HELP! i've just found 10 month old chomping away on a laurel berry - I think they're poisonous.... what do i do?

[Bodkin]

?

phone nhs direct

or 999

yes, nhs direct definitely!

Actually yes, since they ARE poisonous, I would take him to the hospital

But don't panic, on further reading I read something by a poisons expert saying they can cause nausea and diarrhoea if eaten but aren't life threatening or anything! So maybe you could call NHS direct!

Just been googling it and am still not sure whether the berries are poisonous or not... she looks ok so far, but she did give it a pretty serious chomping...

Anyone?

Yes, ok, will do nhs direct...

go to a&e as this is what nhs direct will tell you to do

they will observe your child for so long and then if they are ok they will send them home

hasd happened to me alot as i have an 8 yr old with sn and she is an absolute bugger for this

Take him to a&e just in case

my dd ate poisonous berries at that age

i phned gp

they said take to a&e...i did.

A&E liaised with Guys hospital via phone.

We spent several hours on children's ward under observation...then thankfully sent home

HTH

They are poisonous (I do wedding floristry), I would call you GP for an urgent chat.

They are! Call NHS direct.

Don't panic, go to A&E and take some berries with you. They'll want to monitor for a while.

honestly dont bother with nhs direct. They will be on the poisons list so they will just tell you to go to a&e anyway and it will save you waiting an hour for a return phonecall

am on hold... he's putting me through to someone who will know....

Hopefully they'll be on their way to A&E.

Here's hoping all is panic free and ok.

[xposted]

I would just take him straight to A&E. I'm sure he'll be fine though

A & E right away. They are toxic but not lethal AFAIK. Remember to take a berry with you. We have a laurel in our back garden. Oh, and an ornamental yew . (Neither of which we planted!)
Bodkin, she'll be fine but you do need to get her checked over. Good luck.

A&E and be prepared to stay for observation - worth taking a change of clothes, drinks and snacks and so on. Hope it's all OK

PHew! Thanks everyone for posting. It is a Spotted Laurel we have, and she said toxicity is low. As DD didn't swallow the berry, it is unlikely she will suffer any ill effects other than a bit of diarohheah (which she already has at the mo anyway!)

Panic over!

Thanks again

Good news bodkin. That's the type we have too so I've learned something reassuring this morning as well.
Have to say that NHS Direct were as helpful as this when we had a recent accidental ingestion thing in our house too.
Prompt, specific re toxicity/observation etc and reassuring. I think we were both lucky judging from others' experiences on this thread.
So glad you have dodged A & E and a long wait on such a lovely day.

Glad things are OK

Good good and Phew!

My daughter chomped on some laburnum at about the same age. They looked through their poisons book and decided that the quantity she'd ingested was unlikely to cause her any harm, and it didn't.

Incidentally, the only part of a yew tree that is not hideously poisonous is the red bit around the seed. The seed is designed to go through a bird's gut and be expelled intact somewhere away from the parent tree. Not a lot of people know that. As long as you don't chew the seed inside, or eat the needles or bark or wood you're probably fine. Don't know if same is true of laurels.

oh absolutely - they were great. Right, back to lazing around in the garden then. Might just pick all those berries off the grass first!

glad its all ok

i wonder whether they just send me to a&e every time because of dds needs. Mind you last time she did empty the entire contents of a bottle of Joop and couldnt say whether she had drank any......her breath smelt pleasant though