The Vaseline Incident

the Vaseline incident – it sounds like a band name, doesn’t it?!

I’ve been putting off posting about this until it wasn’t so fresh in my mind since it felt traumatic at the time, even if everyone else thought it was hilarious. It was not funny at all then, and still isn’t (but hopefully will be soon). On our second day in DC, I put Henry down for his afternoon nap in Vanesa’s room. I thought I had cleared away everything that he could possibly get into, but i was wrong. In the back of Vanesa’s (closed) closet, behind some toilet paper in a closed cabinet lurked Vaseline. A full jar of Vaseline. 
Henry had learned earlier in the day how to put hair product in his hair to make it curly and he decided to try it on his own since he had clearly mastered it before. So while we thought he was sleeping (because he was quiet – always question the silence!), he was busy emptying the contents of the Vaseline onto his head and face. It took less than 15 minutes, because that’s when I asked Vanesa if she would go check to see if he was sleeping.

 

after washing with regular baby shampoo
  
 
She came down the stairs giggling in shock, and he was so happy and proud! We carried the slippery sucker up to the tub and tried (unsuccessfully) washing out the Vaseline with regular soap several times and warm water and then brushing it out. Fail. Panicked phone calls were made to my mom and Marcie. Vanesa told Marcie and Lisa they had to drop what they were doing and come, because the situation was getting more and more slippery. My mom told me to call poison control since he may have swallowed some and she didn’t know if it was toxic. 

 

washing with Dawn
 
I’ve never felt more like a bad parent than in this moment, talking to a lady from poison control and explaining I didn’t know how much Vaseline he had ingested. For future reference, the woman I spoke with was very calm and helpful, and assuaged my fears. For all you parents out there – Vaseline is NOT toxic. It acts as a laxative depending on how much one consumes. And it can be a choking hazard since it is extra thick. Since Henry was not coughing (too much laughing), the choking bit was ruled out, and it didn’t seem like he ate a lot of it (probably only 1-2 bites) so he was going to be fine. 

 

washing with corn starch
  
 
Lisa (our go-to librarian) researched how to clean Vaseline out of hair and there are a couple of ways: (1) Dawn dish soap like they use for oil spills and (2) corn starch with hot water. If you use cool water, the Vaseline clumps up and becomes even more difficult to get out. We used both methods on the Hen, multiple times a day, for several days. In case you are wondering, it takes about a week and at least 37 washings of hair to make the hair feel and look natural again. 

There was just so. much. Vaseline. It was like wrestling a slicked up pig, and the tub was so incredibly slippery each time the adults had to shower it was like ice skating (I am not a skater). Needless to say, we will not be keeping it our house anytime soon. One day I will be able to laugh with everyone else about it, but today is still not that day. 

 

playground fun afterwards
  
  
hair isn’t wet, it is vaselined
  
 

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