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Children's health

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Original poster

arghhhhh - DS (13m) swallowed some plastic - will he be ok???

58 replies

Bicnod · 21/05/2010 19:11

Gave DS (13 months) some calpol before bed as he is teething badly at the moment. I used a nurofen syringe and stupidly let him chew on the syringe while I was doing his nappy.

Suddenly realised he was chewing weirdly and grabbed the syringe but it was too late - he had bitten off a bit of plastic about 8m by 2m.

I think he must have swallowed it as he drank milk afterwards so presumably it would have been washed down? Worrying about the jagged edges. Will he be ok?

Yes, he's my pfb and I've not dealt with babies swallowing stuff they shouldn't before - please can you reassure me he will be ok? Or should I take him to A&E (seems a bit extreme).

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janajos · 21/05/2010 20:11

I took my DS aged about 11 months to A&E for swallowing a plastic glitter star with very sharp edges which had got lodged in his throat. By the time we were seen he had swallowed it and they sent us home. He was absolutely fine.....

Original poster

Bicnod · 21/05/2010 20:12

poor little monkey is sleeping so peacefully. why oh why do these things always have to happen when DH is away?

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Original poster

Bicnod · 21/05/2010 20:13

janajos - did they do anything at all? did they give you any advice?

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Original poster

Bicnod · 21/05/2010 20:13

really glad your DS was ok by the way - glitter star sounds scary

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winnybella · 21/05/2010 20:14

I would wait, I think. It's not like he swallowed a pin. Bit of plastic should pass on it's own. I would just watch for any signs of pain.

multimummy · 21/05/2010 20:16

My ds swallowed quite a few shards of plastic last summer. I borrowed my Mums hand blender and didn't realise it had a thin plastic guard over the blade. Accidentally blended the blade guard into his dinner!
Dc had eaten most of the food (and plastic seasoning) before i realised! (Krups blenders are really powerful!).
I rang dr who just said keep an eye on him. If he acts unhappy then take to a and e.
Dc was fine. Several shards of plastic found in Nappy over next couple of days.

janajos · 21/05/2010 20:17

They just said that he would be fine but to keep an eye on him. Try not to worry. I know that it is pc to tell you to go to A&E, but if he is sleeping, I would wait and maybe go in the morning. I will feel so awful if something happens to him now.....

My third child was eating an empty snail shell that I prised out of his mouth yesterday in the garden. Not sure if he had consumed the snail.... They do all survive...

Original poster

Bicnod · 21/05/2010 20:17

how big were the shards of plastic multimummy?

that is so the sort of thing i would do

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GinSlinger · 21/05/2010 20:17

yes, we were on nappy watch for a day but it reappeared. It was amazing how it happened - he was just playing with my fingers and took the ring off and then it was in his mouth and had disappeared. I was with my MIL at the time who couldn't believe that it had been swallowed. Fortunately she was very calm and stopped me from going demented and phoned GP etc.

PixieOnaLeaf · 21/05/2010 20:20

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Original poster

Bicnod · 21/05/2010 20:20

janajos - my gut feeling is to wait and keep a close eye on him and if his breathing changes/if he's in pain (more pain than the usual teething pain) then take him to a&e. also try to get him to eat some banana and yoghurt if/when he wakes. its so hard to know what to do for the best - if there's really nothing they can do then i don't want to wake him up and upset him unecessarily.

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Original poster

Bicnod · 21/05/2010 20:21

Pixie that sounds really scary. I'll wait and see what the on-call doctor says - if he/she says go to a&e then i'll definitely go.

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janajos · 21/05/2010 20:23

That sounds reasonable to me. It is so horrible to have to make these decisions on your own; I really feel for you! I would listen to your instinct (you have a sleeping baby) and your DH's doctor friend who seems to make sense to me....

multimummy · 21/05/2010 20:26

Several of the shards were around 3mm by 9mm or so. Lots of smaller shards. Was that paper thin white plastic that they do blade guards in. Quite sharp where it had shattered under the blade.

