Oct 29, 2012

The Baby Powder Incident

I feel as if I should start this post by stating that the baby powder was in the closet, out of reach of a certain two-year old.

That said, nothing is quite out of reach of a smart two-year old that can move furniture.

Sweet P was supposed to be napping last week when I walked in to find this.

powder1

She greeted me, excitedly saying, "Big, giant mess!"

Yes, my dear. That is a big.

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Giant.

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Mess.

I thought the worst of if was cleaning that big, giant mess up.

Later in the week I found out out otherwise.

A couple days after my Sweet P emptied an entire tube of baby powder throughout her entire room, she started having a little trouble breathing.

I called the doctor and they said not to bring her in since she wasn't running a fever.

I waited another day and her breathing got a little worse. Then she started coughing.

The next day we went to the doctor. She insisted on wearing her princess dress.

powder4

They didn't seem concerned and said it was probably allergies. Now, I'm no doctor, but I am a mom. My kid, who has never been to the doctor other than for her well-checks, was crying when she coughed and told me she was choking. That's a big deal in my book.

I asked if there was more we could do. Then they obliged and ordered an x-ray of her chest. I wanted to make sure it wasn't a result of the baby powder - which I was certain it was.

My poor little princess.

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I hated seeing her in that little gown. She was such a trooper getting her x-rays.

Turns out she inhaled some of the dust and it caused pneumonia. Since they caught it early, she just had to take antibiotics for a week and said she'd be just fine.

Well, it hasn't quite been a week, but, Praise the Lord, she's almost back to her normal self!

I learned a couple things in this ordeal:
  • there is no need for baby powder and it shouldn't be sold, or it should be kept under a lock and key in my house
  • sometimes as a parent, you just have to laugh - that mess was no joke to clean up but the room did get a thorough cleansing
  • wearing a princess dress really can make you feel better
  • trust your instincts - no one knows a child better than the parent
  • how blessed I am to have healthy kids - seeing her in that little gown made my heart ache for parents that see that sight on a daily basis and I thank God every day for my family's health

So, anyway, thank you to everyone for the thoughts and prayers this last week and if you own baby powder, toss it! Kidding - kind of.


17 comments:

  1. Well, I am sorry that she got ill as a result of this but boy did it bring back memories. I had a baby powder incident as well as a vaseline incident - also not fun to clean up :p. Glad SweetP is feeling better.
    xo

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  2. Oh and I forgot to say be glad the baby wasn't in there with her. She would have been well powdered I'm sure.

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  3. Oh wow!!! That's crazy scary! Great mom instincts and I'm glad everyone is ok. And I totally agree that they only useful thing baby powder does is keeps the sand off the feet at the beach!

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  4. Oh, Lesley! Those first pictures were crazy. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

    I just had crown moulding installed in my home and spent hours vacuuming up white dust. It broke my vac cleaner!

    Pneumonia is a much worse result of "white powder" everywhere.

    I'm so sorry. Glad she's on the upswing.

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  5. Oh my goodness ~ pneumonia as a result of baby powder...who knew?!!

    So glad you trusted your mama instinct! {and that she's doing better of course!}

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  7. So, I started out reading this and laughing! And thinking, well, baby powder is better than Destin (which only comes off with baby wipes). Turns out, baby powder is worse! And I did stop laughing when you got to the coughing part for the record. Poor little girl, that is serious stuff. I'm glad to hear that she is feeling better though. And I do not own any baby powder, but thank you for the disclaimer.

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  8. Oh gosh, how scary to know something many people use for tiny babies could cause such trouble! I personally dont use baby powder often except for trips to the beach. (It gets sand off of skin in a mili-second!) But after this I may just forgo that and let my kid and my self cart home that inch of sand on our feet! Glad she is feeling better, but so sorry you had to go through this with her.

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  9. So sorry this happened to your sweet girl! I saw the IG pic and gasped at the mess... But goodness how scary for her to have pneumonia because of it! I reminded my hubby that the baby powder stays in a locked cabinet!!

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  10. We learned about baby powder at our baby classes. They pretty much said there is no need for it, the risk to babies is too high. Who knew? I'm glad your little one is ok.

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  11. Oh no! I would've been so ticked when I walked in that room. You know, I don't think I even keep any powder in the house...I always just use rash cream. So glad she's OK

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  12. glad she is okay. i did that when i was little. only the powder was all over me and my sister. i too feel the same way about baby powder. no need really, unless you are at the beach. if you have wet sand all over your feet and legs, shake some baby powder on and the sand instantly falls off! magic!

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  13. Omgosh!!!! We have had our fair share of times like this but never resulting in trips to the doctor. I'm still finding traces of Vaseline though!!! ;) I'm glad she's okay now. How scary! You're a good mama. Xo.

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  14. Oh my goodness. It's true, baby powder does nothing. I never used it with G. And to think it caused pneumonia! How scary. You were dead on to order your doctor to do more tests. Well, at least the room got a nice thorough deep cleaning??? :) Glad P is doing much better!

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  15. WHOA!
    I'm so thankful that YOU listened to your intuition and that sweet P is doing better. Praise God!! My mom always tells me that God gave us our intuition and that it's one of the ways He talks to us. I'm so glad you listened to Him, friend!
    xoxo

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  16. Oh my goodness! I bet the room smelled as fresh as a clean baby bottom. So glad you trusted your instincts and insisted on further testing. I am also grateful that I never used baby powder and that my kids didn't get the chance to play with it :-)

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  17. Wow, glad she's ok! I saw a tv show about this! It was really scary. I can't remember but it was something like 20/20.

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