16m old possibly drank bleach!!!

[Nickname1234567]

Hi all.
I feel like a terrible parent right now!
So around an hour ago this happened, I live in a flat and was sweeping the front room when my 16 month old wondered into the kitchen because i had accidentally left the door open slightly and he has entererd the kitchen, he usually walks into his bedroom to play with his toys. It had to have been less than a minute he had been left, probably about 30 seconds!, i walked outside the front room and seen him sitting on the kitchen floor with a bottle of opened bleach!!! I know i had shut the cap after use and put it under the sink but it must not have clicked and he managed to unscrew the cap and put the top of the bleach bottle into his mouth (i suspect, as i smelt bleach on his mouth), so i was immediately panicking, pacing feeling sick crying i rang 999, they said that it is unlikely that he has swolled any based on his symptoms and that he probably did just put the top into his mouth and didnt consume any of it, they said to just keep an eye on him but he will most likely be fine but I feel absolutely terrible, i dont usually let him into the kitchen without me, and i am mortified that i have let this happen, and how stupid i am that i havent yet installed a lock on the cupboard which i have been thinking about for a while!, im also now worried that health proffesionals or even social services are going to contact me because i have been unresponsable by letting him get into the cupboard! - i am probably being irrational because im so upset that this has happened. I dont even know what i hope to achieve from writing this, but i have no one else to get advice from really. My little one seems fine and is acting himself, but i am definitely going to be watching him none stop all night because i am so paranoid. I immediately washed his mouth out when i smelt bleach in his mouth and have brushed his teeth and gave him plenty of water to drink. I am a ftm and have well and truly learnt my lesson from this. :(

Hi there,

If he had drank any it would’ve burned and he would’ve been screaming I’m sure xx keep an eye but as he seems perfectly fine try not to worry! Cupboard locks first thing tomorrow xxx

Thats great to know, i just didnt/dont know what to expect! I didnt know if he had managed to consume any because it was all so quick and his mouth smelt like it, im not sure wether he may have just put the lid in his mouth even, but either way it was petrifying and im still so scared that he has managed to drink some, but there was no coughing, sicking or even a funny face to suggest that he had it in his mouth, so hopefully he just had it on the outside of his mouth!

I remember when DD fell of her changing unit I was standing RIGHT next to her but she dived head first, crying my eyes out in the ambulance the paramedic put her hand on my leg and said "don't worry chick, my first fell of his changing unit to" it didn't make me feel any less of a shit mum though! Accidents happen, they just pass it on to your HV and its up to them whether they come round and see you, might just pop in to see if you put a lock on the cupboard!

Don't worry accidents happen x

Loads on amazon xx

Oh no! God bless the little one. Thank heavens he is safe and doing well. Don’t beat yourself up. As FTM you are doing ok. Stay strong.

I have just bought those plastic adjustable ones, thank you for the Links they have been helpful. Thats my lesson learnt! Worst of all, i have been going on about getting locks on them for about a month because he has started being interested into getting into things - i really am kicking myself. I am keeping a close eye on him and hopefully he will be just fine, i have also read online that it is likely for a person to be vomiting or coughing if they had swolled bleach or even passing out etc, he is in bed asleep and i am just thanking my lucky stars that nothing serious has happened which could have been very possible. I feel a little better reading that its not just me that has made mistakes in parenting in the past, this has honestly got to be the scariest evening of my life being a parent.

Glad he's ok, you need to take care of yourself as well though.

One thing to watch out for- kids suddenly figure stuff out so even though you have a lock on a cupboard, he might still get in at a point and you'll need to reassess.

Also, you might already know this, but don't use those socket cover things as they're not safe.