WhatFreshHellIsThis · 21/05/2010 20:32

poor you Bicnod - lots of sympathy from fellow April mum here

see what out of hours doc says, but don't worry. He'll most probably be absolutely fine, just trust your instincts.

Original poster

Bicnod · 21/05/2010 20:37

goimg now

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angel1976 · 21/05/2010 20:38

My DS1 swallowed staples not too long ago. Was putting DS2 to bed and came down to find him chewing about 5-6 of them. I pulled them all out of his mouth but thought I saw one at the back of his mouth before he closed his mouth and it was gone. Got advised by NHS Direct to go to A&E and we did. We were there from 7-10pm and amazingly DS1 was pretty ok. They did a chest x-ray and saw nothing and he is still here 2 months on (fingers crossed!). I was beside myself and even tried to make him vomit in the hope of making the staple come up. DS1 was so upset, I will never forget it... Good luck, I hope your DS is fine...

PixieOnaLeaf · 21/05/2010 20:42

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blinks · 21/05/2010 20:51

you'll be told to check all poos until it's retrieved. it's the only way to know if it's passed through the system. normally only takes a couple of days.

at least he's in nappies so it'll be easier to wade through it.

nice.

personally, i'd just keep an eye on him from poss breathing/vomiting/pain.

if none of the above, he'll be fine.

angel1976 · 21/05/2010 21:32

I was told on the thread I posted in panic that the way to check poos for small objects is to use a strainer (and throw away afterwards of course). Yeeeeeuuuuuuwww, I love my DS1 but not quite that much.

Good luck. We made going to the hospital into a big adventure. He really enjoyed it. We didn't.

beammeupscotty · 21/05/2010 22:14

I work for NHS Direct and used to work in A&E!! I would say if hes OK now and you were reasonably sure it was not particularly sharp (your NHS Advisor has to err on side of caution re sharp edges unfortunately), you needn't attend A&E. But when you get to A&E they wont XRay but will advise check poo daily for offending item, and look out for appearance of abdo pain, vomiting etc in next few days. Your OOH DR and NHSD nurse are playing it safe I'm afraid, as at least in A&E the child can be looked at (just in case you are a half-witted mum who doesn't recognise a sick baby!) Sorry we do live in a very nannified state, but also in a very litigous country too!
Bit of a wasted journey I fear.
PS I always give above information and leave it for the parent to make the decision as my crystal ball doesnt work too well at the moment I never tell anyone what to do as I dont want to get sued either

Original poster

Bicnod · 21/05/2010 22:19

We're back. Lovely lovely neighbour took me and DS. I went quickly as DS woke up coughing and screaming (he has been coughing and screaming a lot recently because of teething but I was suddenly very scared).

We were seen really really quickly - from arrival to leaving was one hour - amazing.

Doctor listened to his chest front and back and felt his tummy. She said that if it was caught in his throat we'd know about it and as long as his tummy stays soft and he doesn't seem in pain then he should be fine. She said to keep an eye out for it in his nappies and it should take about 24 hours to pass.

Pheweeeeeee. He was so good. I grabbed Dear Zoo on the way out and he just sat on my lap and read it the whole time. He's currently in bed at the moment beetling around and on his way to sleep.

Thank you so much for all your posts - MN is a wonderful thing, especially when your DH is away on a stag do and your son swallows some plastic.

Slightly embarrassed by the fact that I turned up to A&E in my PJs, but hey ho.

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PixieOnaLeaf · 21/05/2010 23:32

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janajos · 22/05/2010 07:18

am so glad you are both ok> have inadvertantly turned on a filter key on my computer so no punctuation or capital letters available!! at least now you can sleep!! unlike me< up with ds three (have to type it as numbers have disappeared too!!) aged eleven months>

Original poster

Bicnod · 22/05/2010 07:19

Thanks Pixie You're right - I would definitely still be worrying.

No plastic in his morning poo. I hope it turns up soon - raking through DS's nappies is not a job for the fainthearted.

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