Mom Eats a Full Bottle of Baby Powder a Day & Concerned Her Son Might Adopt Her Habit – 'I Can't Just Stop'

A mother has been warned against how her strange addiction might affect her health. She is worried that her addiction will affect her son but admitted she didn't want to stop.

A New Orleans mother's daily consumption of an entire bottle of baby powder has surfaced as a cause for concern among her family and the broader community. Dreka Martin, 27, has been indulging in this unusual habit for nearly a decade, which started as a peculiar preference after showers during her childhood.

Martin shared that she tried to keep her addiction a secret from her loved ones, but when her mother began noticing that the baby powder was being finished much faster than usual, she had to admit to eating it.

Martin also said that even when she was trying to hide her addiction, she was unable to talk with baby powder in her mouth. So, if they spoke to her while she was chewing, she had to tell them what she was eating.

The habit has become costly, with Martin spending $14 every day since the previous year on a 623g (22 oz) bottle of Johnson's Aloe & Vitamin E baby powder, totaling around $3,780. Martin's preference is so strong that she admits, "If I had the choice between eating real food and baby powder, I'd choose baby powder."

Martin enjoys the powder's texture in her mouth, stating she chews it for up to 40 seconds before swallowing. Remarkably, the only time she has managed to abstain was while pregnant with her son, who will be four this year, Faiz Palmer.

Johnson's, the baby powder manufacturer, advises that their product is designed "for use on the skin only" and cautions against ingestion. Despite this, Martin's actions suggest she may suffer from pica, a disorder characterized by eating items that aren't considered food.

This disorder is said to come about as a result of traumatic events in one's life. For Martin, these traumatic events may have been the deaths of beloved family members.

As Martin worries about her son possibly developing the same dangerous tendency, he shows curiosity by asking for the powder when he sees her with it. Martin shared that she feeds into her son's curiosity by pretending to give him some baby powder; her son then pretends to chew on it as he has seen his mother doing.

Martin attempts to hide her cornstarch-based powder addiction from others, but it's a struggle, especially when faced with their apprehension about her health. A TikTok video she posted about her addiction gained widespread attention. A social media user voiced a common sentiment: "Girl, this is a sickness 😓."

The health implications of Martin's habit are not lost on the community. One commenter warned, "Baby powder has Talcum, which causes cancer. We don't even put that on our babies anymore. Please don't eat it 😔." Many other such comments have been left on her posts. However, it has not stopped Martin from continuing to indulge in her strange addiction.

The online community has expressed varying degrees of concern and disbelief. A comment, "Ain't no way you are dying slowly," echoes a sentiment of concern that resonates with many who hear about Martin's condition.

Some viewers identified with Martin, saying they also enjoyed eating baby powder. One woman shared that she was pregnant, and although she didn't swallow the baby powder, she chewed it because she liked the dryness. Confronting her addiction, Martin has expressed a sense of helplessness: "I just can't stop."

Martin has shared many TikTok videos about her strange addiction, each gaining attention and amassing comments from concerned viewers about how unhealthy her addiction is. Some others are curious about how it affects her and whether or not she is ruining her digestive system by consuming baby powder.

While Martin's addiction has not hampered her ability to care for her son, this is not the case with every addicted parent. Read the story of a man who adopted his girlfriend's children after he saw how her addiction had affected them.