Warning: Feeding Babies Salt-Water Is Bad!!

I know what you are thinking...No Kidding It's Bad! Who would ever use salted water instead of fresh water to make their baby's bottles?!

Well, let me tell you, I did. By accident. Last night. And as a result I didn't get home from the hospital until earlier this afternoon.

How in Google's name did I manage to do that without realizing it? To start, my house has a water softening system to keep the water pipes clear of calcium buildup that uses huge salt tabs. The idea is for the salt to dissolve very slowly over time, with only minimal amounts in the actual water...

But, the system messed up, and instead dumped ALL the salt into the water system AT ONCE! So, last night I happily went about my routine just like usual. I made my daughter's bottle using the water from the sink, ran it through a Britta filtering jug, and proceeded to feed her and put her to bed.

About twenty minutes later my husband comes in, takes a sip of water from the same jug, and practically spits it back out all over the floor. "Where'd you get this water?!" He screeched like I'd done it on purpose. It didn't take long to realize that my daughter had just consumed a bottle of extremely salty water with her formula!

Needless to say, I freaked out a bit. I jumped online to search for the effects of salt on infants, and freaked out even more when I found this and this. Two different cases of accidental baby deaths as a result of salt?!! Seizures? Brain Damage? Death?!

We called our local poison control center to confirm the dangers (or to make ourselves feel better if things weren't as bad as they seemed), and they told us to bring her to the emergency room since we didn't know exactly how much salt she ingested, and that yes, it could be very very bad.

Off we zoomed to the hospital. To make one of the longest nights of my life short, one blood test, one intravenous drip, and 12 hours of crying/no-sleep later, we came home with a clean bill of health! Apparently she didn't consume enough salt to have been dangerous.

RELIEF!!!

Lessons Learned:

*Taste baby's bottle before feeding. (I knew to test it for temperature, but salty water was not a concern until now!)

*Two irritated/sick babies in one room will result in no sleep at all, ever. (I had to "share" a room for the night with another Mommy/baby and ended up sitting in a hallway chair instead long enough to watch the sun come way, way up.)

*Don't rely on baby to fuss if something tastes different/bad/unusual. (My daughter didn't bat an eyelash as she drank her disgusting-tasting bottle! Apparently it was yum-yum-yummy to her.)

*Better to be Safe...(Than Sorry. Sure we've all heard this before, but this phrase has stuck for so long because it's true. Everything turned out fine in the end, but I would've never forgiven myself if we hadn't gone to the hospital. Taking chances with my daughter's life is not up for debate.)

And most importantly:

*DON'T FEED YOUR BABY SALT WATER!!!

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formula

Scratching, Biting, Pulling, and Loving

If you thought understanding adults was hard, try understanding babies! For example, is the exploratory/aggressive behavior described below really affection in disguise?

I can't even count the amount of times every day that Baby X digs her teeny razor-like nails into me, or yanks some hair out from the roots, or smacks me as hard as she can. Granted she is only seven months old, and this is all very normal. But what exactly is she doing?

I think she's just testing her limits to see how strong she is. How hard can I pinch? What does it feel like? Hmmm, this stringy stuff is interesting, let me grab a handful and tug it to see what happens...Of course, not in those exact words.

But the oddest thing is when she tries to "eat" me. She'll push herself back and then throw her face, wide open mouth, against my cheek or chin or shoulder, whatever is closest. Then she'll hold herself there for a couple seconds like she doesn't know what her next move should be.

In the same way, she'll grab my cheeks and try to pull my face to her waiting open mouth. Seriously, like she's trying to eat me. Like she does with her other toys. Yes I know babies explore everything via their mouths at this point, so I think the whole thing is pretty funny.

But, I've been reading some "Mom" message boards, and many of them seem to believe this is their baby's clumsy way of trying to "kiss" them. Hmmm, never thought of that. Really, they're trying to kiss us? With a big open mouth? The same way they try to "kiss" all their other toys, the floor, the sofa?

Maybe I'm wrong, and Baby X is actually displaying some genuinely affectionate behavior...But I doubt it. I think she's just exploring me the way she explores everything else in her environment.

Any of you other Moms out there want to chime in and tell us how you interpreted this quirky behavior?

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