My baby just put a dead shrew in her mouth

[BaylisAndHardon]

Posting in AIBU for traffic, and to ask for a hand hold while I get over this horror.

We live in an old victorian house (with many mouse holes) in the country and have a cat to manage the rodent populus, but he also sometimes brings things in . I always check the floor of the snug for anything and disinfect/scrub if he has before putting her down to play.

But this time he put it under a toy in her play pen and I didn't see it and she picked it up and put it in her mouth before I could lauch myself at her to get it out. I am horrified.

Messages of support please. Also accounts of children who have survived to adulthood after putting disgusting things in their mouths. Tell me your worst. I need to hear it.

Had to force a snail out of my dd’s mouth 🤢 oh and some bird poo she picked up off the patio

At play group my dd would be the one under the table after eating her food eating all the food other children had dropped on the floor.

She also went through a phase of trying to be a dog, dropping and eating food of the floor like a dog in a restaurant.

Shes a combination of too quick for me/I stare in frozen horror and inaction before jumping into gear 🤣

D cousin was found beside the kitchen bin gnawing on a raw chicken bone. No I’ll effects.

My dd collected up loads of dead curled up wood lice and told me she was eating raisins. It was a few minutes before I realised we didn’t have raisins and I had to check what she was actually eating 😂

Oh, this thread has made me laugh, they put everything in their mouths, don’t they?! I understand your shock, though, I was paranoid when my DDs were first with us. They didn’t put our cats’ prey animals in their mouths but they did try to eat the sand when in sandpits. It used to really worry me but they were hardly ever sick.

@Audreyseyebrows

I once found dd with half a slug in her mouth! I screamed and vomited which scared her. Ds also carried a dead rabbit around like a baby. He wanted to name it ‘Adrian’. It took a lot of bribery convincing to give me Adrian.

That reminds me of a time I was country walking with DS (aged 2-ish) and our dogs - DS was trailing a couple of feet behind and I heard and excited "Look Mummy - squeaky mouse!"

He had a firm grip on a dead rat. I nearly screamed!

I told him that it was fast asleep and we had to putt back because its mummy would be looking for it. And then I practically ran home with him in my arms, keeping's hands well away from his mouth . . .

@Peacocking

I think the snails are probably the most dangerous thing for children to eat out of all the odd insects - they can carry a very very dangerous parasite. I ate a slug once. I dont remember it. My mother remembers prising it out of my mouth very clearly indeed...

Yep - snails and slugs carry lungworm

My darling baby had fists of wee filled cat litter not long ago. In summer I picked her up and there was a juicy slug in her hand. I’m not sure how much went into her mouth but she’s a third baby so I know she will be okay. I may not be.

My daughter ate bird poo when in the garden at nursery. I had to ring the gp and ask if she would get sick or not. Its now 3 years later and she is fine so all good!

Snails

My now 15 yo DD ate everything in the garden she could get her hands on- toadstools, feathers, poo, berries etc. I called the local poison control center (live in the US) at least once a month. She is the healthiest of my 3 dcs.

Believe me you will laugh about this in years to come!!
My DS (now 16), was playing in the garden when he was about 2, came up to me babbling something.
I knew instantly he had something in his mouth (I thought maybe a stone) but when I retrieved it I realised he was trying to eat a snail 🤮

It is a story I now retell when trying to embarrass him 🤣

I once had to get a lump of poo out of my baby sisters mouth. She had taken it from her nappy and put it in her mouth.

My dd lets our dog lick her inside her mouth, our dog eats shit, we try and stop it 🤢

My (still very hale and healthy) god daughter arrived looking like Marlon Brando in the Godfather. Close inspection revealed three live snails - one in each cheek and one on the tongue. I still shudder.

We're not quite sure whether my brother really did eat something off a laburnum tree or not as a child, but he survived.

My auntie said gently to my cousin, "what's that you've got in your mouth, darling" only to find worms in there.

Personally I'm just impressed you could tell a shrew from a mouse or any other rodent.

My brother bit into dried dog poo when he was 18 months old, he's survived to adulthood, he's a bit weird but not sure if that's the poos doing 😂

Am I allowed to go away from the animal theme ?
I used to pick bubble gum of the pavement and eat it I must have been about 3

My son ate a slug. Well, half a slug. #theshame

Sorry but this has made me laugh more than I have in ages . Baby will survive my kids ate a range of disgusting things one pooed in the bath and started eating it . Bloody kids eh 😳

Please don't worry. I can't offer any horror stories but feel sure your child will be fine.

As children many years ago, my sisters and I would prize the rock hard discarded chewing gum off the pavement and chew it ! I shudder at the thought now 🤢

I would say keep your cat indoors overnight as this will reduce the chances of this happening again and also help conserve the small nocturnal mammal population - which is being decimated because of people letting their cats out at night 🙁

My Mum used to pick lumps of raw fat off a joint of beef and eat it.

Babies are more resilient than you think!

Another one whos baby used to eat snails, had two in his mouth at one time. Had a live tadpole in his mouth once too !