# How many times have you called poison control?



## its_our_family (Sep 8, 2002)

How many times have you had to call poison control (total)?


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## its_our_family (Sep 8, 2002)

I've called poison control 5 times just for my oldest child. I've not had to call for B.

T has eaten; bath oil, a freezer pack, and a few other things.


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## DQMama (Mar 21, 2006)

I called when ds was a baby and sucked on my cell phone. I looked at the bottom of it and saw that it was green and chalky looking--he had sucked out some battery acid! They said to watch him but that most likely he didn't get enough to hurt him. He was fine but I was scared! I sure learned my lesson--not to let babies play with cell phones. It's amazing what can be poisionous that you wouldn't even think of.


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## townmouse (May 3, 2004)

Oh, nice. I'm the only one who said "more than 10"









I have 4 boys, and I've been a mama for 10 years. I think I average about 2 calls a year.

Lest you think I am a parent who pays absolutely no attention to her children, I'll tell you that not one of the cases warranted medical attention! I believe in being better safe than sorry. And it is amazing what household items are actually perfectly edible.

Muffin liners, for example. They are just cellulose and wax. Not for every day, but if you forget to remove the toddler's 'paper' from his birthday cupcake, he will be OK if you give him some extra fluids







.


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## its_our_family (Sep 8, 2002)

Battery Acid?? EEK!!!

Ha! T ate a freezer pack cause he was convinced it was a popsicle. Now, I have no idea how he got eh freezer pack to begin with.


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## townmouse (May 3, 2004)

I'd heard those were supposed to taste vile so kids would leave them alone. Urban legend?


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## living_organic (Sep 25, 2006)

Once, because dd found the one "medidate" (sp?) that dh dropped when the pharm overfilled his bottle. He opened it and several spilled, he "thought" he picked them all up...three hour later...dd (aged >2) walks in with a funny look on her face and hands me a glob of gel and little tiny beads (it was a time-release) I freak out and call...they assure me she'll be fine, because she didn't swallow much, if any.

Then I call the pharm and give them a talkin' to, and they never over-filled another bottle.


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## GranolaMoon (Aug 29, 2003)

Once. My then 2yo found the antibacterial aerosol spray can thingie and sprayed it in her big brother's mouth when he was least expecting it. She crawled up on the bathroom counter, stood up and opened a cabinet without falling to get it out.


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## the_queen (Nov 3, 2005)

Once.
Yesterday my 5 yr old came inside to tell me "Mummy, I found a leaf!! And it's juicy!!" *munch munch munch*







It was a leaf from the Lily of the Valley out the front. Now, this is a child who won't even eat scrambled eggs if it's got parsley in it. Will not willingly eat any type of vegetable. And yet she pulls a leaf off a plant and eats THAT!!???
















So I rang the poisons people, we had to brush her teeth, drink some water, and I just had to watch her for an hour or so. She's fine.


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## Threefold (Nov 27, 2001)

Twice, once dh called to settle an argument about having more than the recommended dose of a children's muti-vitamin and once because dd chewed a hole into a reusable ice cube and sucked out the contents.
Wait, I remember talking to them one more time, but I don't recall why. . .







:


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## djinneyah (Sep 4, 2004)

once...ds grabbed the bum cream while i was putting the dirty dipe away, and got a good mouthful...they said watch him for an hour, and he was fine...

can't imagine it tasted very good, though..


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## EviesMom (Nov 30, 2004)

For dd, never. The only thing she's eaten that was iffy was licking the top of the sunscreen stick. We looked it up online and kept an eye on her, but it didn't seem worth calling about. Although this poll reminded me that I had to call animal poison control twice when our previous dog ate on different occassions 1) several different colors of femo clay and 2) an entire chocolate orange. The clay, they told us he'd be fine... and he was, but his poop was literally rainbow colored the next day.







(Silly dog pulled the bag of clay off the counter while we were out, and took one bite out of each color. "Hmmm... maybe the purple tastes better... no... maybe the blue?"







) The chocolate orange we had to take him to the animal hospital and they gave him charcoal and did other yucky stuff. Never never never let your dog eat chocolate!


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## LeftField (Aug 2, 2002)

Only once for my oldest child. He ate the paint off the windowsills and my father called Poison Control for that. Based on how much he ate and how new the house was, they said he would live to eat paint on another day.


