• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

What are the chances of my son getting botulism from a single Honey Nut Cheerio?

Status
Not open for further replies.
I fucked up. I'm ripping myself apart for this one.

My son is 9 months old (to the day). I know for a fact that giving honey to infants is can spell bad news. It can cause botulism in children under 12 months.

We give my son regular Cheerios as a finger food. The other day I accidentally gave him a Honey Nut Cheerio, freaked realizing my error, and removed what was left in his mouth.

Now I am just freaking the fuck out, driving myself insane over this. I would seriously slit my own throat if I were to be the cause of such an illness in our first born son.

He seems fine...but obviously, when one gets on the Internet to search for such things, you tend to lose your shit. I don't want to be reactionary, but what are the chances here?
 

Cappa

Banned
Relax.

Not only did you not give him honey, (you gave him cheerios with sugar) an infant doesn't get botulism from such a miniscule amount of honey anyway.

Stop reading the Internet and Web MD. If you're still concerned go see a pediatrician.
 
If honey gave children botulism in 100% of cases, then bees would be outlawed. The chances are probably slim even if you were feeding him raw honey.
 

bebop242

Member
Is that even real honey on those cheerios? Prob just a trace of it for the half single piece of cereal your child ate. I sure there are thousands of infants that were exposed to this cereal over the years with no ill effect.

But call Doc if you still are worried.
 

Cappa

Banned
http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/Botulism/Pages/Introduction.aspx

It's probably unlikely. Especially since the cheerio will have to pass through some quality control. It having dangerous bacteria would make the news
No need for him to read that. Reading NHS and WebMD etc does more harm than good. It's not probably unlikely, it's pretty much a given his child doesn't have botulism. Either way, if he's concerned he should go see a pediatrician and not consult Dr. Gaf.
 

Hoo-doo

Banned
You fed him a processed, sugary piece of cereal that's far, far removed from actual honey. Calm down.

If honey nut cheerios could give any child botulism, it wouldn't be sold.
 

Kyonashi

Member
Holy shit, worst first post ever on GAF?

Anyway yeah, as others have said it was a single cheerio with like, miniscule amounts of honey coating, not like he got into a pot of honey and ate the whole thing. Chances are it'll be absolutely fine, but if it's really eating you up then see a paediatrician I guess.


You fed him a processed, sugary piece of cereal that's far, far removed from actual honey. Calm down.

If honey nut cheerios could give any child botulism, it wouldn't be sold.

Also this.
 

w3bba

Member
Can't believe you murdered your own son.

I have to hold back from punching your post...

to OP:

it will be all fine, as already said, the amount is tiny and the bacteria is 99.9% killed in the process of making the cheerios. (heating, salt etc.)

pure honey is what can cause botulism, and even then only is very very few cases.

so dont worry, your son will be fine :)
 

Jonnax

Member
No need for him to read that. Reading NHS and WebMD etc does more harm than good. It's not probably unlikely, it's pretty much a given his child doesn't have botulism. Either way, if he's concerned he should go see a pediatrician and not consult Dr. Gaf.

It says quite clearly that it's incredibly unlikely.
 

Breads

Banned
The only thing you caused is Golden Child Syndrome. You're in luck though, if treated early you can minimize the impact your hysteria has on your child's life.

You're on GAF asking for medical advice about your child eating a honey nut cheerio. What else did you expect.

Let me guess though. First child?
 
To give some context, it's said that honey may contain botulism spores which aren't harmful to adults, but can be fatal in infants. I just assumed, since the Cheerios box says "made with real honey"...I was putting him at risk because of my stupidity.

Let me guess though. First child?

Yes indeed.
 

Log4Girlz

Member
Botulism doesn't occur in the child right, bacteria has to be consumed I think. That cereal is probably sterile as hell.
 

SoulUnison

Banned
Wow, don't joke about people's kids on the internet, I guess.

Don't see what makes the first reply so terrible.

Obviously the chances of a kid dying from a single Cheerio are low, and obviously it'd be terrible if that tiny, tiny chance happened to occur...

But this is a thread about a kid eating a single piece of cereal on an internet gaming message board.

Read the room.
 

