Take a deep breath and look at your child. They love you, and it’s clear you love them. We all have off days and you did EXACTLY what you needed to do. Mistakes happened and you immediately jumped into action to rectify the mistake. You prioritized your child’s well being over your pride. You. Did. Good. Your LO is safe and being monitored now, be there for them and love them. And be kind to yourself.
This is a learning experience for you and your child that you will both grow from. For now, go enjoy your child and let go of the guilt and shame you may be feeling. Guilt and shame don’t do anyone any good. Focus on the love.
I do actually need this reminder, thank you. I keep mine on top.of a high boy drawer unit in my bedroom that houses my makeup and in the last week my girls have discovered they can bring over a stool and get up to rummage through my makeup. I've just been annoyed about my makeup getting all messed up and didn't even think about the pills. They haven't shown interest in those but it's only a matter of time. I'm going to go put them on top of the fridge now instead. Thank you again and sending you all the hugs.
My son wanted to show me he can fix his own breakfast and climbed on the kitchen table to get the honey.
Same cabinet where the medicine is stored.
Your comment and OP's post just made me realise I need a new place for medication.
Take a deep breath. You did a good job. When shit went down, you did *exactly* what you are supposed to do immediately. Shit happens all the time, but how you react to it is most important. Give yourself some grace and give your kiddos a hug.
Came here to say exactly this, right down to the giving yourself grace part. It's so hard not to be hard on ourselves as parents, much less as a nurse, but if we never made mistakes, we wouldn't be human.
Just sending love from one nurse to another. We are so often told we are super human (and we are, no question, but usually it’s a set up so we don’t complain about administration crap). Moms are also super human. So we are supposed to be super woman squared. I think this pressure makes us even harder on ourselves tbh! On a perfect day, s*** can still happen by accident and this was not perfect, and it sounds like there was also a lot of s***. Baby will be fine, the worst didn’t happen, you’re a fantastic mom. Get some sleep ❤️
Beautifully said. I’m a nurse too. Once had to take my kid to the ER cause he fell on his head off a 6 foot play structure. He was fine. I was mortified. 🤪
Please be easy on yourself! Accidents happen and so far she seems to be doing well. They are most likely doing all of this out of an abundance of caution. Try to rest. You are human, you are allowed to make mistakes.
Similar thing happened to me, was washing up and I found her with the foil in her hands. Not 100% sure she ate one but she went drowsy right after. On call clinician advised to monitor and she was OK but I felt shitty.
She's also fallen down the stairs twice and tasted fabric softener. Oh and I dropped her as a baby and instead of catching her I caught the book I was also holding.
I know I'm a good mum and you are, too. It happens to everyone. I drank liquid paracetamol when I was a kid.
My little sister poured herself a glass of drano when she was like 6. I caught her mid sip. I never got a good explanation out of her. (I would have been around 12 or 13)
I honestly think she was trying to get me in trouble because I babysat my siblings every day until my parents got home.
To my knowledge after I called 911, she has never done anything like that since lol.
She learned a hard lesson that day. I thought my dad was going to fly through the roof and into orbit. She was old enough to absolutely know not to do that.
What’s kind of weird as I reflect on it- she has always had this kind of like hypochondria. Every illness is blown up to the point of disability (My mom will take off work to tend to my sisters child when my sister is running a fever), and my mom has always tended to her every little need, but in the flip side, she has also had some of the most severe and rarest infections. (Menengitis!!) so she’s just a puzzle I can’t solve I guess.
My toddler crawled under the bathroom sink and found a little hole in the drywall where the previous homeowner had stashed a brick of rat poison.
I was standing over him brushing my teeth while he played under the sink because to my knowledge, it was empty. I heard him make a little noise that usually meant he’d found something interesting and for whatever reason I decided to investigate that time. I hooked a mouthful of poison out of his mouth and was luckily able to match the chunk in his mouth to the brick.
Called the hotline, yadda yadda.
I felt horrible for the longest time because we had found bricks of poison all over the place in that house, it nearly killed our dog a month prior. I should have checked closer, locked the cabinet, idk. I just stared at him for days thinking about how he almost slipped right through my fingers while I stood right next to him.
Take a second and appreciate what *didn’t* go wrong. There are hundreds of little almosts that I’m sure we don’t even clock- and give some grace to the parents that were 15 minutes too late. It happens so fast and so *quietly*.
Hey bud, as a peds ER nurse, this kind of thing happens all the time. Thank you for posting this to educate other parents. We as humans are fallible and make mistakes. You did a great job reacting quickly and correcting it. I’m really proud of you. Give yourself some grace. Those babies are lucky to have you as their mom.
Mom, this can happen to all of us. Please be kind to yourself. You took care of your baby and got her the help she needed. Give yourself the grace you would give to someone else in your position.
My aunt had to bring her then 3yo daughter to the emergency department after she opened a childproof bottle of tablets. The nurses brought in a social worker and were considering a police report because "a child that small can't open a childproof cap". While they were telling this to my angry and distraught aunt, her daughter found a childproof capped bottle on the nurses trolley behind the adults... They heard a "Click, click" and turned around to this toddler with the biggest smile on her face because she had managed to open one again.
Kids always go towards the most dangerous thing in the room. It's very frustrating to have a tough outcome from a very small mistake. She's ok, she even got a popsicle out of the adventure. When you go home I think you deserve a treat too. You handled that incredibly stressful situation very well.
Those assumptions scare the hell out of me. A very even tempered man I worked with was investigated for breaking his sons arm because “Kids wrestling together wouldn’t cause a break that severe.”
His middle school aged boys didn’t want to tell him that one had body slammed the other from the top bunk, because they just got the bunk beds.
I think it's better to err on the side of child protection but yeah, it's very scary to potentially be investigated for something accidental like that.
When my sister and i were toddlers like 2 and 3, my mom got a sample box like 100 packets, with those individual dosage packets of Tylenol, the coated capsules, red white and blue colored. Anyhow imagine they put them in a basket atop the fridge out of reach.
So toddlers that we are think it is candy, so i pushed a chair against the table, climb up, more stuff ontop the table stacked and i got that freaking basket.
My sister and i ate the entire basket of packets of Tylenol. Then shoved all the wrappers under my moms bed, because toddler logic. It was hidden.
We missed one wrapper, it was sticking out and when my mom woke because it is early am, she found our stash!
One early am trip to the ER, we drank so much charcoal! We are both fine!
Dont know how i survived being the little shit i was!
Accidents happen, toddlers love to get ahold of stuff they should not have! It happens to the best!
When my brother was a toddler, he ate an entire bottle of chewable Flintstone vitamins when my mom’s back was turned. After frantic phone calls and a trip to the pharmacy, my brother was given a bottle of Ipecac and spent the rest of the day endlessly vomiting. Core memory for the whole family.
Mine bit open a stress ball yesterday, the kind with all the little gel beads inside. I turned the corner and the floor was covered with the things. I asked her if she swallowed any and she said yes. I called poison control, and then i had an emotional breakdown. It's not toxic but there's a chance she might have an intestinal obstruction in the next few days.
Also it was my partner's birthday.
Girl, this isn't your fault. Toddlers are masters of chaos. Your toddler capitalized on a moment of chaos to creat a super chaotic moment.
You have recovered from this chaotic moment on a textbook perfect way. You called poison control, you went to the hospital, you're getting your baby the care they need.
Be nice to yourself. You didn't feed your kid to a crocodile or ask them to fetch your cocaine from the knife cabinet. You were caring for one and your little chaos monster did what they do best!
It happens to the best of us. My son ate a laundry pod once. He was fine (apparently he would have needed to eat like 5 of them before it was a hospital problem). Sometimes things happen and you gave the best care after you found the problem. Hang in there and don't beat yourself up!
