Your Kid and Poison, Sharp Objects, and Other Yummy Things
by Rita Arens

Kids are more resilient than they seem. I've seen preschoolers bounce off their heads on playgrounds and pop right back up, smiling while looking like Massive Headwound Harry.  But sometimes they do stuff that terrifies even the most jaded parent.  Like for instance, Black Domestic Goddess's story of her son swallowing a (gulp) QUARTER.

The first thing the doc asks me is “Does he always drool like this?” Mind you, Mookie is NOT swallowing because it hurts to swallow. He’s got something STUCK in there, Ms. Board Certified Doc. No, my son does NOT usually drool like that. She looks in his mouth, in his ears(?) (Maybe she’s thinking the quarter will pop out of one of them.)

Or perhaps the time Tubeless in St. Louis couldn't find her car keys and became convinced her young child had eaten them.

I could not let the fear go that she had swallowed these keys. So after contemplating on going into her room after she was asleep with the flashlight, I managed to look under her bed, nope. Under her rocker, nope, under her changing table (ewww again, dang I need a cleaning lady!) and then finally, I went into her closet where I have a 4 stack drawer system for her shoes and with the aide of the flashlight I was able to catch a shinny glimpse of some keys in her drawer full of shoes.

What else can children swallow?  Washers, dog food, bugs, magnets ... the list goes on and on.  It's really terrifying what a child will put in his or her delicate little mouth when you're not looking.

In Khmer's case, it was a penny.  

I’ve made my share of unintentional safety mistakes—like leaving change on a hotel nightstand where my 3-year-old son, Stevie, could reach it. He swallowed a penny and we spent five hours in the local casualty (He passed it without harm the next day).

I can just imagine the next day.  Look, honey!  A lucky penny! Let's go get some gum.

Ahem.

Khmer has a whole list of baby horror stories on her post.  Here's one that has the hair on the back of my neck standing up:

While Lorraine Thermos was giving her 10-month-old son a bath, she turned around for a washcloth. Next thing she knew, Timmy had her razor in his mouth, had slashed both his wrists, and was attempting to hold his own head underwater in some kind of twisted, bizarre, multiple-suicide attempt.

What is it with kids?  Oh, yes, they have no concept of either personal safety or their own mortality until they are about four years old.  While I'm relieved to say all the children above survived their harrowing experiences, we really can't emphasize both DO NO HARM and GOD PROTECTS FOOLS AND CHILDREN.  Because yes, though these stories are scary, they ended okay, and while we don't want to leave pointy objects or prescription drugs laying around the house for our toddlers to grab, we can't live in fear, either.

The best defense is a good offense.  Watch your kid, be aware of his or her surroundings, and know their hearts.  My daughter has never been a climber, so we didn't bother to attach every piece of furniture to the wall with brackets.  What we did have to watch out for was anything that looked remotely like candy. Some kids' drug of choice is a light socket. Some kids stick peas up their noses.  You know your kid.  What is he or she going to do to give YOU a heart attack? 

Submitted by Rita Arens (view blog) on Mon, 09/22/2008 - 08:58

Comments

 

Oh Gosh, so much!

I am so diligent with my kids that I've been told to 'relax a little' at times lol. But when I do, bad things happen! The other day my daughter colored on the kitchen chair and I made lunch.  What happened? She fell over, hit her head on the floor, held her breath in a scream, and her eyes rolled back in her head. Talk about terrifying! She was okay, but it was that moment tha tI didn't hover that it happened.

As for eating stuff, I heard this funny story at the park the other day. The grandma said one day her grandson was digging in the dirt. When she caught up with him he had a handful of roly poly bugs - in his MOUTH! Ugh!

Thankfully kids ARE resilient. I just wish I could rebound as quickly as they do!

 

Kathy

Mama Marathoner

Allbusiness:Working Mothers

Submitted by Kathy333 on Mon, 09/22/2008 - 06:09
 

Pay attention

My nephew actually died years ago after swallowing a middle-size breakable Christmas ornament. His mother left him with the nanny and the nanny left him to his older sibling.

When the nanny found out that the boy has swallowed something, instead of rushing him to the nearest hospital, she attempted to pry out the object by using her fingers.  This in turn made the boys throat open and the object fell inside further.  She then poured water in his mouth!  To make this short, my nephew died. 

This has been an unfortunate incident and totally avoidable.  As parents, we should be responsible to train hired help to recognize signs of distress and know what and how to react appropriately.  (ie call 911 or seek help from neighbors, etc.)

Soul

"A baby is God's opinion that life should go on." - Carl
Sandburg

Submitted by lifediscourse on Mon, 09/22/2008 - 09:37
 

Shaving her self

My 5 year old got my razor and prceeded to not only shave her legs but her chest.  She then comes to me saying she is bleeding.  But there are little spots of blood all over her chest and legs where she has nicked herself.  She tells me she used the pink thing to rub herself with.  Needless to say we used a box of bratz bandaids to try and fix that.  The pink thing is now in my nightstand. 

