Just when I had a busy day with work that I couldn’t even get a post up for my dear blog friends, a scary event just took place in our home!
Now, that things have calmed down and my phone call with Poison Control just ended, I thought I would share this shocking turn of events. Well, it all started with a pretty little three year old relaxing on the sofa watching her favourite morning cartoon. Mommy was a little busy just the next room over, things seemed pretty normal for our morning ritual – quiet and peaceful as it usually is in our house.
The living room looked especially pretty and luscious with some pretty house plants that got moved around for a mini photo shoot session (for work) and the ‘studio’ setting was so pretty that the mom decided to keep it like that for a bit longer. And while mom was busy at the computer, the little girl got a little bored with her surrounding and let her curiosity go on a little adventure. She wondered what to do, and decided that it would be fun to take a bite off a house plant that was looking so pretty and luscious!
Whoever thought that POISON COULD LOOK SO PRETTY! She bit the stem, felt the burning on her lips and inside her mouth. Came running to mom who got so frantic/ worried/ dramatic – – WHAT HAPPENED? IT’ BURNS, IT BURNS! Cried the little girl, panicking, pointing to her mouth. The chaos went on for much longer. Eventually a little communication happened between them and a house plant was pointed out, with it’s markings of a little nibble.
Dumbcane or Leopard Lily is it’s informal name. The pretty poison looks very deceiving.
Definition – Dieffenbachia is a type of house plant with large, colorful leaves. Poisoning can occur if you eat the leaves of this plant.
Poisonous Ingredient – Oxalic acid, Asparagine – a protein found in this plant
Symptoms and Signs – Burning in mouth or throat, Damage to cornea of the eye, Diarrhea, Eye pain, Hoarse voice, Nausea or vomiting, Swelling in mouth or tongue
Luckily, my daughter just licked the stem, and get a bit of her teeth underneath the skin of the stem. Luckily, she only had a little bit of swelling and burning of her lips and mouth. Luckily, no other serious symptoms occurred. Luckily, she seemed completely fine after half hour of when this affair officially started.
What to do if Ingested – wipe lips and mouth completely and give water or milk to drink. Watch for other symptoms and call Poison Control (AAPCC) and/or 911 if symptoms get worse.
What’s the moral of the story? Don’t have poison growing in your home! Don’t have this houseplant around if you have kids or pets at home. It may be pretty but just keep it high away from reach or just don’t have it inside the home at all. Thankfully nothing serious happened but it just scared me to death that something could go wrong with my little angel. I wish I knew before hand that that I had pretty poison in my home. Live and learn!
For a list of other poisonous house plants visit The Baby Safety Site.
Blogger, Recipe Developer, Photographer and Author. Loves healthy food, photography, sunshine and dancing in the kitchen with her two daughters. 
Oh my word! I am so happy your little sweetie is fine and all is alright now. We have made many a call to the Poison Control center because some folks in this house like eating tiny psychedelic mushrooms that grow in our yard from time to time and someone else wanted to try A & D ointment. You try your hardest but those little ones are crafty!
So glad all is well. Here’s a cyberhug to you and your sweetie!
xoxo Angela
Oh Ella, my heart just plunged when I read this. I’m so sorry this happened. I truly hope this post gets out to everyone with small children (and pets), it’s such an important message. Thank God she’s okay.
i’m so glad she’s ok. hope you’re ok now too, i know how these things can make you feel after everything is “ok”. hope you can relax with a cup of tea or something cozy.
(hugs)
Thanks so much everyone for being so thoughtful and caring.
I’m ok and Gabi is completely fine – back to herself. It’s scary how so many things cold go wrong in a split second. To think a plant could be so dangerous…. good to be aware…
xoxo
Great info to have. So happy your daughter is ok! My son picked off a leaf from a house plant the other day to feed to his giraffe. He could have easily eaten it himself. I wonder how you can find out what other plants are poisonous? Thanks for sharing!
That is sooooo scary! I am so glad our little cutie is alright… note to self- do not eat house plants.
Oh Ella! I’m so glad to hear she’s okay. It can be a real struggle when we have young ones in the house. Or pets. Both have a tendency to think anything interesting should go in their mouths. Thanks for sharing the links!
There are so many innocent looking things in our homes that it is hard some time to perceive all the danger. And while some children would never consider “tasting” their environment, other children are willing to put ANYTHING in their mouth. (My daughter Michelle was on a first name basis with everyone at Poison Control once her daughter Fairy discovered movement!)
I am delighted that the only lasting effect was a lesson learned and that the little cherub is fine!
Yipes! Those deceptive little hooligans! How dare they trick our Gabriella (because I now feel very protective of her as I’ve adopted G as my online family)How dare that diffenbacchia trick Gabriella into tasting it’s pretty giant leaves. Poo-poo. Bad house plant. Thank goodness Gabriella has a super momma who was at the rescue in just the nick of time!
I just read this, and oh! I feel for you! My son once drank some of my make up remover, and we had to call poison control. Turns out, they said it was just ‘soap’ and that he would be fine, but I well remember that panic of not knowing how much he’d ingested, and what would the effects be! You feel so guilty when it happens, but as someone above said, little ones are soooo crafty sometimes! So happy for you that everything was ok.
~Christy
ohmygosh! So glad she’s fine, but crazy that the plant is so poisonous. So good of you to pass your newly-learned lesson on to us!