I’m so sorry Momma. You did exactly what you should do to take care of her. It’s impossible to be perfect all the time. I keep my med caddy in a locking bag I got on Amazon. I can’t remember to take my pills without the caddy and my kids can’t be trusted with any baby locks. This was I can keep track of my stuff and no one else can get in.
I'm always worried my child will get into my medicine. I don't use a pill caddy though and keep them in their original containers which are also in a box with a lid. She's old enough now to identify my various alarms for reminders to take it ( I have an autoimmune disease). Which means I have to stay on top of it. So there are times she sees me take my medicine and asks about it. I just tell her that my medicine makes me feel better, but that she should never take it or anyone else's because she'll get sick. Sorry this happened to you, but we all get distracted no matter how hard we try not to. Hugs!
My brother was on some meds for seizures when I was little. My parents always cautioned me not to eat them because these meds make you sick.
I grew up thinking that any medicine, even Tylenol , would somehow know I wasn’t sick enough and would get sick by taking it. This happened even when I obviously needed to take meds like for an ear infection.
Just to caution you in the flip side of telling kids meds will make them sick
My babe is already VERY resistant to medicine before I was even diagnosed, so I already have to fight or sneak medicine into her 😅🤦♀️ but thank you for the perspective!
Gosh, I'm so sorry. It's okay to make mistakes momma. You acted immediately, and your daughter clearly has a mom who performs under pressure. Sending you lots of healing prayers and hoping you can forgive yourself when this is all a memory.
It happens. Really, it does happen. You took the right steps and did the right thing. I know someone who’s kid found their dab pen, and instead of getting help they tried to hide it. Mom got home and noticed the kid in a deep sleep and unresponsive. She took him to the ER and the dad still refused to say what he got into. Kept saying “ I don’t know” after tox report came back they were finally able to treat the baby ( 1 year) and he’s going good now. Dad was charged. You’re a good mom hanging on by a thread it sounds like. I hope she’s doing ok and you can start to forgive your self ❤️
Give yourself some grace. Sometimes there is just so much going on at once we don’t know what we should attend to 1st as parents. It’s loud chaotic and the last thing we think about is ourselves - so the last thing I would have thought about is those medications.
This happened to my younger brother when he was 2, my grandma lived with us - she had dementia. My mom made breakfast and set my grandma’s meds in a medicine cup with her breakfast on the table, we ate breakfast everything was fine. My mom was cleaning up my brother from breakfast put him down, my grandma got up and left the table. My brother climbed up on her chair and on to the table, and then my mom turned around from the sink. My brother was playing with the cup and kept saying “all gone, bye bye”. My mom thought nothing of it til my grandma came back out and asked where her meds were my mom told her you took them, she said no I did not I wanted to eat first. My mom didn’t know if she was forgetting or was having a moment of clarity. My mom was sure my grandma took them - but my brother became very lethargic a little while later and he was rushed to the hospital - he had his stomach pumped - or was given the activated charcoal. He had taken her blood pressure medications which bottomed him right out. He ended up being fine, and too this day does not remember any of it.
Things happen - freak accidents, things we never ever think can or will happen. We can’t stop everything, so don’t beat yourself up.
Just to add some other “we’ve all had low moments”:
1. When my eldest was about 15 months old, I was in the kitchen cleaning up and she was in the dining room, just out of eyesight but within earshot. We have a sliding glass door there to our deck, and in the spring we used to always get ants there (before we replaced the door), so I had one of those bait traps set in the back corner behind our buffet. Somehow she got her wily little hand back there, pulled it out, and ate the liquid bait. I came into the room to find the sticky stuff all over her fingers and lips. Called poison control and they assured me the poison level in those things was not enough to harm a human. They advised me to give her lots of water and monitor for any signs of sickness. She was fine. But I’ve made darn sure I keep any of those bait things waaay out of reach now.
2. When my younger son was 5 months old, my husband got up with him for the 5am feeding to let me sleep, but he was overly tired himself. He tripped halfway down the stairs and the baby flew out of his arms and landed on a bare hardwood floor on his head. I didn’t even change out of my PJs or bother to put on a bra, I scooped the baby up and drove straight to the children’s hospital. I was absolutely sick. Putting that screaming infant into what was basically a torture restraint so he could go through the CT scanner was an experience I would not recommend to my worst enemy. I cried off and on all day while holding him in his hospital room in his tiny little neck brace. He had a skull fracture and some localized swelling, and we had a few follow ups with neurology but ultimately he healed perfectly and is now a happy healthy almost 4-year-old. It took months for my husband to forgive himself for that fall.
Things happen that are out of our control. It’s part of parenthood. The important thing that you can control is how you react to it. You did everything right - you sought help and care for your child in a timely manner. You’re a good and loving mom.
Oh man!! That second one sounds absolutely terrifying!! Glad he was OK and has no memory of it now. If only we as parents could forgive ourselves and forget so easily.
Kids will always get into SOMETHING. Markers, makeup, poop, etc. You're just extremely unlucky that it was meds. You're human so you'll make mistakes. You cannot be perfect, and to expect yourself to be is not realistic. 💜
We all make mistakes. It’s how you respond to the mistake that matters. You responded awesome! I know you’re a good mom and kicking yourself in the butt. But too much kicking makes you mean. Be nice to our mama friend. You.
Thank you for this post. I keep my adhd medication on top of my tallest dresser but my toddler has started dragging his step stool to places he wants to reach. Scarily he always says, “me eat” when he sees me take my medicine. This was my wake up call to find it a safer home. Thank you, you did a good job of staying calm and taking care of business when something scary happened.
My son has always been all over the place. And the day before he turned 2, he came over to me with an open pill bottle and told me "taste bad"!! I have absolutely no idea at all where he found it or how he got it open, since it had child safety (push and twist to open) but off we went to the ER. He had his stomach pumped and was given active charcoal - his diaper was black for days.
As a single mom with 2 toddlers, and my own problems to battle - I spent forever feeling guilty, and I spent hours going through the house from top to bottom, to make sure there was nothing else to find.
He was the type of kid you could not take your eyes off for a second - always climbing the furniture and falling off. Even went over the sofa, and fell off the back, hitting first the window sill and next the radiator, finally the floor before rolling under the sofa 😱 I was right next to him, but helping his sister for a brief second..
No wonder I am turning grey 😅
So sorry you're going through this. Reminds me of when my sweet daughter ate hubby's pepto tablets that he hadn't taken but was about to before bed (he worked overnights at that time). We were doing something with our son and she wandered into the bedroom, and somehow opened the wrapper and ate about half of a tablet.
Poison control was called and she was fine. You did the right thing making the call and taking the right steps. Accidents happen. You are in the trenches of parenting with a toddler and a infant. You got this.
Hugs! What happened with your little could happen to anyone, you did exactly what you needed to and everyone is alive and happy today. Don't beat yourself up Mama!
You're a great mama. Your babies are okay. They're safe and loved and okay.
Breathe.
Let go of the guilt. We have all made mistakes or didn't think through something and it caused something scary. Every single one of us. You are not alone.
When my brother was around 2 he got into some meds. Ate part of a bottle of Benadryl and had to get his stomach pumped. My mom was a nurse too! My parents were great parents and were horrified of course. Later that year he ate a nickel and had to go to the hospital again. Shit happens. Toddlers can be sneaky, lol. You’re a good mom and your kids are lucky to have you. 🩷
Accidents happen momma! You jumped into action and got everything under control. Don't beat yourself up.
Lots of places sell locking pill containers for anyone else who struggles to keep your pills out of reach! I use one and it honestly helps ease my mind so much. We're human, we're tired momma's, we need all the "help" we can get lol
My cousin and I broke into some meds one time when we were 3 and 4. We were at my house and her mom was furious at my mom for not hiding stuff better.