Michelle

I blog at http://www.mommycan.blogspot.com/

Submitted by Southerngirl on Mon, 09/22/2008 - 10:06
 

Sorry

The story of your nephew is so sad. I'm so sorry. I can't imagine the grief of something like that. I just wanted to tell you how sorry I was.

 

Kathy

Mama Marathoner

Allbusiness:Working Mothers

Submitted by Kathy333 on Mon, 09/22/2008 - 11:49
 

Hazards Around the House

Christmas reminds me of his death and how we needed to be careful about ornaments, decorations and small trinkets that may cause children to choke themselves.  Let this incident be a lesson to everybody and let his parents know that their son just did not die  in vain.

Soul

"A baby is God's opinion that life should go on." - Carl
Sandburg

Submitted by lifediscourse on Mon, 09/22/2008 - 17:58
 

My heart goes out to you.

What a horrible tragedy.  I know I personally will be redoubling my efforts to have only nonbreakable ornaments again this year. 

Surrender, Dorothy - When I was your age, we just let them ride in the back window.

Rita Arens is a contributing editor for BlogHer -- Mommy & Family.

Submitted by Rita Arens on Tue, 09/23/2008 - 06:12
 

Expandable Water Crystals

I bought these cool expandable water crystals that grow from itty bitty dust to cool marbles of slime. They are for watering plants. I thought it would be cool to let the kids watch them grow and play with them like homemade slime. 

I asked if they were nontoxic. 

Yesterday I put about 10 -15 in a little bowl of water and turned my head long enough for my 2 year old to gulp down around 5 of them. I'm guessing, not counting.

Only THEN did it occur to me that those crystals would expand in his stomach until they were who knows how big. 

Poison Control says "this too shall pass." But, he did throw up a little red goo this morning. Hope the Mother's Day Out Teacher doesn't freak at what's in his morning diaper.  

Empowering Girls: So Sioux Me

Blog Fabulous

Submitted by traceesioux on Tue, 09/23/2008 - 10:22
 

ewwww

and also, wow.

~Denise
BlogHer Community Manager

Flamingo House Happenings

Submitted by Denise on Tue, 09/23/2008 - 10:41
 

Not swallowed but shoved up the nose.

I agree Rita, the  best defense is a good offense.  All small objects are present and accounted for in this house.   My daughter shoved a jewel up her nose and the doctor's exam convinced me there was nothing there.  But five days later it she presented me one snot-encrusted jewel. It worries me that her breathing could have obstructed during sleep and while I did treat the incident with humour on my blog - OMG the alternative could have been horrible.

Submitted by Motherbumper on Wed, 09/24/2008 - 08:47
 

Not swallowed but shoved up the nose.

I agree Rita, the  best defense is a good offense.  All small objects
are present and accounted for in this house.   My daughter shoved a jewel up her nose and the doctor's exam convinced me there was nothing there.  But five days later it she presented me one snot-encrusted jewel.
It worries me that her breathing could have obstructed during sleep and
while I did treat the incident with humour on my blog - OMG the
alternative could have been horrible.

Submitted by Motherbumper on Wed, 09/24/2008 - 08:57
 

What did you swallow?

Thanks for the feature!

As the mom of aforementioned Mookie, who decided to become a slot machine for a day, I was so thankful that his breathing was not impeded when he made his esophagus a change purse.  

However, I was horrified when I recounted the story to my friends, some suggested that I should have given him a PIECE OF BREAD?? WHAT?  Ok, he's got METAL stuck in this throat so I'm going to give him something else gooey and clumpable to pack right on top of it???  Not on your life.  

Sometimes it's scary what people will do.  I'm like get thee to the doctor or the emergency room.  And know the Heimleich manuever (sp?) for children.  

 

PS  Mookie has also put a crayon tip up his nose as well as a bead for a pillow. (the pillows were immediately given to my mother so he can shove the bead up his nose while at HER house.  Also, he's smart enough to not shove it up both nostrils, but not smart enough not to do it at all.)  Why? I don't know.  We will never know the mind of Mookie.  

 

www.neosoulessentials.com

www.blackdomesticgoddess.com

Submitted by blackdomesticgoddess on Wed, 09/24/2008 - 12:34
 

I swallowed somehting myself

I went to doctor and they had down gastroesophical reflux which I specifically told them that it was an object that someone ppoisoned me with

 

and So does anyone have a clue what could be small and stay in persons stomach for almost a month now.

 

It makes gurgling sounds all day and it was bottom of orange juice bottle that I couldnt see nor here nor hardly taste except for when it was going down my throat

 

Im going back to ER here very soon if I dont get better

 

Yeah watch your kids

Submitted by thelogarithm on Tue, 10/07/2008 - 10:27
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