AIBU to call 111 about my baby DD again?

[filou87]

My daughter is nearly 5 months old. A short while ago I washed her hands using a natural hand wash and cold water. I put the soap on her hands and rinsed with cold water while I held her hand, but she put her fingers in her mouth while it still had soap suds on it. I read the ingredients, it actually contains two essential oils, verbena fruit oil and lemon oil. She is her usual self but I am worried. I washed her hands because my dad held her hand and he is a smoker.

I want to call 111 to check for peace of mind. However I am discouraged from doing so because I have found them twice in the last two weeks and they said that if I called again it would flag me up to Social Services. I am a teacher so well aware that they have a duty of care to my daughter but she is extremely well looked after and loved.

Am I being over cautious or should I call 111? So as not to drip feed, I do have PTSD from her very traumatic birth and she was in SCBU. I also have some health anxiety (this began in pregnancy) about my daughter's safety. I don't want to get a visit from SS!

The other times I called 111 were:

1. I gave my daughter a brand new toilet roll to play with while she sat in her bouncer chair. I was cleaning my teeth but watching her. It was only after I took the toilet roll away that I realised she had sucked on it and some had come off. 111 said it was not a not an issue.

1. DD was in her about the chair again while I was cleaning my teeth, this time I gave her a baby board book and when I removed it she had sucked to the corner and a bit of the shiny paper had come off. I was watching her and so she had the book by her mouth but I didnt realise she could actually do that with her gums. She's teething at the moment.

I spoke to my mum and she thinks I am over cautious and that the essential oil concentration will be very low.

Thanks if you read this far.

When I was a baby I ate a moth. I came out fine but the moth did not, I'm afraid.

Don't worry Op, your baby will be ok. I'm glad you're getting help

original emu that really did make me laugh... well if we're sharing...

After DD was born my mom came to stay for a few days. We would eat together in the dining room. DD was asleep in her Moses basket. I would move the sleeping child and her Moses basket from lounge to the next door room so she was with us whilst we ate.

But this wasn't quite enough security so I took to placing sleeping child in her Moses basket on the dining table like an elaborate centre piece.

That attention to her security at a few days old didn't prevent her from falling/rolling downstairs, nor did it stop her putting a (hitherto unknown) table tennis ball in her mouth.

Miraculously we've both got through to her mid teens.

Buy some teething rings/toys and give her those when you brush your teeth.

You sound like a great mum

so I took to placing sleeping child in her Moses basket on the dining table like an elaborate centre piece.

😂😂😂

I think I would have felt like doing something like this, if I’d thought DH would have allowed it!

Dp just reminded me of our friend. Dd about 14 months sat in the garden with mum playing in dirt (mum was a laid back parent). Mum turned to look at something, turned back to dd, to see the end of a worm wiggling in her mouth. Dd was fine, worm wasn't.

Yes deep breath she will be fine

The SS comment I think was at you and you needing help as bless you those would not be even merit a worry with DS. We were just reminiscing yesterday of the holiday that the first thing he did was swallow rocks!

Ah bless you OP, you are extremely anxious. First babies will do that to you but I would definitely mention these things to your counsellor.
Your baby will be fine - they are robust!
Are you managing to take car of yourself and are you getting any sleep?
You’re right not to call 111 for these things.. your daughter will be fine

My daughter used to nap in the afternoons. From about 1-2pm.

I learned to sit outside the door when I anticipated her waking otherwise she would undo her nappy (and she was a very 'regular' child) and smear the contents around the room. As far as she could reach from the cot, including in her ears, mouth and nose. It was vile. I used to dread going up those stairs if I hadn't been there, a wall of smell would greet you half way up if you weren't fast enough.

I genuinely wish she'd preferred the soap

good luck with getting help xxxx

As a teacher i would hsve thought common sense would kick in and all 3 times deemed unnecessary. I think you need to see your gp about your anxiety.

If it makes you feel any better OP my daughter doesn't like slugs....she discovered this as a toddler after passing me half of one...yup she'd eaten the other half! It's pretty much a given onve they start teething thay everything will be in their mouths and you can watch them like a hawk but still they'll grab something you don't want them to. I'm glad you're getting help it must be very stressful for you.

I agree with the others that you are being over cautious but I do sympathise about the impact having a baby in SCBU can have on you. My one year old DS was in for a month when he was born and I am definitely more anxious and cautious about him than I ever was about my DD who had a healthy delivery. I'm glad you are getting extra help with your anxiety

I suffered from severe anxiety when my DC was a baby too. It won't leave you but it becomes more manageable. I agree with everyone who has suggested doing a baby first aid course. It made me feel much more in control, and the course included some stress management tips too.

She will be fine! You are being OTT.