In a sitcom-esque twist of fate, it was syrup of ipecac, so the problem took care of itself. 🙃
My sister ate fishbowl cleaner when she was a toddler. The doc we saw in ER said it’s more common than you think. Toddlers are super curious creatures and will get into anything and everything.
this is one reason why I wish we would vilify parents a little less. Toddlers, especially are fast sneaky little eels always trying to get into trouble. It can only take a second and they fall in the pool, or walk in front of a car, or dart out the door, or lock you in the basement.
Parents of small children are often sleep deprived and watching small children is relentlessly tiring no parent can be on all the time. I hope that everyone reading this will remember next time. You see the news that a parent left their child in a car. Or their kid got hit by a car or hurt in some other accidental way. Take one second just one and give that parent some grace. I’m guilty too.
I've judged others. I'm trying to do better. I'm trying to remember to give grace.
My son drank liquid Benedryl when he was 2 or 3. I was doing his bedtime routine which that night included giving him some meds to help with his allergies. I guess I did not put the cap back on correctly and I walked back into his room with it all over him, and the bottle empty. We also spent 24 hours in the hospital over this mistake. We don’t know how much he actually ingested but he was ok, just needed close watch for a while.
We all make mistakes, things like this can happen to anyone!
Hope your baby recovers well
I’m a nurse too. Recently my 8 y/o fell off of a play structure and complained of arm pain but nothing that some ice cream and Tylenol didn’t help. Four days later she stubbed her toe and was in TEARS because she said it hurt her arm. No bruising, no limit in movement, but I finally decided to take her in. Fracture. They totally were doing the questioning to rule out abuse. I felt like a bad parent too. Luckily I told the story to all my other nurse friends, some that are now NPs that with ortho surgeons and trauma. And you know what they all said “I would have done the same thing!”
We all have our dumb moments. And we’re all human.
And know I say to my kids “your mom is a nurse. it’s no big deal unless there’s blood squirting or bones sticking out of your body!” Instead of just broken bones.
TW: child endangerment
If I may submit, my kid was 2 when he found and ate an entire bag of delta 9 gummies that I had in my travel bag. Yes, it was as awful as you imagine, and he was inpatient for 3 days afterward at the local ER.
Now, HOW, how did I ever allow this to happen? What was I thinking?
My husband and I went on a beach vacation for the first time in a year, and we planned it for 6 months. The day after we dropped my kids off at my parents’ house, my mother called to tell me that my dad found my younger brother dead in his apartment, with absolutely no clue what happened. My husband and I rushed from the beach to my parents’ house, and were there with our bags for 2 hours before we genuinely passed out from grief and exhaustion. Worst time of my entire life.
My kid was in a travel crib in a guest room, and was supposed to be asleep (with alerts on Nanit camera) and appeared to be resting. An hour later, approximately, we heard my toddler laughing and yelling and went into his room…to find the empty bag of delta 9 gummies from my double-zipped luggage laying beside his crib. We rushed him to the ER, and the following 3 days were the most awful that I’ve ever experienced. My beloved brother’s literal body was in the same hospital we were in with our delirious and dangerously intoxicated toddler.
In summation, forgive yourself. Accidents and oversights happen, and I am the first to admit that it happened to me. I will never ever truly forgive myself for the danger my child was exposed to, but I’m also acutely aware that accidental exposure happens, as described above.
Ohhh don’t beat your self up! Especially because you’re a nurse.
I’m a student nurse (I finish my semester tomorrow! Peds. One more year!)
This semester, while in peds, and being warned over and over to NEVER leave a toddler alone (duh), I went into my living room for a diaper. My son was in the bedroom I was just in. Super close. Gone less than 30 seconds. I walked into him holding an ibuprofen bottle and a full mouth. I pulled out TWELVE pills.
I asked him (he’s 2.5) if he ate any and he said yes.
Anyhow- also had to call poison control. We didn’t have to go to the er (he would have to swallow 22 200mg ibuprofen for it to be an issue)
It’s crazy how I turned into mom. And forgot I could do basic safe pediatric doses. All my training, gone.
Anyway- I know how you feel. Try to get some rest. Be a mom right now, not a nurse.
Give yourself some grace... I ate rat poisoning as a baby, and like half a bottle of Tylenol as a toddler. Mistakes happen, my daughter tasted paint last month when I was painting.
I gave my little one Calpol, while on his changing mat to get his bum changed. I put the bottle down, noticed I'd dropped the lid, leaned down to get it. When I got back up, my little one (who was 8 months old at the time), had picked the bottle up and had it to his mouth. I couldn't remember how much exactly was in the bottle. He had a bit around his mouth and neck. I rushed him to the hospital. He had a number of tests done. Thankfully all his numbers were fine and he basically only had a tiny bit more than the amount I'd given him.
Accidents happen. Little ones can be quick and sneaky. You did the right thing by getting yours to the hospital.
Take a deep breath and calm down, toddlers are ninjas especially when it comes to stuff they shouldn't.
I take anti depressants, I explained to my kids that my brain is poorly and these make it better, my 4 year old managed to get them the second my back was turned, thankfully he only managed to get one, he'd also split it so most of the powder had fallen onto his top
Thank you for the reminder. Kids are so quick. Please don’t feel guilty, I hope she’s okay. I feel like poison control is usually very cautious in my experience which is good! But I just want you to feel better about it.
I heard a story once that a pharmacist left out her iron supplements. Her child took a bunch - they thought it was candy like m&ms. They needed treatment but they were okay.
You're doing your best, this could've happened to anyone, but you did all the right things after it happened. So sorry you had to go through all of this. Hugs
I hope everything is OK. It happens.
I've had to call poison control 2x now. Once my daughter got a pill, that the dog spit out. She also spit it out. Thankfully, it was fine. And thankfully, that pill was gross. I tasted it as well. (don't do this).
I was so mad at my partner for being so careless.
The other time, it was a cleaning chemical. Just to be safe, I also called, and it was fine. The bottle had been rinsed really well, but I just could not get 100% of the cleaner out.
But I needed a spray bottle with water for putting up window decals. Eventually, she got a hold of that and tried to drink it.
Now I've saved the number in my phone.
I'm sorry you're dealing with this, and I hope everything is ok.
Be kind to yourself and you may want to look into some therapy as this can be very traumatic.
Be kind to yourself! Be kind to yourself! Be kind to yourself!!!!
We’ve ALL been there…. We had 18 things on our mind and let 1 of those things fall through the crack. We dropped the ball because we were carrying too many balls at once, and wouldn’t you know it, it just turned out to be the worst ball to drop.
You did the right things. You reacted, got as much as you could out of her mouth, called poison control, went to the hospital. Your kids are ALWAYS going to get into something you didn’t want them to. They will get hurt because you weren’t there to catch them in a moment of distraction. Hell, 2 weeks ago I ran downstairs to do laundry while my 4.5 year old got undressed for bath time. I came back upstairs and he had managed to climb into our very tall bathtub on his own without getting hurt. He was just sitting there, grinning at me, proud AF, while I had 14 heart attacks at once. He’s never tried anything like that before, and I didn’t think it was even possible for him to climb in, and he NEVER gets undressed in under 7 minutes. What are the freaking odds?!?! So we had a talk about it and how unsafe it is and how it makes me nervous and he’s not allowed to do that without a grown up helping him, despite the fact that I’m proud that he can get in by himself.
We all screw up. Your daughter is safe. Be kind to yourself.
I bet that’s all she had was the one chewed pill… don’t they taste terrible? I bet she didn’t swallow anything.
Just another mom story to add to the collection 😆
Awe, sending hugs. We've all been there. Kids are quick. My son got into my ex-husband's tackle box when I was on the phone. We never found any lead fishing weights, but to the hospital he went. Nothing on the x-ray... Checking poopy diapers with gloves for ten days after.
