Child drank from a mouldy bottle - Is sick - what can I do?

[Newname85]

My 9yr old DD has a favourite water bottle. School/home she drinks from only this bottle. I usually wash it with hot water, shake vigorously and I assumed it was clean. It’s a stainless steel bottle.

DD has had nasty cough for week, it subsided, but now she has blocked nose and congestion. This has been going on for 3 weeks now. No fever, the symptoms are mild.

Yesterday on her way to school, she said her fingers were sticky and it was annoying. So I opened her water bottle to wash her hands. Due to the angle/ lighting, I was able to see that there was light mould on the side.

I have since washed the bottle in soap, hot water etc twice. I’m feeling guilty and terrible that this oversight has been causing health issues for her.

what can I now do to help her with congestion etc?

Just the usual pharmacy treatments.

You can buy bottle brush cleaners which are straw size and perfect for cleaning water bottles.

Do you have a bottle brush? I’d give it a wash in very, very hot water, soap and scrub it with a brush, and then use Milton or another sterilisation solution.

The cough might be unconnected - there are some nasty things lingering about at the moment.

There's nothing extra to do. Maybe don't watch "The last of us" at family movie night.

My son’s only ever had stainless steel bottles and we’ve never had this issue - was the mould on the inside of the bottle? I’d be replacing I think, if she would be happy to have a couple of new ones the same - one for home, one for school. This will give you a good chance to thoroughly wash them every day.

One green bottle have worked well for us and they have a straw sized brush that can be used to clean the spout and straw thoroughly.

It's unlikely her illness is anything to do with the mould.
Just treat it as a normal virus/cold

It's peak cold & flu season so she probably picked up a bug from school or had two viruses back-to-back. Mould can cause respiratory symptoms if breathed in but there's not logical way it can cause coughing and congestion if ingested through the stomach. The most that could happen would be gastro symptoms but even so the chances are very slim as stomach acid will quickly destroy it. There are thousands of different types of mould and the ones that usually grow in damp water bottles aren't hugely harmful.

I think people would be horrified if they realised how much mould we all eat or drink on a daily basis. The pipes & crevices inside an average coffee machine, Nespresso machine or hot water dispenser are caked with mould. Nobody would bother taking apart the machine to clean every corner. Some machines don't even allow this. The tubes and machinery parts of ice cream or soda machines also have mould in them. It's safe to say if you eat out regularly or drink tea/coffee in public places then you almost certainly ingest bits of mould that come from shared machines.

She's ill because of a virus. A bit of mould in a bottle won't cause this. Maybe if you had black mould on her bedroom walls. My kids (and I) are always drinking out of dubious bottles. I only put water in them but rarely wash them properly. They do go a bit green. It's fine and not harmful.

If I was putting milk or juice I would be more careful but I still don't think it would cause the symptoms you describe

I once accidentally drank mouldy orange squash out of a bottle. It was fizzy and I thought my MIL had been secretly giving our very young toddler fizzy drinks and was a bit angry, until I emptied it in the sink and there was green fluffy mould floating on the squash 🤢.

It was so mouldy it tasted like a fizzy drink.

I was fine by the way 🫣

I have a bottle brush - will use it from now!

Err what?! Just wash your water bottles!!

I always Milton the bottles half termly and again when they have long running viruses

IME drinking from a dodgy bottle may cause gastro symptoms but they go away once you realise and swap the bottle/clean it out properly. Not a great moment but it happens with the confusion of multiple kids especially when they "help" by getting their own things and accidentally grab one from a used pile rather than a clean location.

You need to use something abrasive like a bottle brush to clean inside water bottles, or they will grow algae biofilm which doesn't get cleared by swishing hot water around alone, so the dishwasher may not clean it either. (I hate water bottles because of this).

Cold/flu symptoms are probably a virus and should pass in a week or so.

Is it just tap water you put in it? Odd that mould would form!

It sounds like the regular respiritory illnesses that have been around all winter.

I'd expect anything nasty from a musty water bottle to be gastro, not coughs/ colds.

Yes. Just tap water - nothing else.

I was shocked to see mould. Even though I was with hot water every day

Do you store it with the top off?
I know keeping the lid on if they’re not 100% dry can lead to a horrible smell but could also contribute to mould growth (can get in there through backwash when drinking etc)

This happened to me as a child! I used to love those single serving orange juice cartons and I specifically remember two occasions where it tasted fizzy. The orange taste l was also a bit off but being so young I drank it anyway. Was totally fine afterwards.

I doubt the mould in the bottle is linked to the lingering illness

As others have said, use a bottle brush also give it a deodorising soak by chucking some baking soda in the bottle and adding boiling water.

throwing out and replacing the bottles is nuts.

Why does she need a water bottle for home? Do people not have glasses in their houses these days?

I use a water bottle a lot as I’m clumsy with impaired vision and often knock drinking glasses over! I only drink tap water but I get small amounts of mould in the screw part of the lid after a couple of days. So I wash in hot soapy water using a stiff bottle brush to clean the lid as well as the bottle. I also inspect them carefully before using!

I used to have bottles with built in straws or sippy things but gave up on them when I saw the amount of mould which was trapped inside! I rarely have an upset stomach though so I don’t think the small amount of mould harmed me!

Could it be rust not mould? I'd replace the water bottle personally in case the metal lining is damaged. But I agree it's probably not why she's ill, which sounds very typical of winter viruses!

She took a weird liking to this bottle - keeps it with her, I encourage it as she drinks more this way. She had dehydration issues in the past from forgetting to drink all day. She also has constipation issues, so it’s really important for her to drink enough water.