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## Patchfire (Dec 11, 2001)

Once, and it wasn't even dd's fault. It was a pain in the rear to get her medicine in her and so I gave her a dose before I left for dinner... I came back two hours later and dh proudly announces that tonight, he'd remembered her dose! So we called just to make sure.


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## its_our_family (Sep 8, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *townmouse* 
I'd heard those were supposed to taste vile so kids would leave them alone. Urban legend?

We'll never know. Tracy is a kid that will eat anything, no mstter how vile we make it taste. Of course, he won't try new food. But if it is a nonfood item WATCH OUT!


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## LovemyBoo (Oct 11, 2004)

Once in my life, never as a parent.

I called once as a group home worker. We were trying to identify some pills we found in the kids bedrooms. They were absolutely no help and we ended up calling a local pharmacy - once they opened - who helped us identify them.


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## kofduke (Dec 24, 2002)

Well, I haven't technically called poison control, but only because I had my dr's number quickly available. I've called 2X with Luke - once when he managed to drink some diaper potion lotion, and then on Friday when he grabbed Aaron's peanut butter sandwich and took a huge bite. Yeah, it's not poison, but I still panicked...


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## FancyPants (Dec 25, 2004)

Once. For iron with ds1. He had anemia as a toddler and I had been giving him drops. He got in to the bathroom and crawled up the toilet and onto the counter and into the cabinet and had it all over his hands. I couldn't smell any on his breath though. Which isn't surprising since he would avoid anything with the drops in it.
I was in the other bathroom busy and he had just fallen asleep (normally a very very heavy sleeper).







: I ended up putting all such stuff in _my_ bathroom
in a toolbox
with a lock.







:


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## MOM2ANSLEY (May 19, 2003)

dd got the plug out of a snowglobe and was sucking out the water(while sitting in my lap)....but i wasn't sure if it was just water......it was but they told me to watch her b/c several yeares prior some of the water had bacteria....guess dd wan't the 1st .....btw we never found the plug


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## 7kiddosmom (Feb 18, 2005)

I have called twice. Once my dd2 climbed up onto the bathroom sink and got my birth control pills out of the medicine cabinet. She popped them all out of the package, don't know if she ate any, but I called to be on the safe side.

2nd time, my ds1 had my clipper oil bottle in his mouth, don't know if any got down him but it scared me and I called.


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## rmzbm (Jul 8, 2005)

Once.


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## becoming (Apr 11, 2003)

Four times.

#1 - Found DS sucking on a bottle of Ralph Lauren perfume when he was 7 or 8 months old.

#2 - Niece ate some Desitin diaper rash cream when she was about a year old.

#3 - DS ate some Desitin when he was 2, and as a new young mom, I was afraid they had added some lethal ingredient in the year since niece ate same cream.

#4 - DD ate part of a crayon that didn't have "non-toxic" anywhere on the package (we were in a hospital where they had given DS crayons to keep him occupied).

None required medical attention, but I still sound like a horrible parent!


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## Joannarachel (Dec 10, 2005)

Just once! When my son was 12 months old he decided to EAT my deodorant.







:

Evidently, this is a fairly common call for poison control type peoples....who woulda thunk?

They told me to give him a cup of milk and he'd be fine.


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## lisac77 (May 27, 2005)

Once. DS ate one of my thyroid pills.


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## The Lucky One (Oct 31, 2002)

Once for ds2.

He was about 9 months old and was fussing horribly during ds1's bath. Well, actually it was when ds1 was already out of the tub and I was trying to get him dryed off and dressed. I STUPIDLY (










































) gave him the bottle of Children's Benadryl to chew on. He was immediately happy with it. He was right beside us on the floor. Next thing I knew, I heard him sputter and he had gotten the (childproof) lid off of the bottle and had gotten some of the liquid in his mouth. Based on how much I knew was missing out of the bottle when I gave it to him, I figured he got about 5-7.5 mL's of it in him. Poison control told me that at his age and weight it was not nearly enough to be toxic to him, but I've never fogotten that feeling and I'll never be that dumb again.


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## bendmom (Sep 4, 2003)

once for ds #1. Two years ago he swallowed a hematite tumbled rock. Based on what dh could remember from college chemistry, it contains a harmful compound, so I called. I was afraid they were going to report me to child services or the police because they took my info. Then I called a friend w/ 4 kids and she said she has called several times, that's what they are for!


