This Mom’s Warning About Her Toddler Drinking Baby Oil Is Going Viral

After a scary accident that landed her 19-month-old son, Graysen, in the emergency room, Spokane, Washington, mom JennaJoy Ingraham is speaking out to warn other parents.

Ingraham said her toddler son followed his dad, Casey, into the bathroom when he went to take the shower. Casey heard his son cough and looked to find him replacing a bottle of baby oil on the counter and making a face like he had tasted something bad. Although the parents assumed that the boy had not ingested enough of the oil to do any real damage, they realized that their normally vivacious child was acting sullen and would not eat his apple.

“I came out from the kitchen and he hadn’t moved, so I went to talk to him. But he wasn’t responding to us at all,” JennaJoy told People. “He slid down the couch and curled up in a ball on the floor, that was really strange. He was lethargic. I picked him up and he was really dead weight and his eyes were closing in slow, awkward blinks.”

The concerned mom called a nurse, who advised her to contact Poison Control. They suggested she bring her son to the emergency room.

Once there, the parents learned that having ingested the baby oil was very dangerous.

“Doctors said it was the equivalent of you or I drinking gasoline. It could have gotten into his lungs and if it had gotten into his lungs we could have had real problems,” JennaJoy explained to the magazine.

Luckily, Graysen’s x-ray came back clear and he was sent home with instructions to his parents to monitor him over the next day. Graysen recovered and is doing just fine.

His mom took to Facebook to share their story and warn others about this very real danger posed by a common household item:

“How has no one I have told so far known anything about how dangerous baby oil can be?!” she wrote. “Of course we should not have had it on the counter where he could crawl up and grab it. Absolutely my careless mistake. And a big one. After researching, I have learned it is a hydrocarbon and falls in the same categories as lighter fluid and motor oil.”

Her post has since gone viral with more than 124,000 shares.

According to Poison Control, if a child aspirates a hydrocarbon such as baby oil or mineral oil, it can lead to lung irritation, pneumonia and even death. If you believe your child ingested such a substance and they exhibit any symptoms such as coughing, choking or fever, use the Poison Control online tool for guidance or call at 1-800-222-1222.