Worst thing you have done as a parent?

FormerlyKrista555

 I'm a little late in this, but I'll contribute mine.... both involve calling poison control....

#1:  I was sweeping the floor at my parents' house while DD napped, and I found a little blue pill.  (My mom keeps her meds in a safe place,  this one had obviously dropped when she was filling her pill container and didn't realize it.)  I set the blue pill aside until I finished sweeping.... but I forgot about it.   Later that night, DD was acting super duper sleepy... lethargic.... not sick, but just crazy sleepy. And then it hit me! The little blue pill!!!!   I ran to where I had put it and it was gone.  I freaked and called poison control, telling them the type of pill it was... turned out it was 25mg of an antidepressant my mom takes.    We took her to the ER, per the poison control's suggestion, and they monitored her for a couple hours.   I felt like the crappiest parent on earth, especially when the doc gave me the "be sure to keep all meds out of reach" speech.

#2: When Maddie was an infant and still sleeping like crap, I went to get some  gripe water to give her for what I assumed was gas.  I grabbed the bottle, put it in the syringe, and started giving it to her while DH was holding her.  Only a tiny amount got into her mouth and she immediately started coughing and gagging.  DH yells "THAT'S NOT GRIPE WATER!"  I look at the bottle and it's freakin Vick's vaporizer liquid (the stuff you put in a humidifier).  I freaked, of course, while DH is freaking out worse-- which didn't help obviously. We called poison control and they said to just give her a bunch of breast milk, monitor her,  and she'd be fine.   I still cringe when I think about that night.  It sucked.

chach916

Oh man, the laundry list is so long.

It was my son, not Chap's who ran out of the house.  I also lock him in his room every night because I'm afraid I won't here him get up and leave the house at night.  I'm pretty sure I was flamed for that before but you do what you have to do.

I thought DS was fine for 1 year and half when come to find out he did indeed have speech issues.  He's been in speech therapy now for a year.  Same with OT except we're still fighitng with insurance and school district to get him therapy.

DS2 has fallen off tables, couches, chairs, stairs,beds....I swear I watch the kid, but he's fast as hell. 

I gave DS1 (who has a nut allergy) pesto sauce because I forgot there were pine nuts in pesto.

In about a month, DS1 will be starting his 3rd daycare.  (4th if you count preschool)

There are more, but its nap time and I want to take a nap too.

spring_time

Ugh, reading these reminded me of a few more.

1. DS was almost 1 and at the height where he could reach the table.  We hadn't yet gotten into the habit of keeping things on tables out of his reach.  I was doing a practice run on his birthday cake and was concentrating on decorating the cake.  DS was on the floor next to me.  DH came up from the basement and started yelling at me to pay attention to DS.  He was on the floor next to me playing with the gigantic knife I had left within his reach.

2. Around week 3 of sleep exhaustion and struggles with BF, I was done with the overnight feedings, but kept going because I "should".  One night was particularly bad and DS refused to latch.  I clearly remember the amount of frustration and started yelling at him to just EAT.  I got so angry, I easily could see how someone could shake a child.  Luckily, DH grabbed him out of my arms and gave him a bottle.  After that point, I can no longer judge someone so harshly who shakes a baby.  If DH had not been there, it may have gotten to that point.

3. Because of the aforementioned BF issues, DS dropped dramatically in weight.  He would always scream after eating and I seriously thought that it was because he did not like being burped.  Come to find out, my supply had dropped so much, he was literally starving.  I did everything on the planet to increase my supply because I was told that it was very rare for someone to be unable to breastfeed.  I refused to give up and listened to all the BF hype so much that I starved my child for 3 months.  The guilt and shame of sitting in a doctors office and finding out your child's weight has dropped again because you are unable to do something that should be natural is the overwhelming and defeating feeling that a person can have. 

peakboo5

When DS was about three weeks old I was holding him in my arms and went to take him in his room to change his diaper and hit his head on the door frame while walking in the room. Seriously this still haunts me I felt so horrible and cried for over an hour.

I also have taken DS out of his carseat while driving because he wasn't breathing he was screaming so hard and it freaked the crap out of me and DH couldn't pull over.

DS is a horrible sleeper and I have yelled at him a time or two at night because I get so frustrated. I always apologized to him right away and feel horrible that I yelled.

winomom22

We did something similar shortly after DD2 was born. DD1 was independent enough to climb in her seat and put her arms through the straps while we loaded up DD2 and then we would go around and buckle her seat belt for her. I was busy loading up the car, while DH was getting DD2 in her carseat, that we both forgot to go around and buckle DD1. We get halfway down the highway before DD1 pointed it out to us and I about had a heart attack. We quickly pulled over and buckled her.