A couple of months ago my ds (now 11 months) grabbed a partially dissolved dishwasher tablet and merrily stuck it in his mouth. The dishwasher had been on and I was carefully removing sharp knives so he could watch me unload it/bang on the metal door to keep himself occupied whilst i did. Didnt notice that the tablet hadnt dissolved during the wash cycle. I called 111 for advice but consensus was i reacted quickly and he didnt swallow any but I felt absolutely awful. Accidents happen and babies seem to have a cunning ability to go for the most dangerous item they can so try not to be too hard on yourself - I bet you never do it again with the lid!

Oh gosh, they get into some mischief dont they, and scare the life out of us! Thankfully hes been perfectly fine, slept well and has woke up being his usual self, dancing around and playing with his toys. Thank god for that. Was so worried, have been up most of the night feeling sick to my stomach. I wont be taking my eyes off him again. Thanks again for the lovely comments, i thought i was going to get a bunch of horrible comments. Mistakes do happen, ive been very lucky. ❤️

Don’t worry, accidents happen. You’re only human, you can’t keep your eyes glued on toddlers all of the time. The phrase ‘I need eyes in the back of my head’ springs to mind .

My brother was in A&E non-stop as a child, he was forever hurting himself. It happens, they don’t generally involve SS. You’re just trying your best and clearly are a good Mum hence how much this has upset you. Just learn from it as I’m sure you will, put locks on the cupboards.

I drank peroxide as a toddler, my DM is a hairdresser and I used to go to work with her. I thought it was blue pop so drank a bit, was obviously violently sick and rushed to A&E but it was fine because I’m still here almost 30 years on .

When I was a young toddler (50+ years ago) my mum thought my nan was watching me, and my nan thought my mum was doing the same. Neither were watching me and I got into the garden shed. They found me sitting on the floor, chewing on a big old paintbrush that had been soaking in parafin!! Didn't have a house phone so my nan had to run down to the corner to use the police box (God, I'm feeling old!) to summon an ambulance. I got taken to A&E to have goodness knows what done to pump my stomach and clean my throat. So you aren't the first OP, and sadly won't be the last that this happens to. Sounds like your DS is ok and you will also have a tale to tell him when he's older.

My daughter who is 31 now helped herself to a cupful of washing powder when around the same age!.Felt a real idiot ,but at the hospital they reassured me that it happens to pretty much everyone TBH!.Pop some locks on your cupboard doors, and put the nasties up high well out of reach.SS would take no notice of this sort of thing ,they have much more serious issues to worry about!.

I was fitting my safety locks and cleaning the cleaning cupboard when my then 2 year old got hold of a cleaning spray and put it in his mouth. I was completely convinced he’d sprayed it. Straight to A&E. He was completely fine and after a 3 hour wait saw the doc for less than 5 minutes! 🙈 hope you are ok. I can laugh now,.. xx

May I gently suggest rearranging the kitchen so that bleach and other harmful chemicals are in the higher cupboards? Under the sink doesn't have to contain cleaning chemicals, you could keep cloths and tins there instead?

You must feel awful, especially after the shock set in. Be kind to yourself and just think of it as a teaching moment. I caught dc1 attempting to drink fabric conditioner, I was horrified and immediately rearranged the kitchen with his safety as the priority rather than how I had traditionally done it.

Bleach and other cleaning chemicals need locking away. I think everyone would agree with that. Most os is could share stories where children have accessed things they shouldn’t and survived.

My son was in A&E three times in one week. I was mortified and sure we’d have a visit from a social worker. We were moving from one end of the country to another and it was our first week in our house. We knew nobody. He managed to climb on top of the low level cistern, fall off and crack his head whilst I was emptying boxes into the adjacent linen cupboard. Next day he decided it was a good idea to take a silly fridge magnet his grandparents had given them, remove plastic wiggly eyes and poke it up his nose beyond reach. Third time was towards the end of an exhausting week. I was bathing them together and hadn’t noticed my husband had left a spray cleaner on the side of the bath. Dearest two year old son decided to squirt it in his face for fun. Straight in his eyes. Off to the hospital again.... He was fine. Hospital were kind and understanding. No social worker turned up and now we all laugh about what a nightmare that move was.