# Young children swallowing inappropriate objects **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 31, 2009, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/young-children-swallowing-inappropriate-objects/491464 "2009-03-31T17:17:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2009, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/young-children-swallowing-inappropriate-objects/491464/1 "2009-03-31T17:17:43Z")
I just heard from my mother that my 2.5-year-old niece recently swallowed a hair barrette. They did an X-ray (or whatever it is they do in these situations) and determined that the barrette was in her small intestine. My sister is monitoring her diapers, looking for the barrette. Anybody got any interesting stories of other small children swallowing inappropriate objects? Ideally ones where the kid was all right in the end? ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2009, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/young-children-swallowing-inappropriate-objects/491464/2 "2009-03-31T18:48:55Z")
When I was a kid, my brother swallowed a quarter. He and my mom were not diligent enough to actually recover the coin when it returned, but it must have come out okay (ha!), since that was over thirty years ago. I tell ya, when I saw the paramedics coming to take my brother, I spit my dime right out. ---
**Author:** ![TroubleAgain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e480ec/32.png) [@TroubleAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroubleAgain)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2009, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/young-children-swallowing-inappropriate-objects/491464/3 "2009-03-31T19:26:28Z")
> [@Anne\_Neville](#): > > Ideally ones where the kid was all right _ **in the end** _? :pDid you do that on purpose? Emphasis mine. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2009, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/young-children-swallowing-inappropriate-objects/491464/4 "2009-03-31T19:33:22Z")
When I was a baby, I pulled a shoelace off of a shoe belonging to a friend of my dad - and swallowed it. My dad retrieved the shoelace from a used diaper, washed it off - and returned it. The friend thought this was the oddest thing ever, and still mentions it - 40 years later. šŸ˜ƒ ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2009, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/young-children-swallowing-inappropriate-objects/491464/5 "2009-03-31T19:36:29Z")
> [@TroubleAgain](#): > > :pDid you do that on purpose? Emphasis mine. No, but now that I realize it, _snickerrrr_ šŸ˜ƒ ---
**Author:** ![I\_Am\_The\_Lorax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19adc/32.png) [@I\_Am\_The\_Lorax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Am_The_Lorax)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2009, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/young-children-swallowing-inappropriate-objects/491464/6 "2009-03-31T19:37:56Z")
Ever heard rain on a tin roof? Thatā€™s about what it sounds like when a kid (mine) swallows approximately fifty popcorn kernels and pukes on the hardwood floor. My mother swallowed Drano when she was little. My great aunt drank a jar full of tadpoles. I hear the reason sheā€™s so fat is they all turned into frogs. ---
**Author:** ![shantih](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f6c823/32.png) [@shantih](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shantih)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2009, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/young-children-swallowing-inappropriate-objects/491464/7 "2009-03-31T20:10:06Z")
A friend of mine discovered a thumbtack in her sonā€™s diaper while changing it. She called the doctor right away, and he verbally shrugged. His take on it was that there was no need to do anything, since it had made the full journey on its own. Of course, he sang a different tune when the bulletin board came out ā€¦ ---
**Author:** ![Shark\_Sandwich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f04885/32.png) [@Shark\_Sandwich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shark_Sandwich)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2009, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/young-children-swallowing-inappropriate-objects/491464/8 "2009-03-31T20:15:19Z")
When I was about 6, I swallowed the iron token from a Monopoly board game. Nobody cared though because it truly is the lamest piece EVER. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2009, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/young-children-swallowing-inappropriate-objects/491464/9 "2009-03-31T20:17:06Z")
> [@I\_Am\_The\_Lorax](#): > > My mother swallowed Drano when she was little. Ack - any ill effects? ---
**Author:** ![Cub\_Mistress](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea666f/32.png) [@Cub\_Mistress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cub_Mistress)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2009, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/young-children-swallowing-inappropriate-objects/491464/10 "2009-03-31T20:19:21Z")
When he was still in diapers, my son swallowed a .45 caliber bullet. Not the whole cartridge, just the bullet. Everything came out ok, in the usual way. He was an adult when he swallowed a golf tee, but that one came out ok, too.šŸ†’ ---
**Author:** ![I\_Am\_The\_Lorax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19adc/32.png) [@I\_Am\_The\_Lorax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Am_The_Lorax)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2009, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/young-children-swallowing-inappropriate-objects/491464/11 "2009-03-31T20:20:36Z")
I suppose she was fine, but we blame all of her quirks on it. šŸ˜‰ ---
**Author:** ![Sonnenstrahl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@Sonnenstrahl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sonnenstrahl)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2009, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/young-children-swallowing-inappropriate-objects/491464/12 "2009-03-31T21:34:09Z")
Family lore has it that when my father was little, three years or so, my grandmother gave him a hammer and nail to play with. (I KNOW!!!) People invariably imagine that he whacked some body part with the hammer. No, he swallowed the nail. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2009, 9:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/young-children-swallowing-inappropriate-objects/491464/13 "2009-04-01T09:33:13Z")