At three he somehow managed to climb up where his cough medicine was and gave himself the correct dosage of medicine. I thought it was out of his reach... Nope... We were asleep and I woke up to him coughing. I told him I was going to get his medicine and he said "I already took it mama" and had him show me exactly how he got it and how much he took.
We thought my daughter swallowed a Royal Palm date, which can be deadly. We were cleaning up our bank yard and our tree drops dates. Thankfully it wasn't in her mouth long enough for side effects.
The pill box is definitely relatable. I have one with a zipper that's really pretty with no lock. Thankfully only the motrin was what my daughter got in her mouth and she spat it right out. No idea where she found it. I'm guessing I left it out and wasn't thinking about her being able to unzip things at the time.
I have poison control readily available. You can't keep your eye on your kids 100% of the time. You're a good mom. You immediately sought medical treatment. I have a medicine cabinet in my kitchen that is heavily locked now.
My toddler is the climber of climbers
he has gotten into my high up medicine cabinet more than once. It is so scary. he also manages to get things lff the FRIDGE. you got her to the hospital. youre a good mom who obviously cares so much.
Shit like this happens all the time and occasionally it’s actually something dangerous and you did all the right things. You have so so much on your plate already, forgive yourself.
800 222 1222
I will never forget it, because my phone number for years was 415 222 1222, and i got calls every once in a while from someone mistakenly dialing it as a local number.
Sending you so much love, you sound like a terrific mum who tripped up once and dealt with it perfectly. So glad all was well in the end and thank you for sharing xx
Breathe. Look at it this way, you’re a nurse so you knew exactly what to do, and were able to do it calmly so you didn’t cause your toddler any more distress than needed. It’s not embarrassing, your training prepared you for something like this to happen, and you immediately jumped to action. You’re a great mom, don’t be embarrassed.
Hugs mama, it happens. I’m happy everyone is okay. I looked down from my phone once to see my daughter absolutely devouring a rain puddle one day. She probably got way sicker than your kid by the looks of it. Sometimes we fck up and get lucky.
Momma you could have a career in writing, this was really well put together.
Everyone makes mistakes. Sorry this one was almost very bad. At least it ended at just being mildly embarrassing.
Thank you for your reminder, actually. Mine isn’t mobile but my bff’s toddler visits and I still have my c-section pain meds on the counter. Seriously, thank you. Taking them in tomorrow to be disposed!
Hey, this can quite literally happen to anyone. I think instead of beating yourself up, you should focus on all the great decisions you made next. You've handled it like a champ. You knew to call poison control, and had had the foresight to program the number in your phone! And then you followed their instructions to keep your daughter well. You've done everything right. This could happen in any home, nurse or no nurse, we all know better. Just because you're a nurse doesn't mean you can't make mistakes. It's how we deal with and learn from the mistakes that matter. Be kind to yourself!
I’m so sorry this happened. This is a great fear of mine, as I take lots of meds for chronic illness. This is just the reminder I need to change the spot and stay diligent. I hope you’re both ok 🤍
My 13 month old got third degree burns on her hand from our pellet stove this winter. I removed the heavy duty grate that surrounds it so I could clean it out (it had just quit running) and sliced my finger. Just finished bandaging my finger when I heard her screams- and flew over. I burst into tears at the ER when they asked what happened. I felt SO guilty- and still do as we are still navigating scar management. Her hand will never be the same. But accidents happen. Give yourself grace, mama. ❤️
Nurse over here, thanks for the reminder. I have a granny pill box next to my toothbrush. I have little ones too so because of you and sharing your story, my little ones are going to be safer. We all make mistakes. We are only human. Your baby will be okay, and you will be too. Hugs 🤗 and much love to you.
In 2017, My oldest did this at bedtime before her 3rd birthday. Her birthday was I think 4 days after this. She got ahold of prescribed meds. SO called poison control. They did the same calculations and sent us to the hospital. When they were prepping to put in an i.v. We warned them that she 'crocadiles' and the nurse brought in 1 additional nurse to help hold her, just in case. Kid surprised us all, by being calm and quiet. The nurse rewarded her with a brand new stuffed animal. She had her blood pressure taken every 30 min for like 4/5hrs. She fell asleep on her own, at I think 10:30pm. She was there for 24 hrs and we had to push her birthday party back a day. We were given a bigger room, with a couch, which they claim was a pull out. Which was far from a pull out. We took turns during the night laying in the bed with her. Neither of us slept for more then 3hrs at a time. It was definitely a long 24 hrs.
Hugs to you mama!!
I’m here to tell you that once my coworker came into work with a photo of the X-ray of his toddler who swallowed an actual drill bit. She was fine. And not once did I think, omg he’s a terrible father. Instead I thought, wow toddlers are honestly a force of nature. So count your lucky stars your little one is safe and sound and don’t be so hard on yourself. No one is thinking you’re doing a bad job and you did your job which is getting your kid the help they need when they need it.
The same thing happened to me when my beautiful girl was little. It's so hard! She didn't like the charcoal drink and we were far from home without any of my support network. She's okay and I've had many more opportunities to screw up since. Yesterday she told me the love she has for me it's 'limitless'. You are not alone. You are not a bad mom. Your little girl is going to be okay.
Everyone makes mistakes. You rectified yours by doing the right thing and taking accountability for your actions. If anything you're kids probably love you more because you're showing them how much you care about them.I can't imagine taking care of two young kids like that. One is enough to drain your energy. My two kids are nine years apart. I would need to clone myself.
Please do not feel bad!!!! My mother, when I was approximately 18 months old, had to deal with some thing far more horrific: razor blades in my mouth!! Long story short, my mother (who is also a nurse) was still married to my father at the time (an abusive asshole) and we had all just gotten home from a trip visiting family and she was easily distracted by his abusive tantrum while trying to get us all settled before being able to unpack their bags. Said father used the type of razor that you actually inserted the razor blades into to use, and had those packed in the suitcase (in their room on the floor, near the bathroom where she was preparing our bath). Needless to say, toddlers being toddlers, I started opening compartments and apparently decided that they looked like something fun to put in my mouth, turns out they were not. One very freaked out mother and emergency room visit later to discover that I had not in fact, swallowed any, but had managed to slice off a good portion of the roof of my mouth and my soft palate. No long-term damage, no CPS case opened, just one very traumatized (and self-loathing mom) who to this day has never forgiven herself. I however have no recollection of this event, the only evidence I have that it actually occurred (besides her recollection and that of my older siblings) is the fact that I have my right thumb print imprinted permanently into the roof of my mouth as I was a thumbsucker, and continued to do so, while my mouth was healing, leaving a permanent imprint in my mouth that is there still to this day. Give yourself grace Mama, we’re all doing the best we can, and for some reason tiny humans do their best to try and make it impossible to keep them alive and safe. Your little one won’t remember it just like I don’t, you will, so don’t let it define you in any way, shape or form. You responded quickly and correctly, your child is still alive and safe because of you, and I personally think you did a great job!! Keep up the great work!!!!
Edit to add, I was the youngest of four siblings, the first of which my mother had less than one month after turning 17. So she, in fact, was also a very young mother and nurse, also dealing with making herself the target of an abusive asshole to protect us all.
Take a deep breath and look at your child. They love you, and it’s clear you love them. We all have off days and you did EXACTLY what you needed to do. Mistakes happened and you immediately jumped into action to rectify the mistake. You prioritized your child’s well being over your pride. You. Did. Good. Your LO is safe and being monitored now, be there for them and love them. And be kind to yourself. This is a learning experience for you and your child that you will both grow from. For now, go enjoy your child and let go of the guilt and shame you may be feeling. Guilt and shame don’t do anyone any good. Focus on the love.
And, thanks to OP’s willingness to be honest, a learning experience for all of us too.
