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View Full Version : DD ate a dried leaf - not poisonous, but...



EllasMum
03-22-2006, 07:32 PM
So this afternoon I put DD in her exersaucer, and after a few minutes she started coughing/gagging a bit. I wasn't overly concerned as she's had a bit of a cough/cold for a day or two. I offered her her sippy cup of water but she didn't want to drink. I went to put her on her change table and when I laid her down she started coughing and gagging much worse. I already had her diaper off but quickly sat her up and the coughing/gagging seemed to get better right away, so I laid her back down. This time, she really coughed and opened her mouth quite wide and I saw something dark at the back of her throat - at first I thought it was mucous or maybe even vomit (sorry, gross, I know) so (trying not to freak out) I kind of rolled her on her side and she finally spit out the dark thing. It turned out to be a good sized (about 1" long) chunk of dried leaf. I examined it closely and it appears to be a weeping fig (ficus benjamina) leaf that was dried out. I found the other chunk of the leaf on her exersaucer tray (it must have fallen on there off the plant) and it didn't appear to have any parts missing so I know she didn't actually ingest any part of the leaf. I looked it up and found that that particular plant is thankfully not poisonous/harmful. It made me wonder, though - are dried leaves just as dangerous as 'fresh' leaves?? If it had been a poisonous plant, would the fact that the leaf was dry have made any difference? I read that it is usually the sap in the plant that is the dangerous part. Does anyone know about this?

In case anyone is curious - or finds themselves in a similar situation, here is the site I referenced:

http://www.safekid.org/plants.htm

TIA,
Susan

C99
03-22-2006, 08:57 PM
If you are really concerned, call Poison Control. I don't know if the number varies by state, but here it's 1-800-222-1222

momma_boo
03-23-2006, 09:27 AM
Just FYI - that's the "universal" number for poison control. Depending on where you call from, it gets automatically routed to your state's poison control.

EllasMum
03-23-2006, 01:22 PM
I'm in Canada. Thanks, though!

Well DD made it through the night with no problems so I'm guessing she might have just sucked on that leaf a bit. I found a few websites that confirmed that is not a dangerous/poisonous plant. She seems fine today. (yay!)

Thanks for your help!