Baby's sister may also have ingested adult pills

The 22-month-old sister of a baby gril who may have died because she ingested adult medication was also treated in hospital. Photo / Thinkstock

A young mother says she is horrified her seven-month old baby girl may have died because she ingested adult medication.

The baby, who died in March, has been named as Ilisapeti by the Bay of Plenty Times.

Police investigations into her death are continuing but police spokesman Andrew McAlley told NZPA today there had been no new developments.

Ilisapeti, from Morrinsville, 32km northeast of Hamilton, was initially believed to have died of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, formerly known as cot death. The investigation was widened after forensic toxicology results found adult medication in her stomach.

Ilisapeti's 23-year-old solo mother lived with her and her two other children, a teenage cousin and their grandmother, who has terminal bowel cancer.

Ilisapeti's 22-month-old sister was also treated in hospital after it was suspected she had also ingested medication the same colour as the grandmother's pills.

The mother said she believed her four-year-old son might have gone into her grandmother's bag and taken some of her pills.

"I went crying to my grandmother not knowing what to do. To the best of my grandmother's knowledge the best thing to do was to ring an ambulance and take her to hospital.

"I told my family I was glad they weren't there to watch me mourn...I still have my moments now where I feel isolated without her."

Detective Senior Sergeant Karl Thornton said yesterday the focus was on how the seven-month-old baby had ingested the medicine and to confirm whether the older sister swallowed similar pills. He said police were keeping an open mind.

The girls were living with their mother and an older sibling at the time but have since been placed in the care of Child, Youth and Family as an interim measure, Mr Thornton said.

Police were interviewing immediate and extended family members.

- NZPA