OK, tonight, totally exhausted, I decided to let my kids jump on the bed a few extra minutes while I nursed the baby in my room next door. As I was half comatose and attached to the baby, I heard them go into the bathroom, ugh. I was pretty certain I would walk in to find something sinister going on with the toothpaste or something if I didn't intrude pronto, but I made the lazy choice, and left them alone for about 15 minutes because I could hear them quietly talking-the bathroom is like 3 feet away from where I was. No water running.
Anyway, when I walked in, horror of horrors, the ENTIRE bathroom was covered with my baby powder. Counters everything, the air was full of it, I thought there was smoke coming out at first. I say my baby powder, because I only have it to use in the roots of my hair on days I don't have time to wash it. I don't use it on the kids, because I'm sort of paranoid about it getting in their lungs. I keep it out of reach, but my 3 1/2 year old figured out a new climbing scheme. So there they were, two white snowmen in a satiny layer of powder all over the floor.
No biggy, my fault for not supervising, I've never TOLD them not to mess with it. But as I was kneeling and cleaning it up, of course I was envisioning it stinging my throat and totally going in everyone's lungs. All in my head? No one was coughing or anything, it was just all over everyone's hair and clothes and faces. WELL? Do you think this was harmful to their lungs? I'm sort of worried, Not that I can do anything about it now, and I'm sure thousands of kids must have played in baby powder before...any thoughts? Has anyone's kids ever lived to tell after this happened?
OK, I feel much better with the group support! The kids are so good, and I totally don't hover (sorry Donna) because they have an excellent grasp of what they are allowed to play with and not all over the house. Now they've gotten their NO POWDER warning. The only room where I do hover and forbid everything is the bathroom because of my 2 year old son's fascination with the toothpaste, the toilet and breast pump, and my daughter's love of cosmetics. Thus the reason it's the first place they go if I get on the phone or settle in to nurse. I'm all for the occasional childhood mess, I just was bummed out it may have been harmful. I will both try to relax about the possible harm AND keep an eye on them for the 12 hour symptoms AND replace my powder for some without Talc. I never even thought of it. Thanks so much everyone!!! They seem fine this morning and they still smell baby fresh.
Hey Donna...first you have a problem with WORKING Mothers and now you are attacking STAY AT HOME ones?
Back off. A. is a FANTASTIC Mom. This could have happened to any one of us.
I believe as long as there is no TALC in it you should be fine.
However, inhaling TALC is not a good thing. They had warnings with it when I was diapering my 2nd child some 10+ years ago.
I also use it in glazes for ceramics and I wear a mask while doing so.
Hope everyone is ok.
Ignore Donna S. - she takes herself waaay too seriously and there is little benefit to making an already-feeling-bad mom feel worse! Kids are resilient and I highly doubt that they have sustained any long-term damage. Hope the balancing act proves less messy for you in the future!!!
Oh good lord, just ignore the stupid comment from Donna!!
I think your kids will be fine anyway I doubt you will let them do that to you again. You poor thing I was exhausted reading your question. I have 3 kids close in age and my middle one has Autism we had some pretty bad problems with behavior and her hyperactivity level this is the kid who wouldn't stop, complete nightmare for several years. I have been exhausted as you sound. My best advice is when you feel like that is to trap the kids into a room where they can't destroy it and move them as you need to. It can be a room and area of a room. Get as creative as you need and plan out as much as you can when you have someone to help you out. This way your kids can be playing safely and hopefully you can see them. Make sure they have things in the planned areas to keep them busy.
When I was 4, I totally got into the baby powder....it was all over me, my brother, and my entire bed.....as long as they are not coughing, I would not worry.
If the baby powder contains talc, you should take them to the emergency room. My 2 & 4 year olds had a baby powder fight in their bedroom and later that afternoon, my 2 year old started coughing. I called poison control and they asked me to give them the list of ingredients on the back of the powder. They had used two bottles of baby powder and the first one contained cornstarch so that was fine; however, the second bottle contained TALC which the poison control said was an issue and told me to take him to the emergency room. A.I. DuPont Children's hospital had to call Poison Control several times for consultation and I was told that symptoms typically occur 12 hours after exposure. He was fine for several hours in the observation area of the ER, but then spiked a 105.6 fever and they had to give him IV antiobiotics and chest x-rays. He spent two nights in the hospital on and IV antiobiotic and was diagnosed with Talc Aspiration Pneumonia. He had to take a week's worth of antiobiotics after being released from the hosptial. My four-year was fine and never had any issues.
