If you’re a parent, you’ve probably seen your kid swallow some strange things over the course of their younger years. Heck, if your the parent of older children, you still may have. I distinctly remember former football player friends eating worms. Yuck!
Yesterday I read an article about a three-year-old from Portland, Oregon, who swallowed not one, not two, but THIRTY-SEVEN high-powered rare earth Buckyball magnets. Luckily, the little girl survived, but it got me to thinking about the insane things kids will swallow…or stick up their nose.
When I was a child, I swallowed a coin. I can’t remember if it was a dime or a penny, but I do remember doing it. And I’m lucky as hell I didn’t choke.
Now that I’m a mom of a very precocious four-year-old, I’ve dealt with him swallowing some strange things. The strangest being a Squinkie. I’m sure the moms who read this will know what I’m referring to. They are very small and are listed as choking hazards. We didn’t think Blake would stick them in his mouth, but he did. And before I knew it, one of his Cars Squinkies went on a joyride through his intestinal tract.
The day it happened I called Poison Control in a panic because I was worried about the chemicals in the stupid toy. There’s so much junk in toys these days, I was worried. Poison Control assured me there was nothing in it that would harm him and to keep an eye out and he should pass the Squinkie within a few days. So from that point on, mommy was on poop patrol. Everytime Blake did a #2 in his pullup, I had to inspect the goods, even if that meant poking around in crap, literally, that I didn’t want to be. But when you’re a mom, you’ve sometimes got to go where you don’t want to. And smell things you’d rather not.
Two days after he swallowed the Squinkie, he gave birth to a little red Lightning McQueen, and I became a grammie for the first time. *sniff*
So, my question for all of you is, what are some of the weirdest things your children have swallowed? Please leave a comment below and let me know.
My son recently swallowed a squinkie, and showing no signs of pain or blockage (it was around 10 today called places and they said it will pass) but this story helped calm me down 🙂
my two year old darling daughter swallowed a squinki today… ugh thanks for the post .
Thank you for sharing this. My 3 year old daughter just came downstairs telling me she swallowed her cinderella squinkie. trying not to panic in front of her I ran for the internet.
Thank you so much for reassurance.
Thank you for your post. My daughter swallowed a duck squinkie on tuesday (three days ago) and I have seen on the internet that they are thankfully non-toxic, but couldn’t tell if they ‘came out’ the same shape they went in. So I’ve been checking her diaper, doing the same detailed inspection you mentioned, but still no duck yet. I wasn’t sure if it would be all digested and if I should stop searching, so thanks so much for mentioning that you were able to ‘find’ your lightning mcqueen. The search will continue 🙂
Damn those squinkies. My daughter ate a blue dog one today. But she’s 4 and did it on purpose -_-