One of my earliest memories was when I was around three or four. I was supposed to be taking a nap but I was awake and was playing with a penny. Which I then stuck in my mouth and swallowed. Thinking this might be a bad thing, I went downstairs and told my mother but she said it was no big deal and sent me back to bed. Years later, I mentioned this to my mother and said I was surprised in retrospect that she apparently hadnā€™t been worried about any possible ill effects. She didnā€™t remember the incident but said she probably had thought I made up the story about the penny to get out of taking a nap. ---
**Author:** ![Hokkaido\_Brit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/d26b3c/32.png) [@Hokkaido\_Brit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hokkaido_Brit)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2009, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/young-children-swallowing-inappropriate-objects/491464/14 "2009-04-01T11:34:51Z")
When my younger son was nine months old he swallowed a button battery. I had given him my car keys to play with, and the back snapped off the remote control, leaving the screw still tightly in place, and before any of us could do anything the battery had gone. I rushed off to the emergency room with him where they did an x-ray and yes, indeed it was in his stomach. Because he was so small and the battery was a big one (not to mention the danger of corrosion) they decided to knock him out and get it out via a stomach camera which they did there and then. I still feel shame and fear when I think about it but really I donā€™t know what I could have done to prevent it (except not give him the car keys of course). He stayed the night in hospital because heā€™d had a general but he was absolutely fine. When I was about five I was lying in bed playing with a big marble. I put it in my mouth and it promptly fell to the back of my throat (I was lying on my back) and blocked my airway completely. I tried to call for my Dad but of course nothing came out, and I sat up in a big panic, which caused the marble to shift. I very quietly took the marble out of my mouth and chucked it under my bed and never said anything to either parent, knowing that I would have got into terrible trouble. As a parent now I shudder to think that they could have come to bed and found me lifelessā€¦ ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2009, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/young-children-swallowing-inappropriate-objects/491464/15 "2009-04-01T12:30:45Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > When I was a kid, my brother swallowed a quarter. He and my mom were not diligent enough to actually recover the coin when it returned, but it must have come out okay (ha!), since that was over thirty years ago. > > I tell ya, when I saw the paramedics coming to take my brother, I spit my dime right out. And did the doctor say ā€œNo changeā€? ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2009, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/young-children-swallowing-inappropriate-objects/491464/16 "2009-04-14T16:58:34Z")
My sister took my niece back to the hospital yesterday, since she hadnā€™t found the barrette in any of her diapers and it had been two weeks since she swallowed it. There is no sign of the barrette inside her now, so it looks like she did pass it, even though my sister never found it. Weā€™re all very relieved. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2009, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/young-children-swallowing-inappropriate-objects/491464/17 "2009-04-14T17:11:58Z")
> [@Cub\_Mistress](#): > > When he was still in diapers, my son swallowed a .45 caliber bullet. For safetyā€™s sake, I hope you refrained from spankings during that time. šŸ˜ƒ ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2009, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/young-children-swallowing-inappropriate-objects/491464/18 "2009-04-14T19:10:57Z")
When I was little we were taken to the shoe store and got new Buster Brown shoes. We loved this, because BBā€™s were one of the brands that came with a toy bribe for the kids. This time it was some kind of game that came with several small magnets. Anyway, some time during the evening I came down with a headache while I was playing with my prize. My mother gave me a couple of aspirin for it and I went off to the bathroom to take them with some water. When I got back, the aspirin were still there beside the game, but the magnets were gone. I never found them again, but I have to admit, I didnā€™t look too hard. ---
**Author:** ![Cub\_Mistress](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea666f/32.png) [@Cub\_Mistress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cub_Mistress)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2009, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/young-children-swallowing-inappropriate-objects/491464/19 "2009-04-14T19:41:34Z")
> [@Cub\_Mistress](#): > > When he was still in diapers, my son swallowed a .45 caliber bullet. Not the whole cartridge, just the bullet. Everything came out ok, in the usual way. > [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > For safetyā€™s sake, I hope you refrained from spankings during that time. šŸ˜ƒ I was just careful not to point him at anyone. ---
**Author:** ![Lily\_Milliner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8edcca/32.png) [@Lily\_Milliner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lily_Milliner)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2009, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/young-children-swallowing-inappropriate-objects/491464/20 "2009-04-15T00:54:42Z")
My daughter swallowed a nickel last year (sheā€™s six). Pediatrician on call said it was no big deal, and it wasnā€™t. We did not try to reclaim the nickel. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/young-children-swallowing-inappropriate-objects/491464.md?page=2)