I second what's been said above about not needing to call 111. It's great you're getting support from a birth trauma counsellor. You might also benefit from further counselling centred on your health anxiety as distinct from the birth trauma.

A paediatric first aid course would be helpful too as it's ultimately reassuring.

Something that really helped (still helps) me is changing the focus. So rather than just general panicking about e.g swallowing toilet paper or essential oils or whatnot can possibly do to your baby, learning about how to identify when your baby is healthy. So, if she is alert, not high pitched crying in pain, not feverish, not cramped up in pain, still urinating, eating or drinking OK, etc etc then she's fine. Basically, learning how to answer the question "is my baby healthy right now".

I've been through it OP and it's really hard, and it comes from a good place and it will get easier.

Why not see if the hv can refer you to the nspcc selfcare course, they do a full module covering this kind of stuff, when to take to gp, when to take to hv and when to take to hospital. I've found them to be brilliant with helping me deal with my health and safety paranoia

My daughter has so far eaten dry dog food, wet dog food, dry cat food, wet cat food, chewed a crayon and then decided she didn’t like the taste of it 🤔. And about a year ago she was all proud of herself for getting a drink in her cup which she had filled with water from.....the dog bowl! Just after he had been for a run so it had loads of grass and assorted bit of garden/forest floating in in. And when she was teething she picked up one of the dogs chew toys and started chomping on that. She is strange!
She lived to tell the tale and laughs when we all reminder her about it.
Honestly your girl will be fine.

Your little one will be fine (paper is not toxic) although will pick up on your anxiety in the long run - glad you are getting help.

111 would be right to flag as obviously there are issues that you need support with. Unnecessarily calling them is a waste of finite resources but then you already know that.

She's fine I suspect she'd eat more soap just bathing

Chill and enjoy your baby. Glad you're getting counselling - everything will be just fine

Neither the two previous examples you gave or the soapy fingers are a reason to call 111.

Babies put all kinds of things in their mouths it's how they learn about their environment. Board books are pretty much designed to be chewed and the tiny tiny amount of soap ingested won't hurt her.

I can see why 111 could feel you need more support if you are calling them for things other people wouldn't even blink at. Do you need to talk to your GP or whoever is treating you and get some additional help?

Hello, thank you for the replies, they were mostly very constructive and helped me see that the soap was a non issue. I also enjoyed reading the funny stories about what some of your children have eaten! As a child I enjoyed mud pies from the garden and drank water from our pet bowls too

Both my husband and I did a paediatric first aid course already, thank you though to those who suggested it. He works away so if he is home, he rationalises these things with me. When he is away and uncontactable, I want another opinion hence calling 111 for medical advice.

Contrary to what many posters have assumed, the 111 clinician was actually concerned that I was not supervising my daughter properly (her words) and said that I need to watch more closely what I give her to play with and that it's not in her mouth (her words again). That's why she mentioned SS. I was quite shocked and thought I'd misheard her initially. 111 actually took my second call seriously as the book is American and the clinician checked it out with poison control as apparently the USA have different acceptable levels of chemicals in the ink to the EU.

When I called about her eating the toilet roll they said it was fine but asked lots of questions because had she eaten more of it, the paramedic said it can block airways or their bowel as their bodies are so small. So neither me or 111 seemed to think my calls were an overeaction or lack of common sense as people have insinuated.

I was of course thinking I might be overcautious calling about the soap but on the other hand, essential oils are tocic if ingested hence my concern.

I am not generally anxious day to day around my daughter, it has just been these three times in 5 months and I have given her no indication of my concern so she will not pick up on it. 111 is a non emergency number, that's why I called. Had the two things occured in the day, I'd have simply asked for a call back from one of the nurses at my GPs practice.

I understand now why some posters have said not to call 111. I thought 111 was non-emergency medical concerns but I see from the internet it is urgent concerns, I didn't know that. If I have any concerns again I will just keep an eye on her and only call someone if she is displaying symptons

No, 111 is a non-sleeping number. But the three incidents you've mentioned are so minor and trivial that most people wouldn't give them a second thought.

Is there somebody you could call to question whether these are genuine reasons to be concerned before ringing 111? Like family or a friend?
The comment about not supervising your child properly is absurd - it assumes you can watch them like a hawk 24/7 and that’s impossible. Ignore the comment and the social services “threat”.

Blimey. DS sucked/ate everything he touched at that age. He ate newspaper, sucked Evey book we had. even on one memorable occasion stuffed handfuls of sand in his mouth on the beach once (though he was a bit older than 5months old for that one). It would never have occured to me to get medical advise if he had sucked a soapy hand.
In the kindest possible way, I think your anxiety levels about you DDs health are very high.

Good suggestion to phone a family member or friend before phoning 111. That way you won't make unnecessary 111 calls but also won't have to run the gauntlet on MN