New on the Menu: Laundry Detergent

I know kids will be kids. And a part of being kid means eating things you shouldn't and not eating the things you should. I've had friends who've had to call poison control because their kids ate soap, lotions, sunscreens etc., and I felt fortunate that I haven't had to make that call yet. But, today was my lucky day.


I was busy ironing in my bedroom and Shelby was busy playing and keeping busy. She was wearing my swimsuit (one strap was over her neck and the rest she wrapped around her, I have no idea how) and walking in and out of my bedroom, opening and shutting the door and saying "hi and goodbye" each time. We had a fun game going on. But, at some point the game took an unfortunate turn when Shelby thought it'd be fun to eat laundry detergent. Months ago Shelby tried eating laundry detergent, but when she tasted it she said "yuck." I assumed she wouldn't be going back for more.

While she's eating detergent, I'm none the wiser and I'm patiently waiting for her to pop back into the bedroom to say "hi." A few minutes of silence go by (the silence was a dead give away that she was up to something, I should have known) and then I hear Shelby trying to open the door. She struggles for a minute or so before I open the door for her and I was totally shocked at what I saw. Shelby still had my swimsuit wrapped around her, but she had foam in and all around her mouth. From the looks of it I guessed she was eating toothpaste (one of her personal favorites) so I wasn't surprised. The look on her face, however, told me this wasn't toothpaste.

When I reached down to help her I could smell the laundry detergent on her breath. I had no idea how much she ate at this point, but quickly found out when she threw up all over me. We get into the bathroom and she throws up again, but this time we get most of it in the sink. What surprised me about the throw up was that it was all obviously detergent, still in granular form. She threw up enough detergent that it made me a little nervous. How does someone eat 1/2 cup of laundry detergent?! Seriously?! I couldn't have tasted good.

Poison control told me to do all the things I would have done regardless, but it was nice to know I didn't need to do anything else. I was glad I didn't have to take Shelby to the hospital for a stomach pump or anything like that. This is what poison control told me to do.

1. Rinse her mouth out.
2. Give her a bath to rinse off the detergent that got somewhere other than in her mouth (there was a lot down her pants)
3. Get her something to drink. She refused water, but the operator told me to give her popsicles. In her words, "no one refuses a popscicle!" She's right.
4. Look for sores or blisters in her mouth. Call if you see any.
5. Watch for more vomiting and if she does vomit again to call her back.

So there you have it. Shelby turned out just fine. She didn't get any sores in her mouth and she ate popsicles for the rest of the day. I don't think Shelby will be getting into the laundry detergent again. But, just in case I moved the detergent where she can't get into it. At least not without a lot of effort.