DD2 is always trying to go after DH's beer thinking that it's "ju" (juice). The other night, I came home from work and saw DD2's shirt sitting on the washer with a huge stain on the front of it. I smelled it and it smelled like beer. DD1 filled me in the next morning and told me that "Soleil tried to drink daddy's beer while he was busy playing Wii with me." Apparently she picked it up just in time for DH to see and when he went to grab it, she spilled it all over the front of her. She may have gotten a tiny sip because she instantly started crying. She learned the hard way that it wasn't "ju." LOL 

Yules

The worst by far was when DS was 7 months old and not quite rolling yet. He was trying really hard. Occasionally, he successfully rolled from back to belly. I had him on our bed with a bunch of toys while I was putting in some leisurely time on FB. I guess I didn't look up frequently enough to notice that he had rolled to the edge of the bed. The I heard a sound that was like a huge sack of potatoes hitting the floor. DS fell off our tall bed onto hardwood floor. It took me 3 tries to actually dial the pediatrician's office correctly. I stayed off the internet for like 3 months afterward and only logged on to check my emails when he was asleep. Hence, my hiatus from TB from april-june of last year. 

Additionally, with the blessings from my psychiatrist I used to put him in his crib to go do an adult version of CIO. I had awful PPD, so on my worst days I needed short breaks for emotional release. To go cry, scream, break or punch something...etc. It seemed to work, but I still feel bad for leaving DS in his crib while he was crying at times. 

amykins1283

When Liam was an infant I was breastfeeding in the middle of the night when he latched all sorts of wrong and basically bit down on my nipple.  I was half asleep and it startled me so badly that I jerked my arms back and yanked him off the boob and he bopped his head into my knees.  I'm pretty sure I yelled out something to the effect of "What the hell?"  I felt super guilty about that one.  

I have also forgotten to do up the front clasp on the ca rseat before.  Luckily it was less than a 10 minute drive but now I am super paranoid about checking it.

Recently Liam was sleeping in the bed with me when he decided to kick me in the face in his sleep.  I startled awake and reflexively smacked him on the leg just to get whatever was in my face off me.  He didn't even wake up but I felt terrible because I had just hit my child!   

  

Jen&Len

Another car seat story here.  I was driving DS from a birthday party in a big snowstorm.  It was my first time driving in the snow/sleet.  It was still snowing pretty bad when we left and I was so preoccupied with remembering to take his winter coat off and getting him into his fleece jacket that I forgot to buckle him in.  I'm usually a maniac about buckling the kids in...checking the tightness and positioning every time.  It wasn't until we were at a red light and I heard a little voice peep in my ear, "mama, I seeeeee you," that I realized.  I told him to get back in his seat (not that it would have mattered) and pulled into the first parking lot I saw (we were on a busy street with no parking on the street) and buckled him in.  My heart was absolutely pounding and I wanted to cry, but I couldn't because I wanted to get home before it got dark.

Another time, we went on a family vacation and rented the 2nd floor of a house.  I knew DS was able to unlock the door because we have similar locks at home.  I brought up pushing the sofa in front of the door in case he woke up and tried to get out.  But DH didn't think that was going to happen...plus the front door on the 1st floor was really heavy and hard to open (I could barely get it open myself).  The next morning, we woke up with the home owners in our bedroom holding DS.  THey said they found him on the front lawn crying for us.  He must have woken up and being in a new environment, wasn't sure where we were and thought we left him behind.  And he managed to open the very front door.  The home owners felt badly because they didn't have another lock other than the one that he knew how to open...they said never before had a kid been able to open the front door by himself.  We barricaded the door the rest of the time.  I cried a LOT over that one.

veronicacorningstone

scoutkate:

Also, we were out to lunch not too long ago (with VeronicaCorningstone!) and Betsy pointed to a tomato on the ketchup bottle and said, "Elmo!"  Without even thinking I said, "That's not Elmo, dummy!"  I felt like shiit and I'm sure VC judged me accordingly. 

No judging here.  Heck, in fact, I never batted an eyelash.  That shows how awesome I am as a parent when I didn't even notice.   

My mistakes?

The boys slept in a co-sleeper next to our bed until they outgrew it.  One night, I was so exhausted and was holding one of them on my chest.  I woke up to a small thump.  I realized I fell asleep with C on my chest and he had rolled off me into the cosleeper.    He was less than 2 months old.

DH let G roll off our bed onto the floor when he was about a year old.

I didn't realize C had burned his fingers (and I'm still not 100% sure how he did it) until a day after the fact. 

Oh, and sometimes, my kids eat crap for dinner when they refuse everything else.