some time ago and found effectiveness was not demonstrable.'
But, he qualified, 'there's a difference between (parents) using it in their own home and someone else — babysitter, nanny or day care — using it without their knowledge.'
'I think parents do deserve from the people who are taking care of their children a sense that they are the person that controls the environment of their child — what they eat, drink and inhale,' Kokx said.
In a statement to News 8 Monday, Adventures Learning Centers said that when leaders became aware of the situation on Jan. 31, they immediately told the worker to stop using the spray, removed it from the building and reached out to the state to confirm they had taken the correct action.
'While the teacher believed it to be a harmless addition to the nap routine, we have since clarified with her, and our entire center staff, that no external products should be used in the classroom without prior parental consent,' the statement said.
The statement said Adventures' top priority is 'the health and well-being of the children in our care' and that it is 'committed to open communication with parents.'
The employee, who was not dismissed, reached out to News 8 to say she had no malicious intent in using it; she just wanted to help the kids have a good nap. She said that because it is considered natural, it did not occur to her that she should ask parents before using it.
'We have to be really careful about the use of the adjective 'natural,'' the retired pediatrician said. 'It isn't something that can necessarily be equated with safe and harmless.'
He said he wouldn't have recommended the use of melatonin — not because he thought it is dangerous, but rather because it likely would not have any positive effects, either.
'I think anytime one heads to the pharmacy to try to fix a problem, the first thing they should do (is) make contact with their primary care doctor,' he said.
State offices were closed Monday in observance of Presidents Day, so News 8 could not get comment from Licensing and Regulatory Affairs.
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