Mom realises scented candles were harming her child

American mother, Meghan Budden, like many of us, would often use scented candles in her home to make the place smell nice. However, when Meghan started noticing black spots in her baby's nostrils, her doctor gave her some unsettling news.

Unusual markings inside nose

Meghan had been burning two large scented candles for around six to seven hours as she carried out her housework. However, when the young mum woke up the next day, she realised she had some worrying black specks in her nose. Even more frightening – she discovered the same black specks in her newborn baby's nostrils.

She suctioned her baby's nose and rinsed with saline, but some of the black marks still remained. It was then that it dawned on her it might be related to the candles she had been burning. She then reread the packaging and realised that there was a warning not to burn the candle for more than three hours at a time.

Doctor's recommendations

Doctors say this is a fairly common error and advise never burning candles in draughty areas, and not letting the wick get to more than an eighth-of-an-inch above the wax in order to avoid the spread of soot. If you see soot on your candle, you should always put it out straight away.

Meghan and her baby are doing fine, but she'll definitely always read the warnings on candle packaging in the future.