Accidentally let the baby have honey

[AnnE-girl]

I made myself a smoothie for lunch (chocolate avocado, yum) and my seven-month-old grabbed the inside of my cup while I was taking a sip. I let him lick his fingers, then remembered that I had put about a teaspoon of honey in it. How worried should I be about botulism? I know that honey is supposed to be avoided until one year, but how dangerous is the possibly minuscule amount he might have actually ingested?

[Um_2_4]

Um, I wouldn't be worried at all. Children all around the world eat honey before 1yo....just sayin'.

[Tap]

If it was store bought, pasteurized honey, don't give it a second thought.

 

It it was wild, unpasteurized honey, I would avoid it in the future, but still wouldn't worry unless baby got sick.  If baby gets sick in the next couple of weeks, then let the dr know what he was exposed to, so they can test for it.

 

Either way, I wouldn't worry.

Edited July 14, 2016 by Tap

[JennSnow]

I'd personally worry zero. :)

[Bluegoat]

Yeah, it happens occasionally, but it isn't really very common, it's very unlikely you will have a problem.

[SparklyUnicorn]

I would not worry about it. 

 

 

[Guest]

Not a worry. At all.

[AnnE-girl]

Thanks everyone. I figured it was safer to ask Dr. Hive than Dr. Google and completely freak myself out. At his six-month checkup, the doctor was telling me about how all the old rules about waiting to introduce possible allergens has changed, but the rule about honey was absolutely to still wait until 12 months because it can be so dangerous.

[redsquirrel]

the odds are very low there will be a problem.  I wouldn't even worry about it. FWIW, my youngest child's first solid food was a skanky old crust of a peanut butter and honey sandwich that his older brother had left on the floor. It was under some stuff so god only knows how long it was there. We didn't even know ds2 was particularly mobile yet. But he wiggle wormed his way over to that stale crust of bread like he was a hound dog who caught a scent.

 

So, wheat, peanuts, honey and god knows how many germs was his first food, lol.  He cried when I took it away :001_rolleyes:

 

I called the doctor in an absolute panic and they told me for allergy signs to look for and then said "Welcome to the world of second children"

 

 

I don't mean to imply that you don't know what it's like to have more than one kid. That part is more about me and my freak out.  It was a good thing for me to hear at the time.

[luuknam]

Well, in my baby book my mom wrote about the first foods she fed me, and I had honey at something like 6 weeks old*. Probably homemade honey at that, as my grandfather kept bees as a hobby. I probably had honey a zillion times before turning 1yo. Which doesn't mean you should feed honey to a baby, but I also wouldn't freak out about it.

 

*She obviously didn't get the memo about no solids before 3 months, as it also lists mashed banana with orange juice at about the same age.

[J-rap]

I know we were told to not serve children under one year old honey, but I wouldn't worry.

[Tanaqui]

I wouldn't do it on purpose, but there's no point worrying about it now. Botulism is pretty rare. "No honey" is more a precaution than a prognostication of doom. If it was really that likely, there'd be a warning in big letters on all the honey jars :)

 

If your child starts to have (after a few days, not right away) constipation, muscle weakness, difficulty sucking, breathing problems, or trouble swallowing then you should go to the doctor to check it out. You're not likely to imagine these symptoms or overlook them, though, so again - I wouldn't worry about it. He's probably just fine.

[MotherGoose]

I wouldn't worry either. I was reading the hand out the dr gave me for my baby's checkup and it said don't give potentially allergic stuff till one year, including fish, but I was giggling to myself because said baby grabbed a piece of fish off of his sisters plate and ate it before anyone could do anything about it. He's also had eggs, and well it seems that anything goes with #3. Then threw her silverware onto the floor. The girl has got to get her baby hand avoidance game skills sharper!

[Stacia]

I wouldn't worry.

 

I called the doctor in an absolute panic and they told me for allergy signs to look for and then said "Welcome to the world of second children"

 

:lol:

 

This is what I've always told my ds (the 2nd child). There are zillions of photos of (older) dd, very few of him. When dd dropped a toy or pacifier on the floor as a baby, I always thoroughly cleaned/sterilized it before letting her have it again. With the 2nd child (at least in my case), you pick it up, dust it off on your pants, & hand it back to the kid. :tongue_smilie:
 

[marbel]

I wouldn't worry.

 

 

:lol:

 

This is what I've always told my ds (the 2nd child). There are zillions of photos of (older) dd, very few of him. When dd dropped a toy or pacifier on the floor as a baby, I always thoroughly cleaned/sterilized it before letting her have it again. With the 2nd child (at least in my case), you pick it up, dust it off on your pants, & hand it back to the kid. :tongue_smilie:

 

 

Mom pants have sterilization properties.  I've tested that out many times.

 

ETA: OP, don't worry.

 

Edited July 14, 2016 by marbel

[Stacia]

Mom pants have sterilization properties.  I've tested that out many times.

 

:smilielol5:

 

:thumbup:

 

[KungFuPanda]

My kids were babies before the honey rules. It was never an issue. They didn't get much, but we didn't actively avoid it. I wouldn't stress about it at all.

[Bluegoat]

Thanks everyone. I figured it was safer to ask Dr. Hive than Dr. Google and completely freak myself out. At his six-month checkup, the doctor was telling me about how all the old rules about waiting to introduce possible allergens has changed, but the rule about honey was absolutely to still wait until 12 months because it can be so dangerous.

 

The reasoning for avoiding allergens and honey are really different.  Botulism isn't good for anyone, it's really a poison, it also makes adults quite ill.  But a small baby is just too small to deal with it, so in the rare case it  was in the honey, it would be more serious.

 

With allergens, there was a time when they thought avoiding them could prevent allergies, but now they tend to think the opposite.