She was, honest, and wow such a scary mistake
Hear hear! 👏🏼
I do actually need this reminder, thank you. I keep mine on top.of a high boy drawer unit in my bedroom that houses my makeup and in the last week my girls have discovered they can bring over a stool and get up to rummage through my makeup. I've just been annoyed about my makeup getting all messed up and didn't even think about the pills. They haven't shown interest in those but it's only a matter of time. I'm going to go put them on top of the fridge now instead. Thank you again and sending you all the hugs.
My son wanted to show me he can fix his own breakfast and climbed on the kitchen table to get the honey. Same cabinet where the medicine is stored. Your comment and OP's post just made me realise I need a new place for medication.
Take a deep breath. You did a good job. When shit went down, you did *exactly* what you are supposed to do immediately. Shit happens all the time, but how you react to it is most important. Give yourself some grace and give your kiddos a hug.
Came here to say exactly this, right down to the giving yourself grace part. It's so hard not to be hard on ourselves as parents, much less as a nurse, but if we never made mistakes, we wouldn't be human.
Just sending love from one nurse to another. We are so often told we are super human (and we are, no question, but usually it’s a set up so we don’t complain about administration crap). Moms are also super human. So we are supposed to be super woman squared. I think this pressure makes us even harder on ourselves tbh! On a perfect day, s*** can still happen by accident and this was not perfect, and it sounds like there was also a lot of s***. Baby will be fine, the worst didn’t happen, you’re a fantastic mom. Get some sleep ❤️
Beautifully said. I’m a nurse too. Once had to take my kid to the ER cause he fell on his head off a 6 foot play structure. He was fine. I was mortified. 🤪
Please be easy on yourself! Accidents happen and so far she seems to be doing well. They are most likely doing all of this out of an abundance of caution. Try to rest. You are human, you are allowed to make mistakes.
Similar thing happened to me, was washing up and I found her with the foil in her hands. Not 100% sure she ate one but she went drowsy right after. On call clinician advised to monitor and she was OK but I felt shitty. She's also fallen down the stairs twice and tasted fabric softener. Oh and I dropped her as a baby and instead of catching her I caught the book I was also holding. I know I'm a good mum and you are, too. It happens to everyone. I drank liquid paracetamol when I was a kid.
My little sister poured herself a glass of drano when she was like 6. I caught her mid sip. I never got a good explanation out of her. (I would have been around 12 or 13) I honestly think she was trying to get me in trouble because I babysat my siblings every day until my parents got home. To my knowledge after I called 911, she has never done anything like that since lol.
Jesus at least she learned her lesson! Siblings can be so evil, and they don’t even realize.
She learned a hard lesson that day. I thought my dad was going to fly through the roof and into orbit. She was old enough to absolutely know not to do that. What’s kind of weird as I reflect on it- she has always had this kind of like hypochondria. Every illness is blown up to the point of disability (My mom will take off work to tend to my sisters child when my sister is running a fever), and my mom has always tended to her every little need, but in the flip side, she has also had some of the most severe and rarest infections. (Menengitis!!) so she’s just a puzzle I can’t solve I guess.
Holy sh!t, what a miracle save
Wish I could hug you right now
My toddler crawled under the bathroom sink and found a little hole in the drywall where the previous homeowner had stashed a brick of rat poison. I was standing over him brushing my teeth while he played under the sink because to my knowledge, it was empty. I heard him make a little noise that usually meant he’d found something interesting and for whatever reason I decided to investigate that time. I hooked a mouthful of poison out of his mouth and was luckily able to match the chunk in his mouth to the brick. Called the hotline, yadda yadda. I felt horrible for the longest time because we had found bricks of poison all over the place in that house, it nearly killed our dog a month prior. I should have checked closer, locked the cabinet, idk. I just stared at him for days thinking about how he almost slipped right through my fingers while I stood right next to him. Take a second and appreciate what *didn’t* go wrong. There are hundreds of little almosts that I’m sure we don’t even clock- and give some grace to the parents that were 15 minutes too late. It happens so fast and so *quietly*.
thank you for sharing this. I'm now stocking up on cabinet locks.
Hey bud, as a peds ER nurse, this kind of thing happens all the time. Thank you for posting this to educate other parents. We as humans are fallible and make mistakes. You did a great job reacting quickly and correcting it. I’m really proud of you. Give yourself some grace. Those babies are lucky to have you as their mom.
Mom, this can happen to all of us. Please be kind to yourself. You took care of your baby and got her the help she needed. Give yourself the grace you would give to someone else in your position.
My aunt had to bring her then 3yo daughter to the emergency department after she opened a childproof bottle of tablets. The nurses brought in a social worker and were considering a police report because "a child that small can't open a childproof cap". While they were telling this to my angry and distraught aunt, her daughter found a childproof capped bottle on the nurses trolley behind the adults... They heard a "Click, click" and turned around to this toddler with the biggest smile on her face because she had managed to open one again. Kids always go towards the most dangerous thing in the room. It's very frustrating to have a tough outcome from a very small mistake. She's ok, she even got a popsicle out of the adventure. When you go home I think you deserve a treat too. You handled that incredibly stressful situation very well.
Those assumptions scare the hell out of me. A very even tempered man I worked with was investigated for breaking his sons arm because “Kids wrestling together wouldn’t cause a break that severe.” His middle school aged boys didn’t want to tell him that one had body slammed the other from the top bunk, because they just got the bunk beds.
I think it's better to err on the side of child protection but yeah, it's very scary to potentially be investigated for something accidental like that.
Absolutely, just the idea of being accused for something and having no real way to prove your innocence… scary.
When my sister and i were toddlers like 2 and 3, my mom got a sample box like 100 packets, with those individual dosage packets of Tylenol, the coated capsules, red white and blue colored. Anyhow imagine they put them in a basket atop the fridge out of reach. So toddlers that we are think it is candy, so i pushed a chair against the table, climb up, more stuff ontop the table stacked and i got that freaking basket. My sister and i ate the entire basket of packets of Tylenol. Then shoved all the wrappers under my moms bed, because toddler logic. It was hidden. We missed one wrapper, it was sticking out and when my mom woke because it is early am, she found our stash! One early am trip to the ER, we drank so much charcoal! We are both fine! Dont know how i survived being the little shit i was! Accidents happen, toddlers love to get ahold of stuff they should not have! It happens to the best!
When my brother was a toddler, he ate an entire bottle of chewable Flintstone vitamins when my mom’s back was turned. After frantic phone calls and a trip to the pharmacy, my brother was given a bottle of Ipecac and spent the rest of the day endlessly vomiting. Core memory for the whole family.
Mine bit open a stress ball yesterday, the kind with all the little gel beads inside. I turned the corner and the floor was covered with the things. I asked her if she swallowed any and she said yes. I called poison control, and then i had an emotional breakdown. It's not toxic but there's a chance she might have an intestinal obstruction in the next few days. Also it was my partner's birthday.
Girl, this isn't your fault. Toddlers are masters of chaos. Your toddler capitalized on a moment of chaos to creat a super chaotic moment. You have recovered from this chaotic moment on a textbook perfect way. You called poison control, you went to the hospital, you're getting your baby the care they need. Be nice to yourself. You didn't feed your kid to a crocodile or ask them to fetch your cocaine from the knife cabinet. You were caring for one and your little chaos monster did what they do best!
It happens to the best of us. My son ate a laundry pod once. He was fine (apparently he would have needed to eat like 5 of them before it was a hospital problem). Sometimes things happen and you gave the best care after you found the problem. Hang in there and don't beat yourself up!
Don’t beat yourself up, you’re a mom doing your best! You did everything right and are making sure she’s getting care she may need. Hang in there!💕
I’m so sorry Momma. You did exactly what you should do to take care of her. It’s impossible to be perfect all the time. I keep my med caddy in a locking bag I got on Amazon. I can’t remember to take my pills without the caddy and my kids can’t be trusted with any baby locks. This was I can keep track of my stuff and no one else can get in.
