Really struggling

[Anxious1988]

I suffer from GAD and health anxiety and have sent myself into a huge spiral.
Last week we painted my daughters bedroom whilst she was away. My other daughter was sleep in the bedroom next door both doors shut. No paint smell in her room at all. When my eldest daughter came home she slept in her bedroom 24 hours later. There was still a very faint paint smell, nothing strong.
I have since realised that the paint we used was high VOC paint and I’m now obsessing over whether I let my eldest sleep in her room too soon afterwards and if the fumes could have travelled into my youngest bedroom even though there was no smell. Both kids are fine. I am making myself unwell with worry and struggling to rationalise if this is just my anxiety speaking.
My husband is says we just won’t use that paint again but I fear some sort of health damage may have already been done :(

[Carnation]

I understand your worry but everything seems ok.
I'm sure there's been many people sleeping with fresh paint in the vicinity over the years. If it helps your worry have a window open slightly or air thoroughly during the day. Your worry is just normal mum worry.

[Anxious1988]

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply. I have tied myself in knots over this over the last few days. She slept in the room 24 hours later which is my main concern. I even rang the paint company who said it was fine as the paint would be dry within max 16 hours and most fumes emitted before then. I just can’t get it out of my head that I’ve done something to put her at risk.
The paint company also said if she was affected by it then she would have woke up in the night feeling sick or headache. She didn’t. And she was fine in the morning and still fine now. But despite all this I can’t stop worrying.

[Darksky]

I tend to agree with the paint company. Wet paint emits a smell. When it’s dry it doesn’t. If the paint was dry which after 24 hours it would have been it should be fine.

Anxiety is a liar and it attaches itself to anything and everything. Time will cure this though, as the days go by and she’s ok.

[Carnation]

I agree, any reaction would have been during the first night of sleeping.
Try not to bash yourself any further, it's past, nothing happened, everything is fine. x

[Anxious1988]

Thank you every for taking the time to reply and being so reassuring. I appreciate it more than you know.
These thoughts are terrible when they take hold. I was also concerned about my other daughter asleep in the next room, despite both doors being closed and her room having no paint smell whatsoever but anxiety tricks me into second guessing that there was no smell. She is also absolutely fine.
I am going to try my best to put this behind me. It has triggered me to get some help though and I have therapy starting next week.

[Lencoboy]

Surely that particular type of paint wouldn't be allowed to be sold to the general public if it was considered so harmful and hazardous to health.

I wouldn't duff yourself up over it, especially as your daughter hasn't so far shown any signs of adverse reactions to said paint on the walls of her bedroom, nor complained of feeling unwell in connection to it as yet.

But at least you're being vigilant, which can't be a bad thing.

[Lencoboy]

I understand your worry but everything seems ok.
I'm sure there's been many people sleeping with fresh paint in the vicinity over the years. If it helps your worry have a window open slightly or air thoroughly during the day. Your worry is just normal mum worry.

Yes, many people in the past as children breathed in all kinds of airborne stuff in their homes in the past that may be considered questionable today, and believe they still 'turned out fine'. Still doesn't necessarily mean it was or is right though (especially back when, for example, it was the norm for parents to smoke in the home and car around their children and hardly anyone thought twice about it) but of course most people (usually innocently) didn't really know any better or different back then.

[Carnation]

And we survived it all Lencoboy
Smoke from log fires, mould on the walls, condensation on the windows, dampness, cigarette /cigar /pipe smoke.

Glad to be of help anxious. As darksky has already said, this worry will fade in time. Good luck with the therapy. x

[Lencoboy]

And we survived it all Lencoboy
Smoke from log fires, mould on the walls, condensation on the windows, dampness, cigarette /cigar /pipe smoke.

Or at least a lot of the less desirable side effects of such things that we're more acutely aware of in these more enlightened times often tended to pass unnoticed a lot more back then, because we were largely unaware of such hazards and like I said, didn't really know any better at the time.

'Ignorance is bliss' and all that!