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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To warn you all about the dangers of Foxgloves?

260 replies

Outfoxgloved · 26/01/2016 21:41

Yes. I am unreasonable for sticking this in AIBU. Yes I'm fully aware that it's not at all unreasonable to warn someone about something dangerous.

Yes I'm also aware this post outs me, and so that's why I've name changed.

I'm hoping it's not against the rules to share a blog here? If it is, feel free to delete :) I shall take it like a woman.

Some of you may know the other me on here (since you know the story) please don't out me!

The story of what happened to DD2 last year

OP posts:
yankeecandle4 · 27/01/2016 07:42

Thanks for sharing OP. Very glad Esme is ok.

I bought several foxgloves last year and have been trying to reseed them Blush They did come with a warning and i informed the children not to touch them. I thought this was an 'elf and safety measure, I didn't know that they could really cause harm though.

GloriaHotcakes · 27/01/2016 07:42

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Oriunda · 27/01/2016 07:44

Any self respecting Agatha Christie fan knows about foxgloves. Agatha used them as a plot device/murder weapon frequently. Usually they were picked and substituted for sage leaves and left in the kitchen for cook to prepare dinner. The person with heart problems taking digitalis so therefore immune was usually the murderer!

Original poster
Outfoxgloved · 27/01/2016 07:49

All those who've actually bought foxgloves, don't feel bad! I think it's easy to assume "they'll get a bit sick if they did eat them, which they won't".

The warning should be "potentially deadly if ingested, even in small quantities". There is a point of no return with these plants. I'm so glad dd's blood levels never got that high. But after a certain point, even with the antidote, there is nothing you can do.

But that would not be a mouthful, which is likely all a child would ever try before spitting it out.

It's hard balancing "don't panic!" With "please take this seriously!" If anyone thinks I'm tipping that balance, please do say.

And don't feel you have to know what every plant is, but perhaps do learn every plant in your garden if you can. Then you know you have a safe space to relax in.

OP posts:
Original poster
Outfoxgloved · 27/01/2016 07:50

(Disclaimer: as safe as any space with a toddler in it can be)

OP posts:
Oriunda · 27/01/2016 07:51

I have foxgloves in my garden. Lovely plants, self seed every year and the bees love them.

MuttonWasAGoose · 27/01/2016 07:52

Thank goodness her stomach contents were such that the leaves were plainly visible. It would have been natural to assume noro virus.

Original poster
Outfoxgloved · 27/01/2016 07:58

Thank goodness dh had fed her tuna and sweetcorn sandwiches :o

The leaves were so mulched it was hard to tell what they were. But they definitely weren't what we had had for lunch.

Maybe I should only feed her beige food from here on in :o

OP posts:
SexLubeAndAFishSlice · 27/01/2016 08:07

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

ABetaDad1 · 27/01/2016 08:07

I understand the worry with small children but every garden has poisonous plants. I totally restored my garden last year. It is packed full of them.

Holly (both neighbours)
Yew (one neighbour)
Box
Dahlia
Foxgloves
Hundreds of bulbs including daffodil, narcissus, crocus, tulip
Iris
Privet hedge
Ivy
Poppy
Wisteria
Laurel
Tobacco
Sweet peas
Elderberry
Lobelia
Hydrangea

Luckily I have planted roses covered in spikes to keep people away from them and I don't have toddlers. Never stops the cats though.

When I was at university the college gardener was famous for his wild garden including a ginat hogweed leaning over the quad right next to the entrance.

Original poster
Outfoxgloved · 27/01/2016 08:10

If you don't have toddlers then I wouldn't worry, really. I'd educate children in a relaxed way, but I wouldn't change anything. It's surprising how many people don't know at all, so wouldn't be able to react or ask for help in the right way if the worst happens.

OP posts:
BombadierFritz · 27/01/2016 08:11

Giant hogweed?? Thought it was illegal to plant that?

Lolimax · 27/01/2016 08:12

What an amazing story I'm so glad she's ok. My 2 are all grown up now but I'll remember this for when I'm a nana.
Oh and the Heath (UHW) are amazing. I spent some time there in neurology last year and we are so lucky to have such a brilliant hospital and staff in Wales.

capercaillie · 27/01/2016 08:16

Thanks for sharing this - beautifully and honestly written and very thought-provoking. I guess many parents don't know what is poisonous or not - knowledge about plants is disappearing sadly. It wouldn't stop me planting foxgloves in my garden - but I will make sure that the children are aware of them. We already talk regularly about other plants such as holly, yew and fungi not being safe so I think they've got good awareness. Foxgloves grow everywhere - one of my favourite sights in the Lake District is foxgloves on a June day - it's not possible to totally eradicate the risk.

So glad your little girl made a full recovery.

Letustryagain · 27/01/2016 08:16

I didn't know about Foxgloves and I live in the Country. You can't guarantee that people know if they've never been told. It's not ignorance, if you just haven't been somewhere where it's been talked about and someone has mentioned it.