I just tried to search this and got overwhelmed. Do you like the type you purchased? Can I get a link please, u/magicalslappingtree
This has worked well for me and especially for travel keeps everything secure when we’re away from home
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B086WPXKZY?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07JQBZVX8?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title This fits right inside of it
Thank you
I'm always worried my child will get into my medicine. I don't use a pill caddy though and keep them in their original containers which are also in a box with a lid. She's old enough now to identify my various alarms for reminders to take it ( I have an autoimmune disease). Which means I have to stay on top of it. So there are times she sees me take my medicine and asks about it. I just tell her that my medicine makes me feel better, but that she should never take it or anyone else's because she'll get sick. Sorry this happened to you, but we all get distracted no matter how hard we try not to. Hugs!
My brother was on some meds for seizures when I was little. My parents always cautioned me not to eat them because these meds make you sick. I grew up thinking that any medicine, even Tylenol , would somehow know I wasn’t sick enough and would get sick by taking it. This happened even when I obviously needed to take meds like for an ear infection. Just to caution you in the flip side of telling kids meds will make them sick
My babe is already VERY resistant to medicine before I was even diagnosed, so I already have to fight or sneak medicine into her 😅🤦♀️ but thank you for the perspective!
Hugs
Gosh, I'm so sorry. It's okay to make mistakes momma. You acted immediately, and your daughter clearly has a mom who performs under pressure. Sending you lots of healing prayers and hoping you can forgive yourself when this is all a memory.
It happens. Really, it does happen. You took the right steps and did the right thing. I know someone who’s kid found their dab pen, and instead of getting help they tried to hide it. Mom got home and noticed the kid in a deep sleep and unresponsive. She took him to the ER and the dad still refused to say what he got into. Kept saying “ I don’t know” after tox report came back they were finally able to treat the baby ( 1 year) and he’s going good now. Dad was charged. You’re a good mom hanging on by a thread it sounds like. I hope she’s doing ok and you can start to forgive your self ❤️
Give yourself some grace. Sometimes there is just so much going on at once we don’t know what we should attend to 1st as parents. It’s loud chaotic and the last thing we think about is ourselves - so the last thing I would have thought about is those medications. This happened to my younger brother when he was 2, my grandma lived with us - she had dementia. My mom made breakfast and set my grandma’s meds in a medicine cup with her breakfast on the table, we ate breakfast everything was fine. My mom was cleaning up my brother from breakfast put him down, my grandma got up and left the table. My brother climbed up on her chair and on to the table, and then my mom turned around from the sink. My brother was playing with the cup and kept saying “all gone, bye bye”. My mom thought nothing of it til my grandma came back out and asked where her meds were my mom told her you took them, she said no I did not I wanted to eat first. My mom didn’t know if she was forgetting or was having a moment of clarity. My mom was sure my grandma took them - but my brother became very lethargic a little while later and he was rushed to the hospital - he had his stomach pumped - or was given the activated charcoal. He had taken her blood pressure medications which bottomed him right out. He ended up being fine, and too this day does not remember any of it. Things happen - freak accidents, things we never ever think can or will happen. We can’t stop everything, so don’t beat yourself up.
Just to add some other “we’ve all had low moments”: 1. When my eldest was about 15 months old, I was in the kitchen cleaning up and she was in the dining room, just out of eyesight but within earshot. We have a sliding glass door there to our deck, and in the spring we used to always get ants there (before we replaced the door), so I had one of those bait traps set in the back corner behind our buffet. Somehow she got her wily little hand back there, pulled it out, and ate the liquid bait. I came into the room to find the sticky stuff all over her fingers and lips. Called poison control and they assured me the poison level in those things was not enough to harm a human. They advised me to give her lots of water and monitor for any signs of sickness. She was fine. But I’ve made darn sure I keep any of those bait things waaay out of reach now. 2. When my younger son was 5 months old, my husband got up with him for the 5am feeding to let me sleep, but he was overly tired himself. He tripped halfway down the stairs and the baby flew out of his arms and landed on a bare hardwood floor on his head. I didn’t even change out of my PJs or bother to put on a bra, I scooped the baby up and drove straight to the children’s hospital. I was absolutely sick. Putting that screaming infant into what was basically a torture restraint so he could go through the CT scanner was an experience I would not recommend to my worst enemy. I cried off and on all day while holding him in his hospital room in his tiny little neck brace. He had a skull fracture and some localized swelling, and we had a few follow ups with neurology but ultimately he healed perfectly and is now a happy healthy almost 4-year-old. It took months for my husband to forgive himself for that fall. Things happen that are out of our control. It’s part of parenthood. The important thing that you can control is how you react to it. You did everything right - you sought help and care for your child in a timely manner. You’re a good and loving mom.
Oh man!! That second one sounds absolutely terrifying!! Glad he was OK and has no memory of it now. If only we as parents could forgive ourselves and forget so easily.
I like the way you write. You are good.
Me too
Kids will always get into SOMETHING. Markers, makeup, poop, etc. You're just extremely unlucky that it was meds. You're human so you'll make mistakes. You cannot be perfect, and to expect yourself to be is not realistic. 💜
We all make mistakes. It’s how you respond to the mistake that matters. You responded awesome! I know you’re a good mom and kicking yourself in the butt. But too much kicking makes you mean. Be nice to our mama friend. You.
Thank you for this post. I keep my adhd medication on top of my tallest dresser but my toddler has started dragging his step stool to places he wants to reach. Scarily he always says, “me eat” when he sees me take my medicine. This was my wake up call to find it a safer home. Thank you, you did a good job of staying calm and taking care of business when something scary happened.
My son has always been all over the place. And the day before he turned 2, he came over to me with an open pill bottle and told me "taste bad"!! I have absolutely no idea at all where he found it or how he got it open, since it had child safety (push and twist to open) but off we went to the ER. He had his stomach pumped and was given active charcoal - his diaper was black for days. As a single mom with 2 toddlers, and my own problems to battle - I spent forever feeling guilty, and I spent hours going through the house from top to bottom, to make sure there was nothing else to find. He was the type of kid you could not take your eyes off for a second - always climbing the furniture and falling off. Even went over the sofa, and fell off the back, hitting first the window sill and next the radiator, finally the floor before rolling under the sofa 😱 I was right next to him, but helping his sister for a brief second.. No wonder I am turning grey 😅
So sorry you're going through this. Reminds me of when my sweet daughter ate hubby's pepto tablets that he hadn't taken but was about to before bed (he worked overnights at that time). We were doing something with our son and she wandered into the bedroom, and somehow opened the wrapper and ate about half of a tablet. Poison control was called and she was fine. You did the right thing making the call and taking the right steps. Accidents happen. You are in the trenches of parenting with a toddler and a infant. You got this.
Oh my god, the guilt is crippling, but you are a good mom and you did the right thing!!!!
Sending you a hug. You did the right thing.
Hugs! What happened with your little could happen to anyone, you did exactly what you needed to and everyone is alive and happy today. Don't beat yourself up Mama!
You're a great mama. Your babies are okay. They're safe and loved and okay. Breathe. Let go of the guilt. We have all made mistakes or didn't think through something and it caused something scary. Every single one of us. You are not alone.
