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Please help baby food poisoning!!!???

22 replies

AmeliaEstep · 28/07/2020 15:52

I am beside myself with worry please help me! I've just got back from walking my dogs and found my mother in law feeding my 10 month old baby son old baby food. I walked in and she said I've given him the rest of the cottage pie, confused I said what cottage pie? Then I realised, she'd found an opened Ellas kitchen cottage pie pack from approx 3 weeks ago. I think it was 3 weeks because we have been back from holiday a week and were in Devon a week so it must have been the week before. So this puts this pack at 3 weeks old. I didn't feed him the pack it must have been her or my mum, then put in the fridge. I don't store those things I chuck them immediately for this exact reason. I cleaned the fridge out before we went to Devon to make sure there was no food spoiling while we were away and didn't see this pack. She found it squished behind a bottle. I'm really upset tbh that she would feed him something that she found opened in the fridge with out asking how old it was. I tasted it and it tastes like mud! What I'm most worried about is it is meat product. I have called 111 and am waiting for a clinician to call back. Right now he's breast feeding and we've given him lots of water to hopefully flush his system. He's falling asleep too since it's his nap time. My biggest fear is him getting so ill I have to take him to hospital. Has anyone been through anything like this? Am I overreacting??

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Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
Awkwarddough · 28/07/2020 15:54

This isn’t very nice and I can appreciate that you’ll be super worried, but I’m pretty sure your baby will be fine. This pouches are super sterilised anyway, and although it’s been opened already it probably hasn’t spoiled that much if the lid was on. IMO they taste like mud usually 😬😂

Tlollj · 28/07/2020 15:59

How long are they supposed to be kept once opened? Does it say anywhere on it?

AmeliaEstep · 28/07/2020 16:05

Thanks for the reply! It is one of the pouches so didn't have a lid, I'm arguing with my husband right now because he doesn't think it's that old while I think it is! My baby just had a big feed and is asleep. He ate this food about an hour and a half ago and the doctor hasn't called back so I'm now just having to wait and watch. I'm just praying that the food wasn't contaminated and he's ok.

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AmeliaEstep · 28/07/2020 16:06

Once opened throw away after 24 hours, this is why I'm so upset.

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Tlollj · 28/07/2020 16:10

Yeah I’d be concerned too I think. See what 111 say and keep an eye on him, if he starts vomiting I would take him to a+e. Try not to worry too much I think the manufacturers do under estimate these things.

BertieBotts · 28/07/2020 16:12

It will probably be fine. Don't make a habit of it, but it's quite unlikely he will actually be harmed by it. If you think about it, cheese and mushrooms are both types of mould and you wouldn't be concerned if he ate those things.

Generally food storage guidelines take a small risk (let's say 1-3%) into a miniscule one (like 0.001%) - when eating contaminated food you still have a far higher chance of being OK than not.

I'm sure MIL didn't mean any harm and probably assumed that the food was from the day before or so.

BertieBotts · 28/07/2020 16:13

And yes, if he starts being sick or anything then take him in to be checked along with the food package if you can, but try not to worry in the meantime.

Twizbe · 28/07/2020 16:15

This was an easy mistake to make for MiL so don't fly off the handle too much to her.

She sees open packet in fridge and why wouldn't she assume it was from his last meal and give it to him?

Chances are, baby will be fine. I think he'd already be puking if it wasn't. By this age as well he's probably put way worse in his mouth already.

Try not to worry

dementedpixie · 28/07/2020 16:15

All the doctor will say is to keep an eye on him which you are doing anyway. There would be nothing that they can do or give for him to prevent anything. Chances are he will be fine so its just a waiting game

dementedpixie · 28/07/2020 16:17

And its only 10% beef with the rest being veggies

AmeliaEstep · 28/07/2020 16:18

Yes my MIL didn't mean any harm she thought I'd opened it yesterday but I think she still should have checked with me first which is why I'm upset. I was gone for half an hour walking the dogs so he wasn't going to starve. I will keep this thread updated with what happens so if anyone else finds themselves in this situation they know how it turned out for us

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Wheresmycider · 28/07/2020 16:18

If it tasted like mud, but didnt taste rancid then I would be less worried. It may not have been as old a you fear, or in the empty fridge it stayed so cool it didnt go off.
Try not to panic. Just keep an eye on him and keep feeding.
Prepare for night sickness with a bucket to throw anything with vomit on it into, plenty of towels and clean pjs. But i would be surprised if you need it. And just keep bf between episodes if he wants it.
Fingers crossed he will be fine.

