Infant Found Dead In Crib With 100 Small Animal Bites

[waltzingmatilda]

This is so sad, I feel sick. Poor little one being bitten by rats repeatedly which caused her to bleed to death! What a horrible way to go. RIP sweet baby girl. You are in a safe place now.

 

[lizzybeth]

Ok, so most likely the parents were drunk or high, passed out. Or maybe they weren't home at all.

I'm sitting here with my fingers on the keys at a loss for what to say. Sn many children lost because of their parents selfishness, ignorance or just plain evil. Reading about these cases is just too much.

 

[Disguiseduser0308]

Poor baby. I was hoping this wasn't the case. I guess now we await the drug and alcohol tests to see if either played a factor.

RIP baby Natalie.

 

[RainbowsAndGumdrops]

This is so sad. I too hoped it was a SIDS case. How could the parents not have heard? I can only imagine alcohol or drugs were involved.

 

[SleuthyMama]

As the above posters have already stated...there is more to this. How could this poor little baby girl have bled to death and NO ONE HEARD HER SUFFERING??? I do believe there must be negligence on the parents part here in some fashion. There has to be. They either weren't home or passed out.

 

[Sarahsue]

I am a mother of two, and I have never been a CIO (cry it out mom) If my babies cry, I am in there. It would take a long time for this poor angel to bleed to death. She lied thier suffering, and crying out for her parents, and they did not come to her aid. This story breaks my heart, and I cannot get it out of my mind.

 

[DotsEyes]

The coroner, Dr. Robert Treuting, has stated that the baby, Natalie Hill, 3 months old, died of exsanguination due to rodent bites. She bled to death in her crib.

I am so sorry to have to report this news. It is as bad as we think.

Natalie was buried today. The couple's 14 month old son, who was placed in state care on the day Natalie died, has a judge on his side. The Judge is ordering inspections of the family homes to which the couple may move before deciding if the child can be returned and when. Apparently, many family members have offered them places to stay.

No one has a clue about how bad the rats are here. But OMG! don't let the cats run loose, they might poop on Mitzy's gardenias. We should just let those old Tom cats run and spay the females. Definately an environmentally friendly method of pest control.

When my friends lived in India they had huge lizards and monkeys living in the rafters around the house as a method of pest control.

Has anyone ever seen a horse or cattle barn without cats? No, because they keep the rodent population down. Release the Toms! and the spayed girls!

 

[Thinaire]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,534432,00.html?test=latestnews
Report: Louisiana Baby With 100 Small Rat Bites Bled to Death



This makes me so mad. she had to be screaming in pain. How could they not hear her? How could they not go to her aid?

And how could they not have their baby IN their own room in a crib if there was a problem?

They had knowledge of the rats. Ignorance is no excuse IMO...merely living in an area let alone growing up there would make you aware of the local dangers.

The family is putting ALL of the blame on the landlord...who is at fault for accepting post Katrina Road Home $ and then not improving the property it was intended for...yes, get him for fraud if thats the case...but for gawds sake when are people going to be accountable?

You cannot afford a healthy/safe place to raise babies? Then wait...

 

[ALBeachBum]

If I'm remembering correctly, one of the linked articles said they rented the house from the stepfather of the baby's father. So the landlord was actually family.

 

[DotsEyes]

The landlord is one of their step-fathers. Nice.

 

[Brwnigirl]

Here's a baby/rat story that is even worse:

http://www.freep.com/article/200907...cused-of-letting-rats-chew-toes-off-Ohio-baby

That is awful but this baby lived right?

Does anyone know if those things you plug in to send vibrations through walls work on rats/mice? I have seen them advertised on tv and another brand at Walmart, wondered if that is effective??

 

[Brwnigirl]

This is so sad. I too hoped it was a SIDS case. How could the parents not have heard? I can only imagine alcohol or drugs were involved.

Well if she did pass in her sleep and the parent had just fed her and fallen asleep, I can see how no one heard anything..if the rats came upon her already deceased. I pray to God that is what happened.

 

[Brwnigirl]

Whoops I did not see the earlier report that the coroner said death due to the bites. Awful.

