Baby Eats Plant ... and Survives!

This past weekend, we had to make our first call to the Poison Control Center ... great fun! As we were driving home from a wonderful brunch and some plant shopping at Bowood Farms/Cafe Osage, Holden apparently was able to reach one of the plants we had in the backseat and grab a handful of leaves and other plant parts, cramming them into his mouth (of course). We didn't notice until we heard Holden spit up, and then we saw pieces of leaves in his mouth -- and we panicked. Instead of waiting to get home, Bryna used her iPhone to find out more info. about this plant, which was Lantana (something we bought every summer for our garden). Seconds later, Bryna's reading the "HIGHLY TOXIC" details of this plant, which can be FATAL if the unripe fruit are ingested by small children ... AAAAHHHHHHH!

So we rushed home, and called our pediatrician's exchange number, which connected us to the Poison Control Center. A nurse named Barbara guided me through what symptoms we might see if Holden actually ingested any of the plant, and how to reduce the amount of the plant substance in his system. We were not sure if he had swallowed any of the small berries, which were the most poisonous, but there were a couple of them sitting at the bottom of his car seat (which freaked us out). Barbara was awesome, and calmed us down. She said to keep an eye on him, and she'd call back in an hour to check on things (the other option was going to the emergency room).

Luckily, Holden was as happy as a lark through this whole experience, although he did spit up several times--probably just due to the bad taste of the plant. He went down for a nap, and never exhibited any of the symptoms that we were supposed to look for (Phew!). Crisis averted ... for now.

This certainly made us think more about the types of plants we should avoid in our garden, and that we should immediately stop letting Holden touch and grab plants while we're out for a walk in the park of at the Missouri Botanical Garden. And for any of you not aware of the list of poisonous plants, check out the resources I've linked to below. You might be surprised. In addition to Lantana (which is highly toxic), tulips, irises, foxgloves, azaleas, and holly are all on the list. Oh, and Audrey II.

• National Poison Center: Plants
• Cornell University: Poisonous Plants
• EcoYards: Plants Poisonous to Kids

So, anyway, we had a big scare, but Holden is OK and now we are going to be much smarter about his contact with plants. We also now have the number for the Poison Control Center on our cell phones, in case we need to make another call in the near or distant future.

Victor Hugo once wrote, "Men become accustomed to poison by degrees." So I guess Holden is simply starting this process, becoming embroiled in Man's Destiny to struggle with Nature and its elements ; )