KITCHENER - The parents of a toddler allegedly poisoned by his live-in babysitter say they're angered and stunned by the criminal charges against their former friend.

The woman at the centre of the case, 32-year-old Christine Candice Allen, is also charged with aggravated assault and administering a noxious substance to another boy - one of several she cared for at her unlicensed home daycare in Kitchener in 2010.

Both children recovered from their illnesses after being hospitalized for several days and getting medical treatment. Police, meanwhile, are asking other parents who left children in Allen's care and noticed unusual illness to come forward.

Samantha LeBlanc and Vince Desrochers say they recently gave Allen a place to stay while she tried to get back on her feet. She had been struggling with depression since losing custody of her own three children and had been bouncing from place to place, they said.

When their two-year-old son Decklyn became ill and lethargic back in March, LeBlanc said it was Allen who suggested she take the boy to the hospital. But when he had to be readmitted two more times for the same symptoms, Family and Children's Services and Waterloo Regional Police began investigating.

"He was just lethargic, no energy, and he wouldn't snap out of it," she said. "They figured he ingested something and tested him for household cleaners, Tylenol, everything like that. But it didn't make sense at all."

After a four-month probe, police called Decklyn's parents Sunday and told them something that confirmed their fears - their youngest boy may have been intentionally poisoned by someone they trusted to look after him.

But, fuelled by the police investigation, the suspicions had already been there and Allen had long since been kicked out of their house.

"I reacted like any mother would. There was hurt, there was anger, you name it. I was going through all these emotions," LeBlanc said.

Decklyn has since recovered fully. He was running around the family's driveway on Charles Street acting like a typical two-year-old Monday while reporters spoke to his mother.

According to court records, both Decklyn and the other boy were allegedly given tetrahydrozoline, the active ingredient in over-the-counter eye drops. If ingested by young children, it can cause symptoms including abnormal drowsiness, sedation, low blood pressure, difficulty breathing, decreased heart rates and even a coma.

But a longtime friend of Allen, April Swift, said the charges make no sense for a woman who cares deeply for children. Allen had been staying at her Waterloo home recently, in between stints of homelessness where she was living in her van, in local shelters and on friends' couches, Swift said.

"I can't see her intentionally hurting a child. She loves kids. She's great with everybody's kids," she said. "The allegations are ridiculous."

She said Allen was a good mother, and had been struggling emotionally since losing custody of her children during a difficult separation from her ex-husband.

"She cried quite a bit over it. These kids were her life," Swift said.

Allen ran an unlicensed daycare in her home in between 2009 and late 2010. She cared for many children over that time, according to Swift, and neighbours said they often saw her outside the home playing with young kids.

Allen no longer lives at the Millwood Crescent home where she ran the daycare and raised her own three boys. A couple who answered the door at the home yesterday confirmed the woman used to run a daycare there, but declined to comment.

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LeBlanc said she considered Allen a friend when she offered her a place to stay. She had no place else to sleep and needed a stable home so she'd be allowed visits with her sons.

"She had nowhere to live and wanted access to her kids, so I told her she could stay at my place and her kids could come and visit her any time," LeBlanc said.

Decklyn's father said it's been a puzzling, frustrating experience since his boy became ill, and the charges finally offered a potential explanation for his son's mysterious illness.

"It's been four months of no answers. But we didn't expect this," said Vince Desrochers.

Allen appeared in a London courtroom on Sunday and was remanded for a scheduled court appearance in Kitchener on Wednesday.

Police, meanwhile, say anyone who left a child in Allen's care should speak to them. During their investigation into Decklyn's illness, they learned of the second boy who was hospitalized with similar symptoms back in July 2010.

"The accused had access to children during the period in which she operated the informal daycare, so as a precaution for public safety we want to make the public aware that anyone who maybe subscribed to her services at some point and has had a child who has become sick with similar symptoms (should) give police a call," said police spokesperson Olaf Heinzel.

Ontario allows daycare operators to look after five or fewer children under 10 years of age in their own home without a day nursery license. These caregivers aren't regulated, which means they don't have to meet provincial health, safety and caregiver training standards, according to the Ministry of Education.

The investigation is continuing and anyone with information is asked to call Waterloo Regional Police detectives at 519 653-7700 ext. 4437 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.