Did anyone hear about this? Teething tablets...

[janslem]

Ok I am a member of Cafemom and there was a post about someone not using orajel. Well I dont like it either and posted that we use teething tablets with Braelyn and that we love them. Well....someone came back with this post...

I saw that some were posting about baby orajel and the dangers linked to that, and I thought you might appreciate some information I found in other groups about the dangers of teething tablets.

ALWAYS ask your Dr. before you give the babies any kind of medication!




I GOT THIS FROM A WOMANS POST AND HOPE I DONT GET IN TROUBLE OR ANYTHING FOR COPYING IT. BUT I WANT TO HELP GET THE WORD OUT!! THIS IS SERIOUS! SO THIS ISNT ME THIS IS ANOTHER MOMS POST. STARTING .....

HERE...
This just happened to a July mommy. We are all trying to spread the word. Sorry, if you all have already seen this:

I am writing this to inform you of some potential dangers with HYLAND'S TEETHING TABLETS. My husband and I just returned from the ER with our 5 month old baby. Please excuse any syntactical and grammatical errors in this post as I haven't been to sleep in over 36 hours. (skip to the bottom to go straight to the point without the story)

Prior to purchasing Hyland's, I did research and spoke to a physician about the safety. Everything I read online, including personal experiences on __________, indicated that it was safe. I was highly concerned about the Belladonna Hyland's contains. All the websites that exist reviewing the product RAVE about it. I decided to use it. We gave our baby the recommended dosage on the days that he was having a hard time teething. We NEVER gave him more than the suggested amount. He never had a problem until last night.

We purchased a new bottle to keep upstairs. We used this bottle for the first time yesterday. We gave him a dose during the early afternoon and then one at around midnight. At 1 am he began to toss and turn in his bed. He was very restless but never cried. I picked him up and offered him the breast. He refused to nurse. He didn't fuss or make a sound but was WIDE AWAKE. My husband took him downstairs to rock him and he continued to move constantly. It was like he was moving involuntarily. My husband brought him up to me again and I noticed that his pupils were dilated. He could not focus on either of us. He kept looking around. He wanted to touch every thing and was fascinated with his hands and our clothing.

He appeared to be having a petite mall seizure and exhibited other anticholinergic effects that you typically see when someone is "tripping" on LSD or other street drugs. Because he would not cry, coo, babble, smile, or anything we decided to take him to the ER. He had not slept, had a wet diaper, nor nursed in 14 hours.

I will try to keep this brief. My son experienced Belladonna poisoning from the recommended dose of Hyland's Teething tablets. The preliminary tests they did on random samples of tablets in the bottle we were using showed a variance of 50 to 1000% of belladonna. The national poison control center stated that they are seeing more and more of this and they are trying to get stores to stop carrying this product.

I have never posted a single post or thread suggesting to anyone how to raise their children. I have my opinions on many of the topics that cause controversy but I have never posted that I think you should breastfeed or formula feed or Vax or anything else. I firmly believe that we are all in the best position to make informed decisions about our children's care. However, I was certain that this product was safe and it isn't.

Even if you have used it and had success does not mean that the next bottle isn't going to be toxic to your child. This product is not regulated by the FDA or any other organization so there is no way to know how much belladonna is in each tablet regardless of what the bottle says.

My son could have died if ingested any more of this product. Please take the necessary precautions. No amount of sleep for you or your child is worth the potential of going through what we just experienced.

He is still slightly out of it and isn't responding as usual but he is coming around. After flushing his system he finally wet a diaper. He is drinking enfalyte (the infant version of pedialyte). I exclusively breastfeed and am very strict about not giving him anything else but it is the only thing he will take and it is the only way to get him to pee. After each diaper he wets he seems to get somewhat more like the our baby.

Please don't take this thread as anything other than a concerned parent attempting to give you information. I hesitated posting this because of all the drama that we have had on this board. I do not wish to anger or cause anyone to feel the need to debate. I respect everyone's opinion. Thank you for your time.

Here is a link that can provide you some information regarding belladonna's harmful effects.

http://www.intelihealth.com/IH/ihtIH...8513/31203/350
410.html?d=dmtContent#dangers

and

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/d...tural/patient-
belladonna.html#Safety

(National Library of Medicine)
"IN CHILDREN, DEATH CAN BE CAUSED BY SMALL AMOUNT OF BELLADONNA. Several reports of accidental belladonna overdose and death are reported. Belladonna overdose can also occur when it is applied to the skin. Belladonna overdose is highly dangerous and should be treated by qualified medical professionals. Because belladonna can slow the movement of food and drugs through the stomach and gut, the side effects may go on long after the belladonna is swallowed."

Ok now I am freaking!! Has anyone else heard of this. I love the teething tablets and they help so much more than orajel, but I dont want to put my baby's health at risk. Please help, I trust you girls.

Thanks Janslem

[lablover2]

I haven't heard about this. My DD is teething BIG TIME right now and the tablets always seem to work better than orajel for us too, so I'm eager to see others' replies. Thanks for the heads up!

[Basherte]

I have been giving DS the Hyland's tablets for over a week and he has been doing fine with them. I did have initial concern about the belladonna but a doctor friend of mine told me not to worry about it. I did a google search and got a whole bunch of hits about belladonna poisoning from these tablets. To be on the safe side I am going to switch to camilia by Boiron. I had bought both when I went to health food store so I already have it in the house. Will keep you posted....

[njmama]

Yep I use oragel sparingly and don't use "natural" remedies as they are still "drugs" just untested ones.
I use motrin at night and freezing teethers during the day.

[AnnetteG]

What we have to remember about ANY medication, whether prescribed or OTC is that all children will react differently. Most will never have a problem but there are the occasional few who will... be it an allergic reaction to motrin (aspirin derivitive) or a bad reaction to belladonna.

I have used the teething tablets with both kids with success. I was a bit worried about the belladonna but after reasearch I felt comfortable with it.

Do what you feel comfortable with and hope for the best.