A.,
I can't answer your question, but when my daughter was 2 1/2 she was playing quietly in her room...and I walked in and there was baby powder (which I also did not use with her, but always have had in the house)all over, including in the "boom box" in her room (which never worked properly again after that and had to be replaced). She was having fun...I did not have fun cleaning it up, though! I should not have had the powder within her reach... It was a learning experience...and funny, too!
A.-
LOL, LOL, LOL! I can picture your two.
Now to the serious part of the question. Apparently the harmfulness depends on whether it is cornstarch or talc, with corn starch being fairly innocuous.
When I was in college we used to "dust" people's rooms, by pouring a whole bottle on newspaper and sliding it under the door and hitting it with a blow dryer. None of those people had a problem from cleaning it up.
I'm sorry, but I hope you grabbed a camera!
S.
I have had this happen before! My nephew and daughter proceeded to eat it...lol.. Trust me it's not a big deal. While the talc is bad for their lungs the amount they are inhaling or digesting at that point is minimal! No need to worry! My daughter and nephew are now 13 and 14 and perfectly healthy and NEVER had any complications despite the fact that they did it quite a few times! Sounds to me like they had fun at your expense! I would have laughed the entire time cleaning it.
My brother and I did the same thing when we were younger and we are still here. Our lungs are just fine. They say if it has talcum powder in it then you shouldn't use it on babies cause that can harm thier lungs but I am sure they will be ok.
If you don't feel good about it though call the doctor. They will be able to help.
I think they were getting into stuff being kids. As far as I know baby powder is not harmful. I would have been upset that they made that mess but at the same time that is what kids do when you leave them to their own devices. It sounds funny the way you described it. I am sure the mess was not fun to clean up but I am sure they are fine.
A., I can't tell you if it's harmful, but I'm sure it can't be healthy! I'm commiserating with you, however, because the same thing (nearly identical) happened to me when my kids were little. I have five, so you can imagine what they got into. The powder experience with them also involved a little baby lotion, so it was completely delightful. Four of my five have asthma requiring several breathing treatments daily (at that time) but it didn't seem to aggravate anything, and they can all breathe today! And they are grown. I have two grandchildren who are just the right size to pull the same tricks now. Can't wait to hear about them! I'll guess there's no big worry, since it isn't a frequent routine, and like you said--there's nothing you can do about it! I hope you took pictures. They are so funny to see now! As far as monitoring your children until they leave for college goes, DON'T be a helicopter parent! Hovering won't make you any happier and your children won't have experiences in life that lead to independence. The few powder episodes that occur will only increase their resistance and creativity! There's always a positive side to issues. We don't want to have our kids always looking back to us seeking our approval before they make any moves. Enjoy a few moments of rest with that tiny one. It makes you a better mom overall!
i wouldn't worry, my first reaction to your post was to laugh because my daughter did this when she was 2. she powdered her entire room. What a mess to clean but when i look back it was funny. She is a healthy 5 year old now, don't worry.
You are not the first to go through that!! My 3 1/2 year old son did it a couple of months ago in my living room and it was all over him from head to toe. (My baby nephew was over and it was his bottle). I left him alone for about 10 minutes while I went up to grab something. He had a doctor's appoint a few days later ande he was fine. I told the doctor about it and he just laughed. He said 9 out of 10 parents tell him the same thing. So don't worry about, he is fine.
I don't think it will hurt the children...I recommend you call and ask your pediatrician just to hear it from her/him:-)
M.
They are most likely the bazillionth and bazillionth-and-first kids to do that. Obviously, not a good activity to do daily, but I doubt it is a serious danger O. time. It's the talc that's dangerous. Try using pure cornstarch for your roots (just in case!)