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## treemom2 (Oct 1, 2003)

Maybe three times that I can remember. Once DD ate about 1/2 a tube of toothpaste--she was fine--they said she would have to eat about the whole tube. Another time she ate a silica packet--again this was fine since it is basically sand (DH and I both should have known this, but the packet said do not eat). I found DS in the laundry room with a spray bottle of bac-out and an empty detergent container he found in the trash. I don't think he consumed any, but I called just in case. They said just to give him some water to dilute and he might puke--didn't though!


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## kwren23 (Jul 28, 2006)

i have called at least ten times. mostly because my big guy went through a wierd phase where he tried to eat all manner of things. and he was old enough to know better... he was 4. i called once for eating a whole lot of desitin, for eating half a tube of toothpaste, for eating a packet of dessicant, for swallowing some loose change (no pennies thankfully) for eating an incredibly hairy mold covered yogurt he had hidden under his bed and left for a month or more 'so i could see what it tasted like when it got old' for eating the insides of an isoflex ball 'because the dog was eating it mom, so it has to be ok' for trying to eat some gravel, for trying to eat the insides of a glow stick, for eating all of my lip balms in one sitting, for eating a tube of apricot scrub, for trying to drink shampoo. luckily he outgrew this long ago and now he just tries to wake up early on the weekends and quietly get into things in the fridge he knows he cant have for breakfast... like ice cream, salsa and chips, or syrup.

i've also called a few times for the baby, twice because i thought she *might* have eaten a tiny bit of plant matter, and once because i inadvertantly took 2 prenatal vitamins in a four hour span and wanted to make sure that wouldnt hurt her as shes still nursing.

whenever i am not sure if they have eaten something wierd i call poison control to be on the safe side. i want to know if i should panic! mostly they told me to give milk to dilute and coat the stomach, to nurse the baby, or they told me it was ok, theyd be just fine. i felt better knowing. (i'm kind of a hovery mom sometimes)

man! the things they'll put in thier little mouths! eek!


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## EFmom (Mar 16, 2002)

I've never had to call. Neither of my kids were much for eating strange things. My sister's kids are a different story. The family used to kid her that the Poison Control Center answers its phone with, "Good Morning, Mrs. Smith. What did Diane eat today?"


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## earthmama369 (Jul 29, 2005)

Oh man. What a timely thread.

We called once last year when dd banged a Tabasco bottle on the table and got a drop in her eye. (For the record, the medical recommendation is to flush with water for 20 minutes. Her eye was still red after flushing, so I tried a few drops of breastmilk and it cleared right up!)

And we called about an hour ago because dd found a bottle of scented oil on a shelf we both thought she couldn't reach and got it open and in her mouth before either of us could get to her.







:

Team Parent got a Reality Check tonight.

Apparently a small swig of Body Shop's brandied apple oil (the kind you put in a small dish over a tealight to scent a room) may cause some skin irritation and an upset tummy, but nothing more serious than that. I washed her mouth out with water and dh wiped it out with a paper towel, then we cleaned off her hands and face. She was pretty upset about getting cleaned up but hasn't shown any ill effects. They recommended that she drink 48 ounces of liquid to flush her system. Oy. That's a lot of liquid for a 22-month-old. So she got treats tonight -- white grape juice, hot chocolate, milk, and all the nursing she would do.

Tomorrow we're reproofing the entire house for our new and improved "can climb and reach anything lickety-split" girl.

ETA: The nurse at Poison Control was great. DD wanted to say sorry so dh gave her the phone and she talked with the nurse for a minute. When dh got the phone back, the nurse asked, "So is she showing any signs other than complete cuteness?"







:

And 211 SUCKS. DH called the operator for the Poison Control number while I looked it up and was transferred to 211. (I know, I know!







: We just got a new phone and haven't found a sticker for it yet.) He said he needed the number for P.C. The case worker tried to collect demographic information from him! He told her it was an emergency, and she said she had to follow procedure and collect his statistics. To which he responded, "Just give me the effin' Poison Control number!" And she HUNG UP on him!!!







: There's one hell of a complaint sitting in her supervisor's voice mail right now.


