Baby possibly ingested something, can’t stop worrying

[cannotstopworrying]

I sterilise my baby’s dummies in a bowl of boiling water as per the instruction on the manufacturers website.

One of the dummies was yesterday’s, it had been dropped on the floor a couple of times, left on the sofa, and when I decided it was time to swap for a new one I left the dirty dummy on the kitchen windowsill, teat down.

Today I popped the dummies into a bowl and the kettle was boiled but both DH and a I forgot to pour the water into the bowl, and just assumed one or the other had drained the bowl of water. It turns out they’d never actually been sterilised and I just took the dirtiest one from the bowl and gave it to 5 week old baby DD. It looked clean and wasn’t visibly dirty but I am beside myself with worry as she’s a tiny newborn and the kitchen windowsill is far from clean- we recently had the kitchen ceiling replastered and the plaster is still settling so there’s a layer of specks of plaster dust on there.

In my mind it’s pretty much guaranteed that there would’ve been plaster dust on the dummy that I unknowingly gave to her, thinking it was clean.

I’m beside myself with worry. I know eventually she’ll be eating Cheerios from down the sofa but right now she is tiny and I feel so guilty that we messed this up. I desperately want assurance she will be ok but don’t know how I can ‘know’ that. I’ve googled it and everything says plaster is toxic to ingest for adults, so dread to think what it would be like for her.

Sorry if this seems in any way irrational or garbled, I am typing one handed and just a stressed and sleep deprived new mummy trying to doing my best.

If it were to have any negative effect on her, when do you think we would know by?

Thank you

I'm pretty sure she will be fine, things like this can happen. If there was any dust from the plaster I'm sure it is miniscule otherwise you would have seen it when you gave her the dummy.
You could call the health visitor to put your mind at ease.

If you're very worried can you google the number for accidental poisoning , years ago my toddler would eat whatever he got his hands on and the doc told me ring them for advice , you could call the non emergency number for advice also . Please don't work yourself up about it in all likelihood baby will be fine

Thank you, worried they’ll think I’m stupid but I do just feel absolutely sick with worry about it

They won't think you are stupid at all

I'm sure your baby will be fine. There was probably no dust on the dummy and even if there was it would only be a teeny amount. I just looked on Google and it says plaster dust is NOT toxic if eaten, it is more of a concern if inhaled and I don't mean a few specks I mean like if you were sanding down a wall and literally breathing it in. Your love for your baby is making your mind go into overprotective mode. My baby ate some soil from a plant pot (he was at crawling stage). I had just watered the plant with Baby Bio and can remember being convinced I'd poisoned him, my mind would not calm down. He's 40 now and seems ok. Try to stop worrying, hard I know.

In a few months she will be crawling about eating mud and whatever else goes in her mouth.
Kindly, get a grip.

It wasn’t visibly dirty so I doubt there was any plaster in it or you would’ve seen it. There may have been microscopic bits on it but I doubt that’ll even reach baby’s tummy. I’m sure it’ll be fine OP, don’t beat yourself up. But yes phone that number if only to put your mind at rest. My nephew ate half a tub of sudocrem when he was a tiny baby 😅

Plaster isn’t toxic to ingest for adults (though obviously dust can cause issues if there’s a lot of it when you’re say, sanding it down). Am sure your baby will be fine but maybe call 101 to put your mind at ease.

Your little one will be just fine! And don't hesitate to call your GP or 111 if you need a medically trained person to confirm it for you. My daughter licked a spoonful of liquid plaster when I was taking her handprints! My fault for using a spoon to stir it! I rang the poisoning advice line and they really did put my mind at rest.

I wouldn’t even be worried to be honest. By all means call 111 but I promise in another month or so you’ll be picking the fluff off yourself and popping it back in her mouth.
Also think about all the people that “clean” their baby’s dummy by putting it in their own germy mouths. I’ve always thought that’s bizarre as a cleaning method…
They are hardier little things than you realise, it’s just unfortunate that they have to have their first colds, tummy bugs and eventually bumped heads and grazed knees before you can relax.

OP, you'd have to feed your child several spoonfuls of plaster before it did her any harm. Some dust on her dummy isn't going to hurt her. It's fine. She will be fine.

Is she, by any chance, your first baby? Honestly, don't worry about this. At all. It's a non-event. You don't need to call 111 or the accidental poisoning hotline. Your child hasn't been poisoned.

She is my first yes. Is it bad that I hadn’t sterilised the dummy for 24 hours or so too and it had been all over the house? Home is quite clean but obviously sofas and the floor might not be sterile

None of those areas are sterile, neither are her hands and she probably gets those in her mouth. That’s alright, this is how she will build her immune system.

I sterilised everything within an inch of its life with my firstborn. By the time my 3rd/4th (twins) came along I didn’t even bother beyond a couple of weeks 🫢 (and yes I licked their dummies with my own mouth after dropping it on the floor, the horror 😆).

Your baby is fine. They don't need sterility.

I have put my nipple in a baby's mouth literally thousands of times, and I promise you, I never once sterilised it first.

I would go to the GP for some help with your anxiety OP. I mean this kindly, but you're being completely irrational. She hasn't ingested asbestos. She will be fine.

Don’t give it a second thought OP. Genuinely. I know the fear (I had postnatal OCD so really, I do understand) but I promise you this is a total non event. Your baby’s immune system is more than competent enough at this stage to cope with a one-off unsterilised dummy. Don’t forget too that babies will take breasts in their mouths for feeds, and they certainly aren’t sterile.

Totally fine to have these worries intermittently, but if it becomes a ‘thing’ and they are intrusive or persistent, do have a chat with your GP or Health Visitor.

Honestly non-event. Get off Google and enjoy Christmas - honestly she is fine xxx

She'll be fine. From your title I thought it was something like rat poison or another chemical. Babies don't need a sterile environment and like a PP said, her hands and feet aren't sterile and they go in her mouth. Try to relax.

Everyone messes up stuff like this. One time on holiday we had the car door open while we were stopped waiting for a ferry. DS age 10 months was sitting on the front passenger seat for some reason and we got distracted for a moment, at which point he fell out of the car, right on his head. We were horrified but he was fine. (Note: This is not a suggestion to drop your child out of a car.)

One way to fell better about this is to have another baby. I can guarantee you will be 20 times less careful with the second one, partly out of necessity but partly because you will realise that by and large they are tougher than you think.

These sorts of things are like a rite of passage..this one is a minor minor example...it feels awful at the time though I remember - disproportionately so.

Little one will be fine and in a yrs time you will be citing your example to another first time mum that's worried about something they have/haven't done with their little one.

She'll be fine.

It wasn't uncommon for parents to suck the dummy,if it fell on the floor , before putting it back in the babies mouth. 😉

Never sterilised a dummy. We poured boiled water over it when they were newborn but that got old quick by the time I had my 3rd and 4th. They'll eat worse things.

Don't worry. Before you know it she'll be eating worms or soil.

Or cat food