Three children rushed to hospital after taking sleeping pills at daycare.

The incident has spurned a Facebook war: was it the fault of the childcare centre or the parents?

An Australian childcare centre is under fire after three children swallowed sleeping pills on its premises.

The Canberra Times reports, the children were rushed to hospital after childcare staff spotted them playing with the medication last Thursday.

While two of the children were released from hospital later that day, one remained in hospital until the weekend.

According to the Canberra Mums Facebook page, the adult medication was brought in by one of the children and was not in possession of a staff member.

One mother states the centre in question circulated an email reminding parents to check their child’s bag before sending them to day care.

“[The childcare centre] would like to remind all our families about the centre procedures and policies regarding medication and belongings within children’s bags. A recent event in the service within the Preschool room has highlighted the need to remind all families and visitors about our policy to ensure the safety and wellbeing of all children in the service,” the email reportedly said.

Some are echoing this concern, calling for parents to be more hands-on in the supervision of their children.

“For goodness sake… when will parents/guardians start to supervise and take responsibility for their children!” One commenter wrote.

“The tablets should NOT have been there in the first place. Could not a parent take an extra minute from their morning to check their child’s bag and pockets? It is outrageous that a child had access to sleeping tablets!”

However, other parents are pointing the finger at the centre for failing its duty to the children.

This from another commenter online:

“THE CENTRE IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE CHILDREN. THEY ATE SLEEPING PILLS AND ENDED UP IN HOSPITAL! There is no half truth to that…” One woman wrote.

The incident is being investigated by police and ACT childcare regulator the Education and Training Directorate.

“Any reports to the regulator are taken extremely seriously. The safety of children is the top priority. The regulator was made aware of an incident last week… and will work with the centre owner when investigating the matter,” an Education and Training Directorate spokeswoman told Fairfax.

Mamamia has contacted the childcare centre in question, but cannot name it for legal reasons.

Do you check your child’s bag before he or she leaves the house?

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Five ways daycare is supposedly ruining my kids.

The child care myth making parents feel guilty.

Five reasons you shouldn’t feel guilty about putting your child in day care.