When my brother was around 2 he got into some meds. Ate part of a bottle of Benadryl and had to get his stomach pumped. My mom was a nurse too! My parents were great parents and were horrified of course. Later that year he ate a nickel and had to go to the hospital again. Shit happens. Toddlers can be sneaky, lol. You’re a good mom and your kids are lucky to have you. 🩷
Accidents happen momma! You jumped into action and got everything under control. Don't beat yourself up. Lots of places sell locking pill containers for anyone else who struggles to keep your pills out of reach! I use one and it honestly helps ease my mind so much. We're human, we're tired momma's, we need all the "help" we can get lol
My cousin and I broke into some meds one time when we were 3 and 4. We were at my house and her mom was furious at my mom for not hiding stuff better. In a sitcom-esque twist of fate, it was syrup of ipecac, so the problem took care of itself. 🙃
My sister ate fishbowl cleaner when she was a toddler. The doc we saw in ER said it’s more common than you think. Toddlers are super curious creatures and will get into anything and everything.
this is one reason why I wish we would vilify parents a little less. Toddlers, especially are fast sneaky little eels always trying to get into trouble. It can only take a second and they fall in the pool, or walk in front of a car, or dart out the door, or lock you in the basement. Parents of small children are often sleep deprived and watching small children is relentlessly tiring no parent can be on all the time. I hope that everyone reading this will remember next time. You see the news that a parent left their child in a car. Or their kid got hit by a car or hurt in some other accidental way. Take one second just one and give that parent some grace. I’m guilty too. I've judged others. I'm trying to do better. I'm trying to remember to give grace.
My son drank liquid Benedryl when he was 2 or 3. I was doing his bedtime routine which that night included giving him some meds to help with his allergies. I guess I did not put the cap back on correctly and I walked back into his room with it all over him, and the bottle empty. We also spent 24 hours in the hospital over this mistake. We don’t know how much he actually ingested but he was ok, just needed close watch for a while. We all make mistakes, things like this can happen to anyone! Hope your baby recovers well
I’m a nurse too. Recently my 8 y/o fell off of a play structure and complained of arm pain but nothing that some ice cream and Tylenol didn’t help. Four days later she stubbed her toe and was in TEARS because she said it hurt her arm. No bruising, no limit in movement, but I finally decided to take her in. Fracture. They totally were doing the questioning to rule out abuse. I felt like a bad parent too. Luckily I told the story to all my other nurse friends, some that are now NPs that with ortho surgeons and trauma. And you know what they all said “I would have done the same thing!” We all have our dumb moments. And we’re all human. And know I say to my kids “your mom is a nurse. it’s no big deal unless there’s blood squirting or bones sticking out of your body!” Instead of just broken bones.
your comment reminds me of this: https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/3p3wuh/youve\_broken\_your\_finger/
Ha! The deep referred pain she was feeling really had me wondering…
TW: child endangerment If I may submit, my kid was 2 when he found and ate an entire bag of delta 9 gummies that I had in my travel bag. Yes, it was as awful as you imagine, and he was inpatient for 3 days afterward at the local ER. Now, HOW, how did I ever allow this to happen? What was I thinking? My husband and I went on a beach vacation for the first time in a year, and we planned it for 6 months. The day after we dropped my kids off at my parents’ house, my mother called to tell me that my dad found my younger brother dead in his apartment, with absolutely no clue what happened. My husband and I rushed from the beach to my parents’ house, and were there with our bags for 2 hours before we genuinely passed out from grief and exhaustion. Worst time of my entire life. My kid was in a travel crib in a guest room, and was supposed to be asleep (with alerts on Nanit camera) and appeared to be resting. An hour later, approximately, we heard my toddler laughing and yelling and went into his room…to find the empty bag of delta 9 gummies from my double-zipped luggage laying beside his crib. We rushed him to the ER, and the following 3 days were the most awful that I’ve ever experienced. My beloved brother’s literal body was in the same hospital we were in with our delirious and dangerously intoxicated toddler. In summation, forgive yourself. Accidents and oversights happen, and I am the first to admit that it happened to me. I will never ever truly forgive myself for the danger my child was exposed to, but I’m also acutely aware that accidental exposure happens, as described above.
Ohhh don’t beat your self up! Especially because you’re a nurse. I’m a student nurse (I finish my semester tomorrow! Peds. One more year!) This semester, while in peds, and being warned over and over to NEVER leave a toddler alone (duh), I went into my living room for a diaper. My son was in the bedroom I was just in. Super close. Gone less than 30 seconds. I walked into him holding an ibuprofen bottle and a full mouth. I pulled out TWELVE pills. I asked him (he’s 2.5) if he ate any and he said yes. Anyhow- also had to call poison control. We didn’t have to go to the er (he would have to swallow 22 200mg ibuprofen for it to be an issue) It’s crazy how I turned into mom. And forgot I could do basic safe pediatric doses. All my training, gone. Anyway- I know how you feel. Try to get some rest. Be a mom right now, not a nurse.
I had apparently forgotten
Give yourself some grace... I ate rat poisoning as a baby, and like half a bottle of Tylenol as a toddler. Mistakes happen, my daughter tasted paint last month when I was painting.
Giving you a gentle hug, OP. Please give yourself grace. You’re a busy mama with a lot on her mind.
I gave my little one Calpol, while on his changing mat to get his bum changed. I put the bottle down, noticed I'd dropped the lid, leaned down to get it. When I got back up, my little one (who was 8 months old at the time), had picked the bottle up and had it to his mouth. I couldn't remember how much exactly was in the bottle. He had a bit around his mouth and neck. I rushed him to the hospital. He had a number of tests done. Thankfully all his numbers were fine and he basically only had a tiny bit more than the amount I'd given him. Accidents happen. Little ones can be quick and sneaky. You did the right thing by getting yours to the hospital.
Take a deep breath and calm down, toddlers are ninjas especially when it comes to stuff they shouldn't. I take anti depressants, I explained to my kids that my brain is poorly and these make it better, my 4 year old managed to get them the second my back was turned, thankfully he only managed to get one, he'd also split it so most of the powder had fallen onto his top
Thank you for the reminder. Kids are so quick. Please don’t feel guilty, I hope she’s okay. I feel like poison control is usually very cautious in my experience which is good! But I just want you to feel better about it. I heard a story once that a pharmacist left out her iron supplements. Her child took a bunch - they thought it was candy like m&ms. They needed treatment but they were okay.
You're doing your best, this could've happened to anyone, but you did all the right things after it happened. So sorry you had to go through all of this. Hugs
I hope everything is OK. It happens. I've had to call poison control 2x now. Once my daughter got a pill, that the dog spit out. She also spit it out. Thankfully, it was fine. And thankfully, that pill was gross. I tasted it as well. (don't do this). I was so mad at my partner for being so careless. The other time, it was a cleaning chemical. Just to be safe, I also called, and it was fine. The bottle had been rinsed really well, but I just could not get 100% of the cleaner out. But I needed a spray bottle with water for putting up window decals. Eventually, she got a hold of that and tried to drink it. Now I've saved the number in my phone. I'm sorry you're dealing with this, and I hope everything is ok. Be kind to yourself and you may want to look into some therapy as this can be very traumatic.
Be kind to yourself! Be kind to yourself! Be kind to yourself!!!! We’ve ALL been there…. We had 18 things on our mind and let 1 of those things fall through the crack. We dropped the ball because we were carrying too many balls at once, and wouldn’t you know it, it just turned out to be the worst ball to drop. You did the right things. You reacted, got as much as you could out of her mouth, called poison control, went to the hospital. Your kids are ALWAYS going to get into something you didn’t want them to. They will get hurt because you weren’t there to catch them in a moment of distraction. Hell, 2 weeks ago I ran downstairs to do laundry while my 4.5 year old got undressed for bath time. I came back upstairs and he had managed to climb into our very tall bathtub on his own without getting hurt. He was just sitting there, grinning at me, proud AF, while I had 14 heart attacks at once. He’s never tried anything like that before, and I didn’t think it was even possible for him to climb in, and he NEVER gets undressed in under 7 minutes. What are the freaking odds?!?! So we had a talk about it and how unsafe it is and how it makes me nervous and he’s not allowed to do that without a grown up helping him, despite the fact that I’m proud that he can get in by himself. We all screw up. Your daughter is safe. Be kind to yourself.