OverTheRainbow88 · 28/07/2020 16:20

It’s happened now so try not to stress and just keep an eye on him.
I took a dish out the freezer To give to my youngest then we ended up going out and Not using it so I put it in the fridge. About 4 weeks later I came back and my husband was feeding it to me son! He was fine!

AmeliaEstep · 28/07/2020 16:20

Don't worry I haven't been mean to my MIL we have a great relationship she's like a second mother to me, she is upset with herself atm so I'm going to go comfort her now baby is asleep in his crib

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CuppaZa · 28/07/2020 16:26

If it was rotten, it would have smelt and tasted rotten. Yeah, it probably wasn’t great to eat if it’s been open for 3 weeks, but have you smelt bad food before? It’s putrid.
The doctor will just say keep and eye on him. There’s nothing else you can do. If he’s going to be ill, he will be ill. Flushing with water doesn’t do anything if you’ve ingested bad Bactria etc. Chances are, he’ll be fine.

TenShortStories · 28/07/2020 16:29

Even if it does give him an upset tummy, that doesn't mean anything serious has happened that you need to panic about.

Keeping him well hydrated now, in case he develops vomiting or diarrhoea, is a good idea but please don't worry, he is more than likely to be totally fine.

AmeliaEstep · 28/07/2020 17:20

Hi all thanks for the replies, I said I'd keep this thread updated. My baby has woken up from his second nap and is acting completely normal atm, happily playing and babbling in his play pen. It's been about 3 hours since he ate the cottage pie but I am going to be keeping an eye on him all night and will post if anything happens. I'm assuming if in 24/48 hours he's ok then he will not have food poisoning.

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Tlollj · 28/07/2020 22:01

Oh that’s good news. Thanks for letting us know.

AmeliaEstep · 29/07/2020 10:31

I'm updating this again for anyone who is reading this who's in a similar situation. It's now been 20 hours since my baby ate old baby food and he is perfectly fine. He went to bed last night at the usual time and woke me a couple of times in the night which is normal for him. He had a normal poop this morning so no diahrea and has been eating and napping as usual. The dr called me back last night and did an over the phone assessment. These are the questions he asked me.

Is he awake and alert
Is he behaving normally
Has he vomited
Had diahrea
Is he breathing normally
Is his temperature normal (asked me to feel his chest)
Is his skin a normal colour (asked me to look for rashes, hives, swellings, mottling)
Is his stomach swollen distended or painful for him if I touch it
Dose he have any discharge eg runny nose
Are his eyes clear and bright

Then he asked about the food

Is there any visible mould
Is it putrid tasting or smelling
He asked for the manufacturers details and got me to list out the ingredients on the packet

Based on what I told him he was satisfied that my son was fine. He also told me that if the food was harmful in anyway he would have vomited it up straight away because babies stomachs are so sensitive. He said if he started developing any symptoms to call 111 again but also said if he started vomiting to call 999 and get an ambulance over straight away.

I hope by updating this that it can help anyone who may be going through a similar situation xxx

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AmeliaEstep · 29/07/2020 10:38

Just to add to this again I've told everyone we have a new house rule! Baby food is never stored in the fridge, it has to be used and thrown away the same day to avoid this situation ever happening again. My baby usually eats fresh home made food (he eats what we eat) so we don't use these pouches often and he's still breastfed. The day of worrying isn't worth the cost of a little bit of left over baby food! Lesson learnt! Xxx

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OverTheRainbow88 · 29/07/2020 11:06

Glad all is ok. You don’t need to justify what your baby eats etc to any of us.

And relax 😊

loverlover11 · 29/07/2020 15:02

It wouldn't even have occurred to me to react in the way that you did.........do you normally suffer from this level of anxiety?!

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