Baby killed by a teaspoon of salt

[MarblesMom]

Why do I keep seeing too many of these stories in the news?!  SMH 

Mom gives her 17 month old too much salt (and the child was killed) to get her husband back in her life.  Yeah, that worked out well.

http://ktla.com/2016/08/04/mom-accused-of-killing-baby-with-teaspoon-of-salt-to-get-her-husband-back/

I am really sick of seeing story after story of parents behaving badly.

[libriatrix]

Holy crap. From your title, I was expecting it to be some horrible accident, but the mother did it on purpose?? O_O

[MarblesMom]

@libriatrix yes, it would seem she knew what she wanted to accomplish.  My heart breaks for the baby... and the other family members who will have to pick up the pieces and go on with life.

I have a hard time wrapping my head around the logic on this one.

 

[EmainMacha]

The baby was a twin and there was an older child in the family too. What the hell was she thinking? That killing that one child would bring her husband back? Or was she trying to make her sick to get his attention? I don't know why I'm trying to work out her reasoning. That poor baby and her siblings:(

[Cleopatra7]

I honestly don't get this "logic" at all. If your significant other doesn't like your kids, you need to get rid of him or her, not the children. This must have been Susan Smith's line of thinking as well. "The loser dude I'm having an affair with doesn't like my kids, so I'll just kill them. Because being a convicted murderer will definitely help me snag that man back." smh

[nausicaa]

3 hours ago, Cleopatra7 said:

I honestly don't get this "logic" at all. If your significant other doesn't like your kids, you need to get rid of him or her, not the children. This must have been Susan Smith's line of thinking as well. "The loser dude I'm having an affair with doesn't like my kids, so I'll just kill them. Because being a convicted murderer will definitely help me snag that man back." smh

I interpreted it as the husband was the child's father and the wife believed if the child became very ill, then she and her husband would bond again over taking care of the sick child. A desperate attempt to get attention from her husband. (Not that it's any less crazy that way.)

And Susan Smith was deeply, deeply troubled way before drowning the kids. She had had a sexual relationship with her father while a teenager and again as an adult. I think she's been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder. (And some trivia, she was in the same mental hospital as John Hinckley Jr. for a while.)

[Glasgowghirl]

WTF poor baby, while I'm sure the woman didn't think a teaspoon of salt would kill the child she knew it would make her terribly ill. What sort of mother does that and if you want your husband back try sorting out your relationship by taking or counselling not making your child ill for his attention.

[PennySycamore]

I was watching an episode of Evil Twins this afternoon about twin sisters who deliberately left the 4 year son of one sister locked in a room to burn to death when he accidentally set fire to his room.  These kinds of mothers are monsters, plain and simple.

[Snarkylark]

Mental illness is a terrible thing. So sad! I don't believe it was only a teaspoon, though. No way. 

[FundieFarmer]

Oh wow. I know the area well-we just passed through there last weekend, actually. This is truly tragic, but I do think the sister had it right when she said there's a lot more going on here- definitely with mom. I'm interested to see what comes out in the future.

And...I know very little about babies, and while I'm sure I wouldn't go about giving a pure teaspoon of salt, I wouldn't have guessed it would be deadly. Heartbreaking, especially for the baby's twin to grow up without her.

[nastyhobbitses]

On 8/5/2016 at 8:05 PM, nausicaa said:

I interpreted it as the husband was the child's father and the wife believed if the child became very ill, then she and her husband would bond again over taking care of the sick child. A desperate attempt to get attention from her husband. (Not that it's any less crazy that way.)

And Susan Smith was deeply, deeply troubled way before drowning the kids. She had had a sexual relationship with her father while a teenager and again as an adult. I think she's been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder. (And some trivia, she was in the same mental hospital as John Hinckley Jr. for a while.)

Yeah, I was guessing that this was Muchausen by Proxy and she didn't mean to actually kill the kid (though if she hadn't been found out, a dead baby would still give her the attention and validation she craved) -- just get her sick enough to get her attention and make her husband come running back. I hope that he finalizes the divorce and takes the surviving kids (if he's been in their lives enough and would be a better custodial parent than their other relatives). She has no business being a mother.

[bashfulpixie]

5 hours ago, nastyhobbitses said:

Yeah, I was guessing that this was Muchausen by Proxy and she didn't mean to actually kill the kid (though if she hadn't been found out, a dead baby would still give her the attention and validation she craved) -- just get her sick enough to get her attention and make her husband come running back. I hope that he finalizes the divorce and takes the surviving kids (if he's been in their lives enough and would be a better custodial parent than their other relatives). She has no business being a mother.

Munchausen by proxy was my first thought too.  Get the attention she craved from her husband by making them bond over a sick child.  I don't understand people.  That poor, poor baby

[nastyhobbitses]

Just now, bashfulpixie said:

Munchausen by proxy was my first thought too.  Get the attention she craved from her husband by making them bond over a sick child.  I don't understand people.  That poor, poor baby

MbP is one of the few diseases where I don't feel any sympathy or empathy for the people who have it. It's so selfish and narcissistic and entirely based on hurting and abusing an innocent person (usually a child or an elderly relative) for your personal gain. I have sympathy for the people who are abused because of it, but not for the people who do the abusing.

[JMarie]

Last year there was a woman convicted of MbP in the death of her son.  She poisoned him with salt.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/04/08/lacey-spears-to-be-sentenced-today-in-sons-death/25446521/