The other day Z was feeling chatty in the car and mentioned that "Last year I put a penny in my mouth and I forgot and I swallowed it." "Last year" being her blanket term for anything that happened more than a day ago, we were uncertain how to proceed. So what happens if your toddler swallows a penny? What are you supposed to do?
You may want to consult with your own pediatrician in such an event, but here's what our kid doc's office told us: Don't worry, unless your child chokes on it, gets sick, complains of persistent abdominal pain, has trouble breathing, or gets a cough and can't shake it. A penny (or even a quarter!) can easily pass through the digestive tract and will probably do so within 24-48 hours. If you know when they swallowed it, you can watch their stool and probably find it (fun!). In our case, the nurse advised us to forget about it - she almost guaranteed us that it had passed, and said it wasn't worth getting an X-ray to investigate the absurdly remote possibility that it had not.
Again, we aren't doctors, and yours may disagree with our own. We're just passing this on in case your child makes a similar declaration and you're trying not to panic.
Monday, May 07, 2007
What To Do If Your Child Swallows A Penny
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4 comments:
As a pediatrician I would recommend waiting and watching it out if there is no sharp object involved...
IF there is choking, significant abdominal pain etc. then a visit to the pediatrician is needed. Batteries however should be removed ASAP.
For more queries you can contact medical experts at http://www.simplyanswer.com/
Thanks!! My child swallowed a penny this morning & we called the poison control center who told us the same...I have heard recently that magnets, however, can cause considerable damage. I had never heard this before & my kids always played with those refrigerator ABC magnets. Is this something we should take away from the two year old?
To Anonymous: If your child swallowed a penny, they may swallow something else so yes, for now I would remove the refrigerator magnets. You can always buy sticker books that have letters at craft stores and box stores.
Ok- seriously... Gray just swallowed a penny. And I googled and your site came up- too funny. So I'm going to wait and see...
Steph
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