 

[mae]

This is so sad. I too hoped it was a SIDS case. How could the parents not have heard? I can only imagine alcohol or drugs were involved.

Why is everyone assuming this? My first thought was they were using CIO. Plenty of people in this world who use the cry it out method (which I don't support at all but it's not uncommon) to get their child to sleep. Why would it not be possible that they were using this method? They had fed and changed the baby, they thought there was no reason for her to be up and just let her cry herself back to what they assumed was sleep (again, I do not agree, but it happens).

 

[21merc7]

Does anyone know if those things you plug in to send vibrations through walls work on rats/mice? I have seen them advertised on tv and another brand at Walmart, wondered if that is effective??

brwnigirl,

They don't work. I have one plugged in now in my apartment. When I first got it the roaches just walked right across it, the mice still came in. I found a place to buy strong roach spray and pet safe poison for rats and mice. That finally worked. I would not put the poison down around babies though, that would require the expense of an exterminator.

 

[lizzybeth]

Even if the parents did hear the cries and decided to ignore it due to CIO, can't most mothers tell by how the babies cry whether it's a cry to get their way or a cry because they're in pain. I know I could with my children. I can even tell the difference in how my dog barks; whether he wants the neighbor to notice him or if he's barking because a stranger is near. As my children got older and didn't want to lay down for a nap I would sometimes allow them to fuss (and my son used to kick the wall). As soon as they quieted down I would peek in to make sure they were asleep. I honestly don't want to blame the parents but it's just so hard to understand how they didn't know (if they were there and sober) or at least how they could have let a baby sleep in a room by itself when they have a rat problem.

 

[carrie]

ITA with lizzybeth, there is a big difference in the way a baby cries when it's fussing itself to sleep (which I don't endorse either btw) and the sound of a child crying because it's it pain. These parents, the mother at least, should have become alarmed at the baby's crying even if they were letting her "cry it out."

The only other possibility I can think of (trying to be fair to the parents if possible) is that the baby did have some other, possibly as yet undetected, problems. The first thing that went through my head when I saw her picture was that little natalie did not look well. She did not have the appearance of a typical healthy newborn. Bless her heart poor baby. So, IF, (a big if) something was wrong health or development wise, perhaps she did not respond or cry out like a typical infant? Not saying this is what happened, just trying to think of all possibilities.

I have a grandaughter who is 2 months and 3 weeks old. I can say for certain that there is a difference in her cries when she is hungry as opposed to bored or having a tummy ache, etc. I cannot imagine her not screaming at the top of her lungs if she was being hurt. One shot at the Drs. office had her screaming for 15 minutes - she has quite a temper lol.

Anyway, just speculating, but I don't see how that baby, or any baby, wouldn't have cried in a way that set off alarm bells in the mother. Of course I don't know because I wasn't there. So sad. Poor little baby.

 

[Brwnigirl]

Maybe the rat smothered her face before she could cry..that is so gross but they said they could be big. How big would they have to be? She was pretty little, maybe she couldn't get the rat off of her. How long does a death like this take, that poor child.

 

[Brwnigirl]

Even if the parents did hear the cries and decided to ignore it due to CIO, can't most mothers tell by how the babies cry whether it's a cry to get their way or a cry because they're in pain. I know I could with my children. I can even tell the difference in how my dog barks; whether he wants the neighbor to notice him or if he's barking because a stranger is near. As my children got older and didn't want to lay down for a nap I would sometimes allow them to fuss (and my son used to kick the wall). As soon as they quieted down I would peek in to make sure they were asleep. I honestly don't want to blame the parents but it's just so hard to understand how they didn't know (if they were there and sober) or at least how they could have let a baby sleep in a room by itself when they have a rat problem.

That is very true Lizzy..both my dog and cat have different barks/cries for things and I know them all.
I wouldn't let a 3 month old baby fuss about anything even though I was told at the hospital it teaches them self soothing. BS. I would rather an infant know comfort.
I wonder if they had a baby monitor, they had 2 young children.
I also wondered if the baby had any special needs?

 

[tekilla]

I once knew a woman who would just turn the music up really high to not have to listen to the baby cry. Fortunately her son was taken away from her and raised by a Grandmother.