15 month old with mouldy pillow

[lovinmummy]

ok hi i havent posted in this section before.. i have a 15 month old baby girl and am currently 18 weeks preg today.. i just discovered mould on my baby's pillow. it made me sick.. it had spread through her pillow onto her sheet n even onto her mattress.. luckily id turned it over onto the waterproof side.. i just scrubbed it off the mattress, but threw out the sheets n pillow and will be getting her a new one today.. the bad thing is i have no idea how long it was on there.. only just noticed it this morning.. changed her sheets a few weeks ago.. was just wondering if anyone knows if this will make her sick at all?. i feel so bad.. i didnt know.. wondering also how to stop this problem.. any advice, suggestions would be great thanks..

 

[sweetlullaby]

I have no idea Hun but do you have a waterproof cover on the inside of her pillow? Could it be drooling onto the pillowcase soaking through onto the waterproof cover and then building up to dampness causing mould?

 

[mommy2lilmen]

Does your baby go to sleep with a drink? Could be spill and its the sugars building up. I know drool wouldnt cause mould, neither with just plain water. Glad you threw out the sheets. I change my sheets quite regularly an am afraid of mould to. I bet you will be to after this. I dont think she will be sick from it. Just keep a close eye on her for stuffy, runny nose, cough, mucous, runny poo etc etc...anything out of the norm....but now that you washed, disenfected and got rid of it. I think you are all safe. How to prevent it from coming back I wouldnt know how since mould is a thing that loves to pop up. Maybe, if she does go to bed with drinks,f ood....just to stop it and see?? Or maybe get her a new mattress and see if perhaps it was that. You could just not use a pillow and see. ... Just a few suggestions. Its not your fault, so dont beat yourself up on it. Things happen. Relax...

 

[lovinmummy]

yea thanks ladies.. no she doesnt go to bed with drink or food.. doesnt have a bottle anymore.. hasnt for a few months at least.. if she does have a drink at night it is water.. i have just brought a new pillow and sheets and just brought a pillow protector that says its mildew proof and stain proof or some crap so will give that a go.. id say she would sweat a bit while sleeping as she is a pretty hot baby girl in general.. maybe ill strip a few blankets off her bed and just leave her in her sleeping bag so she doesnt sweat too much?.. thanks for your replies girls.. xox

 

[mommy2lilmen]

hi there
I dont think sweat would cause that, or would it?
I think it is just a freak thing that happened. Probably nothing you done wrong or nothing you could of done to stop it. I think it just happened.
The only thing I could think of is that the pillow wasnt fully dried when you washed it last. But I dont think that is it either. ...
I think she will be ok tho from that. Good that you replaced everything. It will help alot.
How did you get your lo off the bottle at night. Ugh, I am having a hard time with my little guy with no bottle. He has a soother and bottle. He wont lay down till bottle is done and yells for me to grab it. LOL

 

[emalou90]

is her bed near an outside wall or window? the problem could be a lot bigger than just on her bed x

 

[tiger]

we have this problem because we live in a humid part of australia. i have to change the sheets every 2 weeks, and if you soak the sheets in vinegar or sugar soap and then wash them, it helps ALOT!!!

 

[QTPie]

Where do you live? We live in the UK, but have a warm house and a hot baby.

He is 16 months old, sleeps in a 1 tog sleeping bag year round (we just vary his sleep clothes depending on temp) and has no pillow (if someone is sweaty, then a pillow certainly won't help to keep cool). I also wash his sheet and sleeping bag once a week (when we wash ours): if someone is sweaty (or even not), then once a week makes sense (nice fresh sheets ).

Agree with suggestion re checking for other causes of damp/mould. Plus wash sheets/pillowcase more often (not only will it stop a build up, but will also mean a "thorough check" too).

I have never seen mould on bedding in my 37 years.... So does sound odd. It can be harmful (irritate lungs/asthma etc), but if she shows no sign of I'll rss/wheezing, then she will be fine . So no worries

 

[moomin_troll]

i had this problem with zanes mattress, so i threw it away and bought a new mattress with a waterproof cover on it. if his pillow gets dirty i wash it.

 

[lovesexy]

I had this problem a few months ago.. I was like you just horrified that I was doing something wrong.

We don't have damp in his room but he sleeps near a window, but the room is warm at night and I open the window for hours during the day.

I just keep an eye on it and wash his sheets and bedding every other week.
I have a mattress and pillow protector as well.

Don't beat yourself up about it, its not your fault. x

 

[lovinmummy]

wow thanks for all the replies she does sleep near 2 outside windows n walls.. so maybe thats it.. but the room is tiny and no where else to put the bed otherwise she'll be in the middle of the room. we live in warwick, qld, australia.. so yea no where near the uk. haha.. she is a very hot sleeper and it is winter here at the moment and only reaching 2 degrees most mornings so it is pretty damn cold.. i had a few blankets on her bed but she has a wondersuit on and then a sleeping bag.. so i figured she'd be warm enough with just a sheet over her because she is a very hot baby generally just like her father.. gets hot easily. so yea. @mommy2lilmen she basically let me know she didnt want the bottle anymore in a way.. from about 1 yr old she just wasnt drinking all of it, kept handing it back to me.. she just wasnt interested at all in it which helped alot i guess.. haha and she hasnt missed it.. she still has milk in a sippy cup during the day.. loves her milk but yea.. sorry that didnt seem to be very helpful haha.. well she let me know she didnt want to be in her cot one day she just screamed her lungs out when i went to put her in it one night, so i figured time to try the toddler bed. and shes been fine.. i still sit with her to put her to sleep otherwise she gets up n starts screaming her little lungs out.. but its not too bad.. could be worse.. anyways getting a lil off topic here lol. but thankyou girls your advice and suggestions really helped alot. will be keeping a close eye on it for sure.. thanks xox

 

[tiger]

oh well im in townsville , queensland, so i know what its like in the humid weather!! hun try soaking the sheets in sugar soap, or demestos (get it at hardware shops! its brill for mould!!) for a few hours and then wash them

 

[v2007]

Does she drink milk in bed?

Dried milk grows mould very quickly.

If not then i bets it sweat.

You need to change the bedding once a week, on a 60 degree wash minimum.

It shouldnt cause any probs i wouldn't think.

V xxxx

 

[lovinmummy]

@v2007 no she doesnt drink milk in bed.. if she does have a drink (hardly ever) its water.. she would sweat a bit id say.. she is generally a hot baby.. yea i will change the bedding more frequently from now on.. ill be freaking out enough as it is. thanks.. oh i had a vicks steam vaporiser in her room a few weeks ago.. but it was on the other side of the room and her door was left open n i aired the room during the day.. maybe that had something to do with it??.. dunno.. i hope not tho coz she has been waking up during the night for the past wk for 2 to 3 hours n its driving me insane. thinking of pulling that out again. she always slept better with that on.. she is a little stuffed up in this cold weather atm too.. x

 

[QTPie]

Hi

You can get "plug in" (looks like a night light - no steam) menthol "slow release" type things: help greatly with stuffy noses, but won't increase humidity. I have bought then in the UK and US, so I bet they have them in OZ too (probably Vicks make them - in the UK the Calpol brand make them for babies/toddlers). Suggest you ask at your local (big/supermarket) pharmacy.

QT

 

[lovinmummy]

oh ok rightyo.. will have to check it oiut.. coz i do love the vicks steam vaporiser but i dont love hpw damp the room feels.. i do air it out.. but am thinking maybe thats contributed towards the yuckys growing on her pillow.. thankyou.. will def look around for that.. xox