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## ledzepplon (Jun 28, 2004)

Twice: Once dd ate Trader Joe's Zen hand soap. And this is going to make me sound like a terrible mom, but I can't remember what she ate the other time! Both incidents were within a week of each other.


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## K&JsMaMa (May 26, 2002)

Three times, when ds1 was little. Once when he ate a plant. Once when he ate a bottle of teething tablets. And once when he drank some children's cough syrup with codeine.








I really did keep an eye on him. This boy was just everywhere...all the time.


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## slacker_mom (Mar 30, 2005)

I answered that I called once, but it was actually the ER doctor who called them.

DD drank a full bottle of cough syrup, minus one dose, as I was getting ready to give her that dose. I may have overreacted, but I was having a really difficult evening, partly because we were both sick and I wasn't sure I could handle the situation at home if anything bad happened. I live 6 blocks from a hospital, so I just grabbed DD and the empty bottle and drove over there. The doctor called it in, the nurse checked DD's vital signs, and then we just hung out in a trauma room for 2 hours for observation.


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## ashleyhaugh (Jun 23, 2005)

once.... my crazy, drug using sil had been living with me, she and my 2 nephews shared a room. she moved out, my sis moved in to that room. we were watching a friends one year old son, and he was being suspiciously quiet, lol..... he was over in the corner with a pill in his mouth







we FREAKED, cuz my sil had just moved out, so it could have been ANYTHING.... i called poison control, all freaked out and described the pill to them. thankfully it turned out to be just an allergy pill, and he was fine


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## its_our_family (Sep 8, 2002)

So glad to know we aren't alone!!

We had a bad experience the first time we called. We hung up and called again.

Of course, I couldn't find their number ANYWHERE! We even tried 411 and no luck!


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## OnTheFence (Feb 15, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *its_our_family* 
How many times have you had to call poison control (total)?

I am the only person who voted 7-10 times. Our oldest son had PICA, and ate everything. We don't call our home child proof, we call it "Dylan Proof" because we discovered childproofing our home was nothing, because Dylan could get into anything and everything.

Our first poison control phone call was becaue he sucked ink out of a printer cartridge. We still do not know how he found this. Solution by PC, drink milk.

Our second was because he ate the fire rocks our of our fireplace. Solution by PC, see if he passes them, and if not take to pediatrician.

Our third call was for AJAX. He decided it was juice and downed it while my husband and he were washing the car. Solution by PC, drink milk and watch for puking.

Our fourth call was for Windex. He didn't injest it, he decided to bathe in it and sprayed it in his eyes. This was in a LOCKED cabinet. Solution by PC, bathe thoroughly and wash out hair and eyes with plain water.

Our fifth and sixth calls were for Tylenol Poisoning. 1st time was my husbands fault because he left a bottle open on the counter, Dylan crawled up and got them and he and his 1 year old brother ate them, all while DH sat a few feet from them. Solution IPECA syrup, trip to the hospital for both events. The second time, my 1ds crawled up the cabinets, onto the stove and unlocked the childproofed med cabinet and drank a bottle of liquid tylenol.

Our seventh call was for eating rocks again that were on a playground that had been treated with fertilizer. Solution, drink milk and Xrays at the doctors office.

All of these involved our oldest son. Of the seven times I spoke to the same PC worker for our area four times. They always did follow up calls that day and again the next day.


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## mamma.mia (Oct 11, 2006)

We called once when our lil guy toddled out sucking on a tube of toothpaste! lol


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## Storm Bride (Mar 2, 2005)

I haven't had to call yet, but ds2 has put more weird things in his mouth than ds1 and dd combined, so I'm guessing it will happen one day. So far, I've been fairly vigilant, _and_ very, very, very lucky!


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## urchin_grey (Sep 26, 2006)

I voted 0 because I've never called but there was one time that I *should* have and was in such a panic I forgot! So I called DH and told him to come home to take us to the ER. (DS swallowed one of DH's Tylenol PMs by the way).







:


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## angelpie545 (Feb 23, 2005)

I voted once-when dh and I accidentally ingested some WD40. How did we manage that?







Dh put some WD40 in a bowl for whatever reason, then rinsed it out with water and put in with the clean bowls. When I went to make dinner, which was tuna sandwhiches, guess which bowl I used?







: Poision control said that it wouldn't hurt us unless we inhaled it, but we might get gas. Dh still can't eat tuna


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