Theresa D. Gary gave a two year old too much benadryl

**Sister Iroz** · January 19th, 2009, 07:00 PM

A 39-year-old Chicago woman has been charged with reckless conduct in connection with the death of a 2-year-old boy she was watching at a Naperville motel.

Theresa Gary was arrested Jan. 14 on a probable cause warrant at her home, a day before she officially was charged for her role in the Nov. 5, 2008, death of Joseph Balkcom, authorities said Monday.

Naperville police Cmdr. Dave Hoffman said Gary was staying at the Best Western Motel at 1617 Naper/Wheaton Road with the boy and his mother. Hoffman said the boy was in Gary's care when he died.

Investigators were told the youngster had been suffering from a cold at the time of his death. Toxicology results show the boy was given an overdose of children's Benadryl, Hoffman said. Police say Gary administered the cold medication.

Hoffman said it is unclear where the boy's mother was at the time of his death. She has not been named nor charged in connection with his death.

Emergency workers were called to the motel just after 10 p.m. Nov. 5 on a report of a boy not breathing. Paramedics found the toddler unresponsive when they arrived. He was pronounced dead at 10:18 p.m.

Gary has no prior criminal record in DuPage County. She is being held at DuPage County jail in Wheaton in lieu of a $75,000 bondA 39-year-old Chicago woman has been charged with reckless conduct in connection with the death of a 2-year-old boy she was watching at a Naperville motel.

Theresa Gary was arrested Jan. 14 on a probable cause warrant at her home, a day before she officially was charged for her role in the Nov. 5, 2008, death of Joseph Balkcom, authorities said Monday.

Naperville police Cmdr. Dave Hoffman said Gary was staying at the Best Western Motel at 1617 Naper/Wheaton Road with the boy and his mother. Hoffman said the boy was in Gary's care when he died.

Investigators were told the youngster had been suffering from a cold at the time of his death. Toxicology results show the boy was given an overdose of children's Benadryl, Hoffman said. Police say Gary administered the cold medication.

Hoffman said it is unclear where the boy's mother was at the time of his death. She has not been named nor charged in connection with his death.

Emergency workers were called to the motel just after 10 p.m. Nov. 5 on a report of a boy not breathing. Paramedics found the toddler unresponsive when they arrived. He was pronounced dead at 10:18 p.m.

Gary has no prior criminal record in DuPage County. She is being held at DuPage County jail in Wheaton in lieu of a $75,000 bond

http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=265552

**Silvahalo** · January 19th, 2009, 07:17 PM

Second only to Tylenol, Benadryl is all to often given in the wrong dose. I wonder if the dose was grossly miscalculated.
It would say a lot, I think if there was a malicious intent involved. If she was just trying to shut him up from crying and recklessly gave him a dose not caring how much it was or did she honestly miscalculate the dose? If it's the latter, it could have easily been me on this page.

When my 5 yr. old then, 2 yr. old was sick, then, it was still O.K.'d by pediatricians to give cold medicines of sorts, today it is not recommended for children under the age of 5. Admittedly I was not very alert at 3am, I gave my son, a bit too much Benadryl, and realized the moment he took it. I turned the lights on bright and reread the dose based on weight, (he has always been small for his age so I don't go by age), and realized I gave too much. I freaked and called the after-hours for the Pediatrician and was told he should be fine, and just to watch him closely for the next several hours. Needless to say I didn't sleep much that night to ensure my son wasn't going to pay for my half-ass dosing.

Anyhow, curious to read more details on this one.

Poor little one, I hope you were loved deeply by your mother and that you are missed.

**Mom2three** · January 19th, 2009, 07:24 PM

It has been awhile since I have purchased liquid form of Benadryl (assuming this is what she gave him). Does it come with a cup to measure? Being in a hotel, maybe she didn't have something to measure with and just estimated?

That is so sad when something like that happens. It happened at 10 at night, which isn't too awfully late. Was she sleeping? It is just seems so preventable.

**Silvahalo** · January 19th, 2009, 07:44 PM

Originally Posted by Mom2three

It has been awhile since I have purchased liquid form of Benadryl (assuming this is what she gave him). Does it come with a cup to measure? Being in a hotel, maybe she didn't have something to measure with and just estimated?

That is so sad when something like that happens. It happened at 10 at night, which isn't too awfully late. Was she sleeping? It is just seems so preventable.

The liquid does come with a cup but I always use a syringe to properly dose, (after that lovely mishap on my part). I keep several stocked you can get them from the pharmacist.
I didn't catch the time...yeah, 10pm isn't so late.