Thank you OP. I now know. Luckily my DD was never a child to put things in her mouth (bizarrely) and now at nearly 7 I hope we won't have to worry, but I will make sure that I let everyone know how dangerous they are. Of course it does make me wonder how many other things are poisonous that I don't know about. You can only know what you've been told!

BicycleGasoline · 27/01/2016 08:20

Thank you for sharing this. How utterly terrifying for you and your family, and I am so glad your little one is going to be ok. You are so right that the awareness of this just isn't there.
Can I add a huge thanks to you too for your paragraphs towards the end about families who live this hospital life long term. That has been us for the last year since my son was diagnosed with leukaemia. He's about the same age as your Esme. You are so right. We are not special, strong or particularly brave, and although it's flattering to hear I'm getting a little tired of being told it so often. It is so refreshing, a much greater kindness for someone (yes, even a stranger on the internet) to acknowledge that it is hard and we keep going because we have no option. We want our son to stay alive so we spend the time in hospital when we have to and we live life on high alert when we are at home. So again thank you for your recognition of all of that Thanks

ABetaDad1 · 27/01/2016 08:26

Bombadier - this was 30 years ago which was just a year after the law was passed that made it an offence to plant or cause to grow Giant Hogweed but in fact this was a wild garden and hence it could be argued it was growing naturally and had not been planted.

ohtheholidays · 27/01/2016 08:32

Thank you for sharing your familys story OP.I'm so glad Esme is better now,it must have been a terrible time for all of you,no parent should have to watch they're child suffer like that.

Your daughter is very lucky that her Mum knew just how dangerous the plants were and that you reacted so quickly.

It would be great from now on if Dr's,midwifes,HV's were able to give out little booklets that named and showed the plants, both garden and house plants(there are lots of houseplants that can be deadly if eaten,some can cause serious reactions if they come into contact with the skin for to long as well) that can be harmful to young children.

I know it would cost money,which is something the NHS are struggling with but I'm sure it could save money in the long run on hospital stays and Dr's visits(which is the way it would be looked at by the MP's,for us parents we'd want it so no one we know would hopefuly have to go through what your Esme and your family had to go through ) even if it only reduced the amount of accidental poisoning for children with plants by 10% every year it would be worth it.

HPsauciness · 27/01/2016 08:35

I found this very educational, poor little girl, glad she is ok.

Like others, I knew foxglove was poisonous, but wouldn't have known how to recognize the leaves (now know they are furry dock leaves!) or that such a small amount could cause such profound illness.

I can honestly say your thinking and your other dd's honesty saved your dd's life- I can imagine it could have gone much longer without knowing what was making her sick, it doesn't bear thinking about.

Thanks for sharing this.

Sweetdreamsforall · 27/01/2016 08:37

I didn't know about foxgloves either. Plants are not my area of expertise. I don't think it's ignorance either, I'm educated in other areas. Plant-wise I know about things such as lobelia only because I have used them in health aids, but I don't get to enjoy the countryside often so I couldn't identify many things out there! That will definitely change now I have a dc. We all have to learn things at some point, and it's always from another human being in some form. So thank you op. That must have been hard to write. Reading your story actually brought tears to my eyes as I imagined the trauma you went through, looking at your little one and thinking the worst. Thank goodness, thank goodness she is okay. Bless your other dc for seeing her eat it and identifying the plant. What a proud parent you must've been. Hope your little girl continues to thrive x

Moreisnnogedag · 27/01/2016 08:42

I knew about foxgloves but didn't realise the leaves looked like dock leaves. Will have chat with ds - so thank you!

magimedi · 27/01/2016 08:47

So pleased Esme is OK.

It would be great from now on if Dr's,midwifes,HV's were able to give out little booklets that named and showed the plants, both garden and house plants(there are lots of houseplants that can be deadly if eaten,some can cause serious reactions if they come into contact with the skin for to long as well) that can be harmful to young children.

Is this something MumsNet could instigate a campaign for??

bigbuttons · 27/01/2016 08:49

There are lots of ponies plants in my garden, in all of our gardens.We had wild fox gloves all over the place,. and yews with their berries and lords and ladies. Glad your dd is better. I always told mine never ever to put anything from the garden in their mouths wither speaking to me first. Luckily they didn't.

Spudlet · 27/01/2016 08:51

I didn't know they were that poisonous either, so thank you for sharing. Glad Esme is ok now, hope you are as well. Children seem to bounce back better than we do!

As shutupandshop says, flowers seem inappropriate... Wine, on the other hand, seems very much necessary Wine

ThatsHowYouGetAnts · 27/01/2016 08:52

This happened to a little girl I knew when I was a kid. We lived out in the country so my siblings and I had had it drummed into us about foxgloves since we were tiny. This wee girl (daughter of my parents' guests) didn't know and she ate some, was rushed to hospital etc. She did recover. I remember how scared everyone was though.

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