A MUM has issued a stark warning to other parents following a stressful trip to hospital after her son swallowed some baby oil.
JennaJoy Ingraham said she and her family had learned a ‘scary lesson’ from the incident, which saw her 18-month-old rushed into A&E.
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Speaking to Fabulous, JennaJoy explained that her son Graysen, who is now three, grabbed a bottle of baby oil left unattended and drank a ‘little bit’.
Her husband, Casey, caught the tot and quickly confiscated the bottle.
Grayson made a face at the unsavoury taste of the oil, but the couple didn’t expect any further consequences to come.
However, Grayson’s behaviour changed dramatically moments after he ingested the baby oil, and JennaJoy says her son was suddenly ‘lethargic’ and ‘falling asleep sitting up.’
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JennaJoy said: “When we picked him up, it was just dead weight and he kept trying to fall asleep in our arms. We called the on-call nurse only because of how he was acting.
“Had he not acted any differently, we wouldn’t have thought anything of him drinking a little baby oil.
“The nurse directed us to call Poison Control which started my panic.
“Poison Control asked some questions about his behavior along with his coughing and told us to take him to the ER now in case he aspirated any of it and it got in his lungs.”
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When JennaJoy and Casey spoke to Poison Control, they informed her that baby oil can be incredibly hazardous if inhaled – something most parents don’t know.
The panicked parents were instructed to take Greyson to hospital, where Casey stayed with the tot until 3am, when symptoms were expected to start if there were any complications.
“They did X-rays on his little lungs and told Case it’s the equivalent to you or I drinking gasoline,” she said. “Casey brought mini man home around four hours later.”
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Casey and JennaJoy watched the tot closely for 24 hours – but luckily he was fine.
Now, she was wants to spread awareness of the dangers of baby oil.
She said: “How has no one I have told so far known anything about how dangerous baby oil can be?!
“Of course, we should not have had it on the counter where he could crawl up and grab it. Absolutely my careless mistake. And a big one.
“After researching, I have learned it is a hydrocarbon and falls in the same categories as lighter fluid and motor oil.”
“We are just shocked this isn’t something many parents know about and feel like more people should know about how dangerous an old nursery staple could be.”
Poison Control’s advice on baby oil
Baby oil, mineral oil, and household lubricating oil are hydrocarbons. These slippery liquids can easily go down the wrong way, into the lungs, when someone swallows them. Other hydrocarbons include lamp oil, torch fuel, lighter fluid, gasoline, kerosene, motor oil, heating oil, hair oil, and some kinds of furniture polish.
Poison Control often receives calls about toddlers who drank baby oil or another type of hydrocarbon. Each child has to be observed very carefully for signs of aspiration, that is, hydrocarbons going down into their lungs.
Coughing, choking, and fever are common signs of hydrocarbon aspiration. Lung irritation and pneumonia, even death, can result. Symptoms can happen quickly – within a couple of hours or even sooner. If there are no symptoms in 24 hours, the child should remain fine.
JennaJoy says she feels ‘anxious but extremely lucky’ after the ordeal.
She said: “I also really feel the need to spread the word of how dangerous that little bottle all new mums get at their baby shower or have next to the bath or changing table actually can be.”
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