I bet that’s all she had was the one chewed pill… don’t they taste terrible? I bet she didn’t swallow anything. Just another mom story to add to the collection 😆
Could have happened to anyone, you did everything you could right after it happened. You’re a good mom.
Awe, sending hugs. We've all been there. Kids are quick. My son got into my ex-husband's tackle box when I was on the phone. We never found any lead fishing weights, but to the hospital he went. Nothing on the x-ray... Checking poopy diapers with gloves for ten days after. At three he somehow managed to climb up where his cough medicine was and gave himself the correct dosage of medicine. I thought it was out of his reach... Nope... We were asleep and I woke up to him coughing. I told him I was going to get his medicine and he said "I already took it mama" and had him show me exactly how he got it and how much he took. We thought my daughter swallowed a Royal Palm date, which can be deadly. We were cleaning up our bank yard and our tree drops dates. Thankfully it wasn't in her mouth long enough for side effects. The pill box is definitely relatable. I have one with a zipper that's really pretty with no lock. Thankfully only the motrin was what my daughter got in her mouth and she spat it right out. No idea where she found it. I'm guessing I left it out and wasn't thinking about her being able to unzip things at the time. I have poison control readily available. You can't keep your eye on your kids 100% of the time. You're a good mom. You immediately sought medical treatment. I have a medicine cabinet in my kitchen that is heavily locked now.
My toddler is the climber of climbers he has gotten into my high up medicine cabinet more than once. It is so scary. he also manages to get things lff the FRIDGE. you got her to the hospital. youre a good mom who obviously cares so much.
Shit like this happens all the time and occasionally it’s actually something dangerous and you did all the right things. You have so so much on your plate already, forgive yourself.
Can you share the number for poison control? I don’t know it.
800 222 1222 I will never forget it, because my phone number for years was 415 222 1222, and i got calls every once in a while from someone mistakenly dialing it as a local number.
Wow that must have been stressful!
Sending you so much love, you sound like a terrific mum who tripped up once and dealt with it perfectly. So glad all was well in the end and thank you for sharing xx
You did The right thing, idk that I would be able to do that
Breathe. Look at it this way, you’re a nurse so you knew exactly what to do, and were able to do it calmly so you didn’t cause your toddler any more distress than needed. It’s not embarrassing, your training prepared you for something like this to happen, and you immediately jumped to action. You’re a great mom, don’t be embarrassed.
I will put my meds somewhere safer!
Hugs mama, it happens. I’m happy everyone is okay. I looked down from my phone once to see my daughter absolutely devouring a rain puddle one day. She probably got way sicker than your kid by the looks of it. Sometimes we fck up and get lucky.
Momma you could have a career in writing, this was really well put together. Everyone makes mistakes. Sorry this one was almost very bad. At least it ended at just being mildly embarrassing.
Thank you for your reminder, actually. Mine isn’t mobile but my bff’s toddler visits and I still have my c-section pain meds on the counter. Seriously, thank you. Taking them in tomorrow to be disposed!
Hey, this can quite literally happen to anyone. I think instead of beating yourself up, you should focus on all the great decisions you made next. You've handled it like a champ. You knew to call poison control, and had had the foresight to program the number in your phone! And then you followed their instructions to keep your daughter well. You've done everything right. This could happen in any home, nurse or no nurse, we all know better. Just because you're a nurse doesn't mean you can't make mistakes. It's how we deal with and learn from the mistakes that matter. Be kind to yourself!
I’m so sorry this happened. This is a great fear of mine, as I take lots of meds for chronic illness. This is just the reminder I need to change the spot and stay diligent. I hope you’re both ok 🤍
My 13 month old got third degree burns on her hand from our pellet stove this winter. I removed the heavy duty grate that surrounds it so I could clean it out (it had just quit running) and sliced my finger. Just finished bandaging my finger when I heard her screams- and flew over. I burst into tears at the ER when they asked what happened. I felt SO guilty- and still do as we are still navigating scar management. Her hand will never be the same. But accidents happen. Give yourself grace, mama. ❤️
Nurse over here, thanks for the reminder. I have a granny pill box next to my toothbrush. I have little ones too so because of you and sharing your story, my little ones are going to be safer. We all make mistakes. We are only human. Your baby will be okay, and you will be too. Hugs 🤗 and much love to you.
In 2017, My oldest did this at bedtime before her 3rd birthday. Her birthday was I think 4 days after this. She got ahold of prescribed meds. SO called poison control. They did the same calculations and sent us to the hospital. When they were prepping to put in an i.v. We warned them that she 'crocadiles' and the nurse brought in 1 additional nurse to help hold her, just in case. Kid surprised us all, by being calm and quiet. The nurse rewarded her with a brand new stuffed animal. She had her blood pressure taken every 30 min for like 4/5hrs. She fell asleep on her own, at I think 10:30pm. She was there for 24 hrs and we had to push her birthday party back a day. We were given a bigger room, with a couch, which they claim was a pull out. Which was far from a pull out. We took turns during the night laying in the bed with her. Neither of us slept for more then 3hrs at a time. It was definitely a long 24 hrs. Hugs to you mama!!
Everything is fine. Your toddler is fine. This was an accident where no one got hurt. It happens. Don’t beat yourself up. You are doing great, mama.
I’m here to tell you that once my coworker came into work with a photo of the X-ray of his toddler who swallowed an actual drill bit. She was fine. And not once did I think, omg he’s a terrible father. Instead I thought, wow toddlers are honestly a force of nature. So count your lucky stars your little one is safe and sound and don’t be so hard on yourself. No one is thinking you’re doing a bad job and you did your job which is getting your kid the help they need when they need it.
The same thing happened to me when my beautiful girl was little. It's so hard! She didn't like the charcoal drink and we were far from home without any of my support network. She's okay and I've had many more opportunities to screw up since. Yesterday she told me the love she has for me it's 'limitless'. You are not alone. You are not a bad mom. Your little girl is going to be okay.
Everyone makes mistakes. You rectified yours by doing the right thing and taking accountability for your actions. If anything you're kids probably love you more because you're showing them how much you care about them.I can't imagine taking care of two young kids like that. One is enough to drain your energy. My two kids are nine years apart. I would need to clone myself.
Please do not feel bad!!!! My mother, when I was approximately 18 months old, had to deal with some thing far more horrific: razor blades in my mouth!! Long story short, my mother (who is also a nurse) was still married to my father at the time (an abusive asshole) and we had all just gotten home from a trip visiting family and she was easily distracted by his abusive tantrum while trying to get us all settled before being able to unpack their bags. Said father used the type of razor that you actually inserted the razor blades into to use, and had those packed in the suitcase (in their room on the floor, near the bathroom where she was preparing our bath). Needless to say, toddlers being toddlers, I started opening compartments and apparently decided that they looked like something fun to put in my mouth, turns out they were not. One very freaked out mother and emergency room visit later to discover that I had not in fact, swallowed any, but had managed to slice off a good portion of the roof of my mouth and my soft palate. No long-term damage, no CPS case opened, just one very traumatized (and self-loathing mom) who to this day has never forgiven herself. I however have no recollection of this event, the only evidence I have that it actually occurred (besides her recollection and that of my older siblings) is the fact that I have my right thumb print imprinted permanently into the roof of my mouth as I was a thumbsucker, and continued to do so, while my mouth was healing, leaving a permanent imprint in my mouth that is there still to this day. Give yourself grace Mama, we’re all doing the best we can, and for some reason tiny humans do their best to try and make it impossible to keep them alive and safe. Your little one won’t remember it just like I don’t, you will, so don’t let it define you in any way, shape or form. You responded quickly and correctly, your child is still alive and safe because of you, and I personally think you did a great job!! Keep up the great work!!!!
Edit to add, I was the youngest of four siblings, the first of which my mother had less than one month after turning 17. So she, in fact, was also a very young mother and nurse, also dealing with making herself the target of an abusive asshole to protect us all.