2-Month-Old Drank Formula Mixed With Vodka

1lilpeanut2love wrote: Girl Had Blood-Alcohol Level Of 0.364

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- The family of a 2-month-old girl who showed up at a Colorado Springs hospital drunk told police the baby was given vodka by mistake.

The family told police the baby's father had poured vodka into a water bottle, and then her mother mistakenly used that bottle to mix baby formula.

"It was a mistake. It was an honest mistake. I had no idea that there was alcohol in the water bottle," said mother Sarah Smith.

Her 2-month-old daughter, Kristina, is expected to be OK despite having a blood-alcohol content of 0.364 when she and her mother were dropped off at Memorial Hospital in Colorado Springs early Sunday morning.

Hospital spokeswoman Sharon Miracle said alcohol is "virtually a poison" at levels as high as those found in the infant.

"Any time you give alcohol to a child, and at that quantity, it is extremely dangerous," she said.

Smith said when the baby was crying Saturday night, she grabbed Ryan's water bottle to mix the baby formula, but the bottle was filled with vodka.

"I didn't think to smell it. I never do," Smith said.

She said about 20 minutes later, she realized something was wrong.

"She wouldn't respond. She was moving her arms and legs around. Her eyes were droopy and she just wasn't right," Smith said.

Police are still investigating. No charges have been filed. Kristina has been placed into the custody of the El Paso County Department of Human Services pending the outcome of the criminal investigation.

"I love my daughter to death. I would never do anything to harm her in any kind of way," Smith said. "I don't know what I would do if I would have lost her."

A similar situation took place in Erie, Colo., this past October when a 17-month-old boy ended up in the hospital with a blood-alcohol level of 0.195. An emergency room doctor 7NEWS spoke with then was in shock.

"Not to be comatose at that stage, they maybe would've had to have a tolerance," said Dr. Kerry Broderick with Denver Health.

Hospital staff said the extent of the alcohol poisoning is so rare, they're not sure what kind of long-term effects the baby might suffer. They said they've treated the baby for poisoning and hope she will be fine.

I am sorry, but what a dumbbutt!! How could she NOT know it was VOdka.

Glad the baby is fine. The parents should be punished IMHO!

1lilpeanut2love replied: You can smell vodka it would be kinda hard not to i would think.... IMHO I believe that the baby was crying and she couldnt get her to stop so she figured the Vodka would make her go to sleep or maybe shes just covering for the father for doing it.....

Our Lil' Family replied: Hmmm....any alcohol has a pretty strong smell, especially that much!

mom2my2cuties replied: Ok though - how many of us - in the middle of the night have grabbed the first handy bottle of water to make the forumla??? I know I have done that on more than one occasion. When it looks like water - I don't think to smell it. And to me, most vodka's dont have all that much of a smell.

Now that being said that is WAY too much alcohol for 1 bottle it seems. Sounds like this is something that has happened before with this baby..but this time she got more than normal or something.

It makes me downright angry that someone would intentionally give a child alcohol and while I think it should NEVER really even be in the same house as children, let alone, given to them, I do know that accidents do happen. And had the baby not had such a tolerance to the alcohol I might be apt to believe this was just a one time occurance

1lilpeanut2love replied:
NOPE! Never did that! My bottles were always mixed up already in the fridge. Plus, alcohol was never lying around my home! IMHO Vodka is very strong! I would definitely be able to tell the difference between water and alcohol!

My3LilMonkeys replied: Honestly - in the middle of the night - if it was a water bottle that normally had water in it and there was a clear liquid in it, I wouldn't think twice - I'd use it.

That being said - that is why you don't keep alcohol in water bottles OR in easy to reach places when there are kids around.

Whether it was intentional or accidental I can't say - I only hope the parents have learned from it.

Kirstenmumof3 replied: OMG that is horrible! A simmilar situation I heard about was a father taking methedone. He mixed it in orange juice and put it in the fridge. His young child (can't remember if it was a girl or a boy), drank it and died as a result. I understand being sleep deprived and but mistaking vodka for water, it's just wrong.

redchief replied: That the child got drunk is unfortunate. That the parents made an honest, though boneheaded, mistake is also fairly obvious. I'm probably going to be in the minority here, but I'm firmly behind the parents on this one, though I would like to throttle the father for putting vodka in the water bottle without letting someone else, especially mom, know what he was doing.

I've seen this type of thing before. How do we know that mom and dad didn't purposely get the child drunk? They panicked and rushed the baby to the hospital. That's neither cold or calculating, and I've seen similar cases myself.

luvmykids replied:
Same here, I think it's a terrible situation but honestly don't believe it was intentional. I also don't think vodka has much odor, that's why we used to sneak it into high school football games And since the mother was herself intoxicated, which is another subject, would make it that much easier to make that kind of error.

MyBlueEyedBabies replied: She's just down the hall from Johnny. There have been police in the hall off and on all day.

lisar replied:
I totally agree. I used powder fromula but everynight before I went to bed I would make her bottles with the water and put the formula beside it. And I would NEVER have any alcohol laying around my house for any kid to get ahold of.

1lilpeanut2love replied:
Thanks! I'm glad I'm NOT the only one!

PrairieMom replied: I can totally see how it could happen, (Dh nearly mixed formula with dish soap the other night) i HOPE it was an accidental thing, and not something that got out of hand and scared the parents into taking the kid to the ER. Thankfully the baby is okay, and hopefully we can ALL learn from that. Accidents can happen so easily.

~Roo'sMama~ replied:
I don't know what vodka smells like but I think it was an honest mistake on the mother's part. Not everyone is organized enough to have all the bottles made up before hand, and there certainly isn't anything wrong with that. On the other hand that dad is an idiot for putting vodka in a water bottle (why would you do that anyways? ) and leave it laying around without telling the mom. I hope the poor baby is going to be ok!!

Mommy2BAK replied: either way, thats still such a sad thing.

C&K*s Mommie replied: agreed.

Grey Goose (a vodka) has virtually no odor- strong taste though. I am sorry that it happened. But I am happy that the girl survived the poisoning to her little system.

mysweetpeasWil&Wes replied: Oh gosh! Why ALWAYS in my hometown!!!??????? Maybe not intentional...but awfully stupid IMO. Personally, even if it WAS water, I would never grab a water bottle that had been sitting around the house and give it to my child...that's just me...screaming child or not. I would have sipped it myself first, because I think water alone gets funky in plastic, and probably would have used the tap. JMHO. But hey, I guess we all make stupid mistakes sometimes...

ETA: Anyone see the Cute Kid ad in my siggy...WHY is it there? I didn't put it there...why is it there? Anyone know?????

luvmykids replied:
Rod is changing some of the codes, we all freaked out a little bit

mysweetpeasWil&Wes replied:
Yeah, I just saw your post after typing this! Woops! Freaked me out for a minute! Thought I hit something...

Hillbilly Housewife replied: strong smell...depends on the vodka... the one I keep in my freezer doesn't really smell like anything.

I have quite a few water bottles lying around in my house... so I wouldn't think twice about using any of them for drinking purposes... because we all use them so often... the kids help themselves too.

I think the father is relaly dumb for putting vodka in a water bottle, but whatever...I think the rest is a mistake. I've accidentally given my babies bottles of sour milk before... and sorry - but sour milk smells a heck of a lot stronger than vodka.

MyBrownEyedBoy replied:
I agree with Ed here. I too have seen similar cases. And I'll ad that with a 2 month old baby, one 6 ounce bottle made with Vodka could certainly cause a 0.3 blood alcohol level.