**OMalley** · January 19th, 2009, 08:16 PM

I'm sooo cautious about dosing when I give the kids any meds. I'm not crazy about using the meds and only use them for pain or fever over 102. I always check the the weight/dosage chart, too, just in case.

I hope we find out more about this case - though it seems like she wouldn't have been charged if it looked like an honest mistake. There must've been some negligence involved...

Poor baby.

**Nellymed** · January 19th, 2009, 08:48 PM

Your not suppose to give benadryl to any child under age 2 and unless directed by a doctor under age 5 it says so on the box and now conveniently on the bottle. People never cease to amaze me.

**Morticia** · January 19th, 2009, 08:52 PM

I thought Benadryl was for allergies???

**AussieMum** · January 19th, 2009, 09:24 PM

I would think it would need to be a serious overdose to have killed the poor boy. A couple of mls over is not going to kill him.

How sad for the mother too. She wasn't home when it happened.

Poor darling.

**Rockin Ma** · January 19th, 2009, 09:40 PM

You'd be surprised how many people give their children benedryl to calm/put the kids to sleep. Much more than you think.

I know a lot of people who have done it.

I don't. One that's not what it's for; and Two benedryl makes me bounce off the walls (so presumably my kids would too), the opposite effect of why people give it to their kids.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xbN0yJXPMM"]YouTube - Drugging Our Children - Video Travel Alert?[/ame]

**nurseronda** · January 19th, 2009, 11:24 PM

You would be surprized to find out that a lot of parents give Benadryl to their children to get them to go to sleep and a lot of those children are given more than the right dose. This is done to quiet the children so the parents can do what they want and not have to deal with those children. It would be my guess that this woman did exactly this.

**Castille** · January 19th, 2009, 11:34 PM

Some people do use benadryl to sedate their kids. I've never considered it with mine, but prior to having kids I would make jokes about using it for other people's children, so it's fairly general knowledge. But a heckuva lot of drug related things apparently aren't. This is the big reason they've pulled drugs for the under 5 set - there's a lot of talk about not having studies that show effectiveness, but having used cough suppressants and decongestants in my own kids in the past, I know darned well they are at least basically effective - especially the cough. The damage done to young children in mistakes and overdoses outweighs any minor benefit they may have, however.

It surprises me sometimes though when I run across actual people who don't understand the difference between drugs used for allergies and those used for a cold, but they're not uncommon either apparently. And many of those are the same people who wouldn't really consider that an over-the-counter medication labeled for children can be deadly if you're deciding to give just a bit extra to help them sleep. It wouldn't shock me if all they had was actually adult liquid benadryl not labled for use in toddler that she was just trying to guess at a dosage for to have that much of an overdose.

What ever happened to just giving your kids a little brandy and honey to help them sleep with a cold anyway? ;)

**btrflyangl** · January 19th, 2009, 11:55 PM

I'm just wondering how much of a miscalculation would have to occur to give the child enough to kill them. As mentioned before, if the bottle clearly states not to give it to any child under 5 unless directed by a doctor WTF was she doing.

Typically (at least from my experience 10+ years ago) if a doctor prescribed a medicine like that, you got it from the pharmacy with a prescription label on it with SPECIFIC dosage instructions tailored for that specific child.

Need more facts.

**Silvahalo** · January 20th, 2009, 02:40 AM

Originally Posted by Nellymed

Your not suppose to give benadryl to any child under age 2 and unless directed by a doctor under age 5 it says so on the box and now conveniently on the bottle. People never cease to amaze me.

I forgot to mention that, very true. Unless you are given a specific dose by the Pediatrician, you shouldn't give to a child under age of 5. Now days, ANY cold med is not recommended for kiddos under 5. Still people always give meds that are useless for children and very dangerous at high doses. That is why Tylenol has put more PR on dosing and safety, they are the number one maker for children and the highest dosing deaths.

**Silvahalo** · January 20th, 2009, 02:40 AM

Originally Posted by Morticia

I thought Benadryl was for allergies???

Any histamine reaction cold or allergy.

**ineedanap** · January 20th, 2009, 10:33 AM

When my dd was 2, the pediatrician wrote down 3 meds we could give for cold/allergies, as well as their dosages. One medicine was Benadryl, and the dose was 1 teaspoon. They now sell Benadryl in pre-fill measures of 1 teaspoon. I have never given it to her, but keep it on hand in case she has a reaction to something. We have food allergies in our family.