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Original poster

Could my 2 yo have managed to get sweetcorn stuck in his nasal cavity?

28 replies

pastalady · 24/04/2007 14:10

My 2 year old recently decided to experiment with putting sweetcorn up his nose. It was taken off the menu for a while, especially as he managed to get two peices up one of his nostrils which was scary. He did it with peas the other day too, but luckily had a sneezing fit soon after and the peas 'fired out' of his nose. I left it about a month but STUPIDLY gave him sweetcorn yesterday. He was as good as gold with it, then I left the room for 10 seconds to grab a drink, came back and there he was, eye's watering, fingers up his nose! I checked his nostrils and they both looked clear but ever since he is fiddling with his nose allot and has started talking all nasaly, like he has a blocked up nose, yet he doesn't have much of a snotty nose.

So, the big question is - could he have somehow managed to push the sweetcorn up into his nasal cavity or am I just being daft. If he did, what's the treatment? Will it work its way out or stay there? I don't want to turn up at the doctors and be laughed at but I don't want my son to have rotting sweetcorn in his nasal cavity.

Advise please!!!

OP posts:
SoupDragon · 24/04/2007 14:16

Yes, he could have. I think you have to go to doctor/A&E.

SoupDragon · 24/04/2007 14:17

Can he blow his nose? Have you tried getting him to snort it out by blocking off the clear nostril ang getting him to blow out of his nose. At 2 he may well be too young to understand this though.

WigWamBam · 24/04/2007 14:18

Yes, he could. Very easily.

My dd did it with fresh peas once.

I had to take her to A&E to get them taken out, and I'd advise you to do that too.

WendyWeber · 24/04/2007 14:18

Could you try and get him either to blow his nose or to sneeze? (Was thinking of pepper - would that be evil? Nicer for him than A&E and being poked about though - OTOH he might learn not to do it again...)

Children, who'd have 'em

PrincessPeaHead · 24/04/2007 14:18

yes very easy and very common
you'll need to have it looked at, it will go bad and smell and cause an infection

bad luck!

TeeCee · 24/04/2007 14:19

Very possible, sorry but you have a 3 hour stint in A&E ahead of you!

Original poster
pastalady · 24/04/2007 14:21

Unfortunality he isn't one for blowing noses. All I have to go on is how his breathing sounds. He basically sounds like he has a cold and like he is very congested but there is very little snot. When he drinks he is very 'snorty' too.

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Original poster
pastalady · 24/04/2007 14:22

WigWamBam, could you actually see them up there?

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Original poster
pastalady · 24/04/2007 14:23

Well, I said I'd give it a day and I have and he's still very snorty.

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LIZS · 24/04/2007 14:24

Very possible I'm afraid. dd had a Hama bead incident a week or two back, got it out with sneezing and tweezers in the end but someone responded on here afterwards with a correct way to do it see here . Might be worth a go before A and E.

PrincessPeaHead · 24/04/2007 14:24

what are you waiting for? not being rude, it just that it sounds very clear what has happened

futurity · 24/04/2007 14:25

we've had that with raisons and peas...and yes on occasions we couldn't even see it up there without shining a very small torch up his nose!

WigWamBam · 24/04/2007 14:25

The first one I could see - and was able to remove it.

When she shoved the next two up, I couldn't. But she told me what she'd done, and it was only minutes after the first one so I knew they were there.

Trying to get them out yourself could shove them even further up and make them more difficult to get out so I think you should get him to A&E now.

When I took dd, they took her through almost straight away, because it was something the nurse could do herself rather than wait for a doctor. Maybe we were lucky though!

Hope you get on OK.

futurity · 24/04/2007 14:30

we've had that with raisons and peas...and yes on occasions we couldn't even see it up there without shining a very small torch up his nose!

Original poster
pastalady · 24/04/2007 14:31

PrincessPeaHead, the problem was I didn't actually see him do it. I came back, he was rubbing his nose, I took the sweetcorn off him, checked his nose and couldn't see anything up there. DH said it would be really hard for him to get something into his nasal cavity but to keep an eye on him and the snufflyness has remained.

Have just made an emergancy appointment with the doctor for this afternoon.

Really worried now If there is sweetcorn up there I dread to think how unpleasant it will be for them to get it out.

OP posts:
Original poster
pastalady · 24/04/2007 14:31

How did they get it out to those who DC's got stuff stuck up there?

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Original poster
pastalady · 24/04/2007 14:33

Thanks for the link LIZS

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WigWamBam · 24/04/2007 14:35

Your dh is wrong - it's not hard to get something stuck up there at all.

Don't worry about it not being nice for the GP to take it out - it won't be the first time s/he's had to do it.

It might upset your son a bit though because they have to shove equipment up his nose so be prepared with a few extra cuddles, and maybe a chocolate bar for being a brave boy while they do it.

Hopefully it will put him off doing it again ... it certainly put dd off.

Although she was adamant that she didn't put them up there ... "they fell upwards into my nose, Mummy".

LIZS · 24/04/2007 14:35

When dd had her previous nasal incident(strip of cloth) it was a long tweezer job at Paediatric A and E (private and it cost over £300) . She was upset but managed to stay still long enough. tbh I think A and E would be a better bet given your ds' age and how far it has gone in.

Original poster
pastalady · 24/04/2007 14:39

WigWamBam, It's by DS I'm worried about, not the doc. If they have to restrain him and poke about in his nose. He's not going to understand whats going on and it's almost certainly going to really upset him. Better than getting an infection though. Poor DS.

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WigWamBam · 24/04/2007 14:40

When dd did it, the nurse had a funnel that she shoved up dd's nose then used a long metal stick and a pair of very thin plier-type things to try and get it out. It took a while and at one point the nurse said that she was going to get a doctor to admit dd to have to removed under anaethetic, but I begged her to try one more time (wimpy mum!). She got dd to blow her nose, which just shifted it enough for the nurse to be able to grab it with the pliers, and the nurse just whipped it out.

I won't lie and say it didn't hurt; it did hurt her a little, but it was all over within about 15 minutes ... although that seemed a long time at the time!

Original poster
pastalady · 24/04/2007 14:43

I live out in the sticks and don't have my own transport. It would take about 3 hours on the bus at least. I will see what the doc says and get my DH to come home early with the car and take us there if he thinks the equipment will be more suitable at A&E.

What if there's old sweetcorn and even old peas up there!

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Original poster
pastalady · 24/04/2007 14:47

Thank goodness I came on this thread. Just googled the subject too and I REALLY should have taken him immedialtey, I just couldn't see anything and I didn't know.

He is SO never having peas or sweetcorn again until he is at least 10.

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Original poster
pastalady · 24/04/2007 15:07

Thanks for all your advice. Appnt at 4pm. Will report back later.

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WigWamBam · 24/04/2007 16:14

Hope everything's OK, pastalady! Let us know how you got on.