So I walk into my 2.5 yo's room to get him up from his nap, and I smell this aweful smell. He's just as happy as can be with a bunch of toys on his bed, glad to see me. I'm searching up and down for the source of the smell (I'm thinking he stashed a piece of ham somewhere that is now taking on a life of it's own). I'm smelling the floor, the bed, the toys, etc..... can't get it narrowed down.

So he runs up next to me and the smell gets stronger. Hmmmmm... could it be some poop? (even though it smelled nothing like poop - but hey, who knows). Nope... no poop to be had.

His shirt stinks, his face stinks and I notice his face - around his mouth looks kind of oily .

I start lifting the blankets and sheets off of his bed... and lo and behold there is a glowstick that has now stained the bed and is about 1/4 empty. I pick it up and could tell right away that that was the source of the smell. HOOOooly cr@p did that thing stink . I never would have guessed that a glow stick would smell so bad.

We had these glow sticks from a party a few weeks back, and I thought I got rid of all the ones my kids had. Well, then I start thinking OMG, it's a chemical . So I called poison control right away, and the lady was like "ohhhh, no need to worry.. it's not poisonous. He may have some irritation in his mouth and throat, but should be very mild" (he's already eaten a sandwich and drank a ton of water after I cleaned his face & hands).

She said they get a lot of calls about the glow sticks... apparently they are very popular on the club scene, and they have small ones that people put in their mouths and accidentally swallow and/or chomp on sometimes... but they are not poisonous. She said that the only real problems they see with them are when people touch their eyes as it's very irritating to the eyes.

So... the public service announcement for today: Glow sticks are not poisonous - just mildly irritating to the skin & eyes. And they stink like nothing I've ever smelled before......

I think a few more grey hairs just sprouted

Oh my!! Glad he's ok and it's good to know they are not poisonous. I would have freaked out too!

Glad to hear he's ok! Our kids love to play with these too, we keep them around mainly for power outages and to play with in the winter when it's dark so early. A couple have broken and thankfully no one got hurt although they put a broken one on our table and it 'melted' the varnish!

yeah... thankfully the things are not toxic... but I'm telling you.. this smell is driving me up the wall. I've already washed his sheets, comforter and pillow and wiped all the toys that were on the bed off and I still smell it.

I put his clothes in the bath and gave him a bath. I just sprayed Oust all over, maybe that will help a little.

Amazing that a product can melt varnish, yet not be poisonous to people.

First of all...glad you found the stench!

Secondly, funny story....when my oldest was about 3..(he's 18 now) we went to the county fair and he got one of those glowstick thingees. Well, on the way home, he's riding in the back seat and it's late, he said something to me and when I turned around...he looked like a jack-o-lantern. He'd bitten through that thing and his mouth way glowing. I stopped immediately and called poison control and was assured he would be fine.

I still wonder though...............

try spraying a mixture of vinegar and water on every thing in his room. it will stink for a hour or so but usually helps with most little boy odors, is non-toxic and bonus is it is a cheap fix

Re: melting varnish and not poisonous... you'd be surprised. I heard from mechanic friend who uses Coke to clean battery terminals, and it freaking WORKS. (Not his first choice, and you'll want to clean the engine so you don't get ants!) And people drink that stuff all the time. Ethanol will dissolve ink (but fortunately not melt varnish)... as in ethyl alcohol, the stuff in alcoholic beverages. It's all about making and breaking chemical bonds, and what will break a chemical bond in varnish isn't necessarily a harmful substance to humans.

Not that I'm advocating drinking furniture stripper, mind you. Gag.

So what's the update...did his poopy glow this morning? LOL

Glad he's okay!

I can't beleive it smells so badly!! My kids get them all the time...my aunt and uncle own a campground and sell them in their store and they always give them to the kids when we are there. I've read the package and known they were non-toxic (my 19 month old puts everything in his mouth), but I never imagined they would smell! I'll have to keep that in mind...our last camping trip they had some sticks in the pocket of the tent and I just left them there...hope they don't break open

Well... no glowing poopy...believe me I would've taken a picture of it .

I guess he's perfectly fine. I did spray his room down with the vinegar solution (of course now it stinks like vinegar... but definitely better than that glow stick smell).

I actually found out a lot of cool things about glowsticks (my anal self going nuts with the online research). Like if you put them in the refridgerator after activating them, it will slow the reaction down (get dimmer), and when it warms up again, it will speed up the reaction (get brighter). I'm such dork

my sister keeps buying those for all the kids and I worry when they have them now I feel better about it.

Hope the smell has improved.

Vinegar is a very good cleaning source....Use it on tile it works wonders it might smell but after about a hour it makes whatever you cleaned with it smell so clean!