My first call to the Poison Control Center

If you have a poisoning emergency, call
1-800-222-1222.

I suppose it was bound to happen, Peanut got into something she shouldn't have. Fortunately, it was just a tube of our fluoride toothpaste and she didn't consume too much of it.

I had left her in our bathroom while I went to her room to get a change of clothes. When I walked back in, she had pulled her stool over to the counter and had her toothbrush on the counter, one hand on an open tube of toothpaste and a finger from the other hand in her mouth, clearly coated in the sparkly blue stuff.

I didn't know how much she had eaten, but clearly it wasn't more than 1 - 2 teaspoons. I decided to call the poison control center anyway since I wasn't sure what a really dangerous amount to consume would be or how I would be able to tell if she had had too much.

I had to look the number up on line....

My call was routed straight to a local office and after a list of informational questions (who I was, my zip code, baby's name, weight, age, medications, allergies), we got down to why I was calling. I was advised to give Peanut 4 oz of milk and to watch for abdominal pain, nausea and diarrhea.

They called me back in an hour to follow up. Luckily, Peanut was fine. Turns out fluoride toothpaste is really a concern when you consume 4 oz or more -- that's nearly half the tube.

I'll know for next time and am spending some time this afternoon to clean off our counter tops a bit better.