Help! 17 month old swallowed something!

[Cuppatea88]

Hi my 17mo swallowed a piece of plastic, A half moon shape but a little smaller. Say just small than a 5p. The nurse at minor injuries said just keep an eye but they’re ok and not worried and if anything changes go to the big hospital. Do you think I should just wait and watch it head to hospital. They seem fine so not sure.
Thanks

If it were smooth, it'll just pass through.

My son swallowed a pound coin when he was small.Was told to keep an eye on his breathing- just in case it lodged in his lung- and look out for any tummy pain which could indicate a blockage. Other than that it would take up to 6 days to pass through and if it didn't by then we had to go back.
It took the 6 days.....6 days of my son - who was 6 years old- having to poo on a potty ( he wasn't impressed!), and 6 days of me poking through it with an old chopstick. And I washed it and kept it!

I always put a £1 in stockings at Christmas. I'd have put it in his stocking!

6 days of me poking through it with an old chopstick. And I washed it and kept it!

The chopstick? 😆

Op, the main worry is choking, it will almost certainly make its way out with no problem. Many of us have been through this.

It’s not a battery is it ?

The OP clearly says it’s a piece of plastic and that she’s taken him to minor injuries, obviously if it was a battery the OP wouldn’t have said it was plastic and minor injuries wouldn’t have said to just wait and let it pass through!

This

But for everyone else, if a child swallows a battery, or there's a suspicion that that they have, it's an emergency, not something that can be managed in a minor injury unit, go to A&E

Posting this link here for awareness
www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5200576-i-dont-care-if-i-am-i-could-save-your-childs-life

Thankyou for all of your replies 😊 we’re on day 4 and still no sign of it. Hoping it shows up soon.

Of course not, it's now going to be your Christmas present 😀

I watch a program called "Bondi Vet" quite often, and generally the invasive surgery that is needed to remove a foreign body from the digestive system is only worth it if the object is either sharp and likely to perforate somewhere, big and liable to get stuck, or likely to be poisonous or corrosive in another way. Otherwise, pooing it out without surgery is the easiest way.

Still no sign! 😩 They’ve pooed every day since! I’m wondering if I should phone 111 tomorrow and see what to do?! They’re fine in themselves. Going to the loo normally.

That could depend on the circumstances/symptoms. My youngest swallowed a button battery when he was 18 months old, he was x-rayed and they could see it in his stomach. The advice was to keep an eye on him and make sure it came out the other end (due to no symptoms of ill effect from the battery and it already having passed through to his stomach). I was told to bring him back if there were any signs of symptoms/him getting worse or if it didn't pass through within a few days, thankfully it passed within a couple of days (which was lovely to search through his nappies on top of a winter sickness bug I had which my eldest caught from nursery and a mild concussion after falling off the toilet and hitting my head while suffering from the sickness bug 😅). I am so grateful of course that the battery was small enough and old/worn out enough to pass through him safely, but it is possible that you could just be told to monitor and make sure it comes out the other end.

Obviously though the OP did specify a piece of plastic and not a battery (he was good at swallowing small pieces of soft plastic too which I would only find out about when changing his nappies 😅