want your opinion on dd consuming inlaws medicines

SMG · Sep 25, 2014

Hi,

I am upset right now, probably i am in the wrong, that is what my sil and bil have tried to put across. But let me share what happened yesterday and let me know what you'll think because i am really confused. Yest my daughter who is 1 year 9 months old swallowed some of fil's diabetic medicines . We went through a terrible time as the doctor said that a sharp and sudden decrease in the blood sugar level can lead to brain damage. Thankfully nothing serious has happened but she is being monitored.

My problem is that all medicines specially of my mil are scattered all round the house. I told my husband to tell her to keep them at a higher level as i dont get alongwith her nor do we talk. My husband told his sis to tell for reasons he knows best and didnt approach her directly. In the morning, my sil came and told mil to keep her medicines up. But as my mil knows to turn and twist , she said she does keep them up. She does keep some up and some down. Infact she goes through the trouble of arranging chairs around her medicines placed on a table. So now when my sil came in the morn she told me that iwait for an excuse to blame her mother. Now am i wrong in pointing out for my daughters safety? We then had a big fight early in the morning when my son was going to school n my daughter still sick. She brought up all old issues which i believe was not necesaary and i too got mad at her. But i never said any wrong things to her whereas she brought up topics about my mother and her late mil's fight. Ofcourse she doesng know both the ladies. My parents stay in a different city and are known to each other only after marriage. Even the other sil's husband told me that my inlaws shoudnt change their ways now although dd ate the medicines but its my responsibility only to keep an eye on her. I agree its mine but at that momrnt when it happened i was in the bathroom.

yellowmango · Sep 25, 2014

Dear Op...I hope your little DD has recovered fully. Best wishes to the little angel.

Shame on your in laws for not being responsible for the safety of your child.If I were in your place I would have taken all their medicines and thrown out. Shame on your sil to put the blame on you.

Please spend all your time looking after your children and stop taking care of these people. They are shameless.Any one else in their place would be over come with extreme guilt .Don't let your children go near them till they make some changes. Get yourself a maid to do the house work because you will be too busy keeping an eye on your children in the house of hazard.

And tell your sil to come and take care of her parents as you are such an irresponsible person.

shyamala1234 · Sep 25, 2014

Safety of your daughter is the most important thing now. Tell your MIL to keep all the medicines inside a closed cabinet or somewhere where children would have not have accessibility AT ALL. Old issues are unnecessary now. Telling sil and she telling her mother, all these round about routes are not needed. Tell her plainly and firmly. Don't ask her for apologies or some blah blah. In future ask her to be careful, dangerous for the chiid and I am sure she also would be careful in future. It is Impossible to keep an eye on a little child all the 24 hours.
Syamala

MalStrom · Sep 25, 2014

Your in laws are irresponsible, selfish nitwits.
To knowingly endanger a child is beyond the pale. Who is supposed to know better: them or a small child?
Your doctor is right. Even ordinary adult medicines can be extremely dangerous to small children. My blood is boiling that instead of accepting their mistake, they are turning the tables on you.
And exactly what is wrong with your DH? Does he not care about his daughter?
Start throwing away any loose medicines you find. Maybe that will put some sense into them.

SGBV · Sep 25, 2014

Dear OP
If I were you, I would have left this house the moment this incident happened, and demanded my husband to ensure safety for his own kids from this irresponsible family.

My mom too takes pills on a daily basis, but more than me she is careful about keeping the pills out of reach of the kids. Because the effects are life threatening.

It is not worth to manage a marriage at the cost of your children's life. So act immediately.

As I always tell everyone on this forum, demand for respect. let your spouse know that you are capable of making any decision. Then only they will consider you seriously, else they will take you for granted.

coolwinds · Sep 25, 2014

it's pathetic how some people put their stupid egos before a child's safety. you are not in the wrong at all. best would have been to call a family conference and directly address this issue by insisting that ALL medication must be stored out of the toddler's reach henceforth. next, call a workman, install a shelf or cabinet in the kitchen, ask everyone in the house to bring each bottle of their medication right then and keep it in this shelf. water is in the kitchen itself. fortunately, she did not consume a bigger quantity, do they even realize how serious this could have been for such a little child? emphasize on the safety aspect and how wrong they were to compromise their grandchild's health. my IL's pretty much keep to themselves and are cordial, easy folks, but if they had ever pulled such a stunt, i would make sure they never repeat it. hope your little one is doing better.

unusualanswer · Sep 25, 2014

This is beyond belief that grandparents can be so irresponsible. The other posters have already given great ideas. Op please consider implementing them.

Priya4oct · Sep 26, 2014

This is so irresponsible attitude. If your ILs can not keep medicine in place which is not approachable to DD, don't let her go to their rooms. If you are working and they are taking care , it is time to send her daycare. She will be much safer there.

Also, please be care full as consuming adult medicine may have long term effect which might not be visible now and later she may face. This is not to scare you but to make you careful. One of my relative son is still suffering from last 9 years because of consuming some adult medicine when he was 2 ( I guess Dispirine)

Laks09 · Sep 26, 2014

Oh no. Please put your child before everyone else when it comes to her safety. If there is anything dangerous lying in her reach it's your responsibility to throw it in the TRASH. Trash every med that is out in the open. Since you were told it is your responsibility to take care of your child, do what u think is right. It is definitely not right to keep meds in her reach no matter who is watching her.

Shina · Sep 26, 2014

You should have asked ur sil to explain that if Mil had taken all the precautions as she claims then how was ur daughter able to get hold of them? Can she explain it.

other than that can u get a safe medicine drawer made in the cabinet that can be locked and ensure it is high enough. Or u can take all the medicines from her and fil and then give them their medicines as needed urself? If u can get the doctor or nurse's help and they can have a strong word about this mistake with you all without suggesting that it was ur idea to do so. This is serious so please do all u can to ensure ur daughters safety.