Piichan

Banned
I never knew honey was bad for kids under 12 months. Good thing I don't have kids lol. I learned something today, thanks OP. And it seems your kid will be fine too, so that's great.
 

Emdeepee

Member
It sounds like your son had less than one Cheerio. The risk from eating a spoon of honey is probably negligible, the risk your son is under now is probably so small it is more or less zero, or impossible to measure.
 

kavanf1

Member
It will be fine. You're talking about something statistically far less likely to happen than other awful things that happen to infants - I know that sounds like a weird way to placate you, but the point is you don't freak out about those things, so no point freaking out about something even less likely to happen.
 

SamVimes

Member
Wow, don't joke about people's kids on the internet, I guess.

Don't see what makes the first reply so terrible.

Obviously the chances of a kid dying from a single Cheerio are low, and obviously it'd be terrible if that tiny, tiny chance happened to occur...

But this is a thread about a kid eating a single piece of cereal on an internet gaming message board.

Read the room.

Yeah, that's where I fall as well. Not that I found it funny, but wouldn't have expected that kind of reaction.
 

ZeroX03

Banned
The only thing you caused is Golden Child Syndrome. You're in luck though, if treated early you can minimize the impact your hysteria has on your child's life.

You're on GAF asking for medical advice about your child eating a honey nut cheerio. What else did you expect.

Let me guess though. First child?

Yeah the first child thing is super obvious.

I fucked up. I'm ripping myself apart for this one.

My son is 9 months old (to the day). I know for a fact that giving honey to infants is can spell bad news. It can cause botulism in children under 12 months.

We give my son regular Cheerios as a finger food. The other day I accidentally gave him a Honey Nut Cheerio, freaked realizing my error, and removed what was left in his mouth.

Now I am just freaking the fuck out, driving myself insane over this. I would seriously slit my own throat if I were to be the cause of such an illness in our first born son.

He seems fine...but obviously, when one gets on the Internet to search for such things, you tend to lose your shit. I don't want to be reactionary, but what are the chances here?

Fucking seriously?

This is beyond atrocious, you inhuman cunt.

Way too intense. Calm down, your child will be fine. They ate a tiny amount of something that contains amount of a bacteria that has a tiny chance of giving them botulism. They're more likely to get it from spores at the park. Actually driving to the park itself is far riskier than both of those things,
 
To be clear, I'm not coming to "GAF MD" for medical advice, I'm looking for balanced perspective, which is what I'm getting.

First post can get fucked.
 

w3bba

Member
Wow, don't joke about people's kids on the internet, I guess.

Don't see what makes the first reply so terrible.

Morbid jokes about your first-born infant child dying towards a parent who is having a panic attack...

yeah, right, nothing wrong with that...
 

DonMigs85

Member
I can't quite tell if you're being serious, but Honey Nut Cheerios have a very low concentration of honey plus all the air around it will prevent the botulism bacteria from growing, unlike a jar of liquid honey. You are overreacting to an extreme degree.
 

Alphahawk

Member
I'm struggling how anyone could think that joking about a dead son is, in anyway,ok. Especially to the fathers face, while he's having a panic attack.
 

DonMigs85

Member
Anyway if you want a little extra peace of mind you can probably give your son some yogurt, cultured milk or another probiotic.
 

Crema

Member
Wait, did you really think your child's life was in danger so your first response was to make a thread about it on GAF?
 

The Adder

Banned
To give some context, it's said that honey may contain botulism spores which aren't harmful to adults, but can be fatal in infants. I just assumed, since the Cheerios box says "made with real honey"...I was putting him at risk because of my stupidity.

Made with real honey... five ingredients down the list

honey-nut-cheerios-nutrition-information.jpg

Assuming the honey in HNC caried those spores (at which point it wouldn't be sold, but I digress) there isn't nearly enough honey on a single Cheerio for it to be a danger.
 

fauxtrot

Banned
I get new parents are extremely frightened of messing their kids up, but you should just try to relax... this is a major overreaction and the kid's going to be fine.

Also, posting on NeoGAF sounding ridiculous is going to get you at least a few ridiculous responses. Most of us don't have kids and have never had the fear of fucking up like parents do... that shit can't be emulated.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom