The child swallowed a plastic stick. What to do if a child swallows a foreign body

I don't let Alice keep my eyes on her. Or rather, she doesn't take her eyes off me. You can’t move away from her, she immediately cries. That's how we live - either I'm with her, or she's with me. I’m very afraid that she will flop off the sofa, I’ve been laying a bunch of blankets on the floor for the last week, crawling around, having fun. As soon as I get up from her, she immediately calls me back. Either in my arms, or I sit next to her and hold her so that she doesn’t hit her head. A couple of times I fell on my side and hit my head, not too much. but it caused dissatisfaction. In general, we are inseparable. Even in my dad’s arms, her eyes immediately look for me and if I smile, she herself is in a great mood and smiles from ear to ear. Yesterday I put her in the crib and gave her a toy - a rubber fish. You press it and it beeps. Well, there is a whistle in it, an ordinary toy. She specifically took care of her, I was washing the dishes (our partition between the kitchen and the living room is half demolished, we are always in sight of each other), I was washing the dishes and heard her squeaking with this toy. Yesterday she didn’t poop (Alice can poop every other day, this has happened since birth and doesn’t bother me). Moderately capricious... What can I say, she is often dissatisfied. In general, today I take out a fish from the corner of the crib, it does not squeak - there is no whistle in it. Right there under the crib - it wasn’t on the floor, Alice handed it to her husband, she rummaged through the whole bed, down to the board, took everything out... In the area, she crawled on her knees. I crumpled the toy several times - there is no whistle inside the toy! For my husband, get ready, we'll do an ultrasound. I was actually scared. Although Alice shows no visible signs of discomfort. Iuzh says - call the paid phone number (IDK) - see if it works. I called Kalinin. So and so, the fish had a whistle, now there is no whistle, my daughter behaves normally. The doctor on duty there says that the device is not working now, the ultrasound will not see anything. In such cases, they do an x-ray, but it shows the iron and won’t see the plastic. In general, he says, a 6-month-old child is unlikely to be able to swallow anything other than liquid. Even if she swallowed it, she would either refuse to eat or vomit. Well, let's talk, she reassured me. Yes, it somehow calmed me down. I went through everything again. If you didn’t swallow it, then it must be somewhere, that damn whistle! No. Alice poops, there is no whistle in her diaper. I go online and read on all sorts of forums. At 8 months, someone swallowed the beans and barely came out naturally. Mostly after a year they swallow. Oh, they don’t swallow anything... In short, it’s theoretically possible. I read articles - objects can seriously injure the esophagus. Wow, Christmas trees. I still call the IDK - this way and that... They say, leave your number, they will call you back. I wait 10 minutes for the call, I feel Alisa’s belly... I calm down, I read the baby ru Alice is crawling with her husband... There is no call, I climb again - what to do if the child swallows... Again I read horror stories. I take another toy with a whistle, I take it out, it’s about a centimeter long. We need to check whether the whistle in the fish was the same. I grab the fish - something is shaking inside. shook it again - exactly! whistle in the fish. In general, it was soooo relieved, I can’t describe it. I pulled out all the whistles. If a 6 month old child managed to press the whistle. This means it can be squeezed out, or maybe swallowed. Fuuuuuhhh, everything around is so dangerous...

It is very important for every parent what to do if a child swallows a plastic part and what to do and who to contact. How not to waste precious time?

Danger level

As a rule, plastic parts, such as those in the famous designer, should not be considered particularly dangerous. Moreover, in most cases they can even leave the body naturally, especially if their mass is not large and their contours are spherical or oval.

In addition, all plastics do not change their properties at body temperature, do not oxidize, and are not broken down by pancreatic enzymes or gastric acid.

However, everything is not as cloudless as it might seem at first glance. The process of moving a plastic object through the intestinal tube will irritate the intestinal mucosa, which will lead to spasms of the intestinal tube.

As a result, there is a possibility of developing acute intestinal obstruction - a life-threatening condition that, without emergency medical care, will lead to death.

In addition to intestinal obstruction, ingestion of plastic foreign objects can lead to organ perforation. True, in the case of plastic products this probability is small.

If a part gets into the windpipe when swallowed, a serious condition may develop associated with blockage of the larynx by a foreign object, which will lead to acute suffocation.

Clinical manifestations

When a foreign object gets into the windpipe, a special, characteristic symptom complex arises, which cannot be confused with anything else. In such situations, a coughing attack occurs, the child’s face turns blue or pale, and drooling sharply increases.

If a plastic foreign object enters the digestive system, especially if the object is small in size, no pathological manifestations may occur. The child can be quite active, his behavior will not differ from usual, natural functions will correspond to the norm.

If the swallowed object is large, there will most likely be pain in the throat or behind the sternum, increased salivation, fear, and possibly nausea and vomiting. It is possible that the intensity and location of pain will change, correlating with the advancement of the foreign object.

Procedure

First of all, you need to call an ambulance without wasting a second of time. If the child’s condition is satisfactory, and the time of arrival of the emergency team is not determined, it is better to get to the medical facility on your own.

What not to do with a child who has swallowed a plastic part?

It is strictly forbidden to force a child to cough, give enemas, provoke vomiting, give laxatives, or give a piece of stale bread to push through a foreign object.

A small child is such a restless creature that constantly requires the attention and vigilant control of mom, dad and grandmother. As soon as the baby learns to crawl and then walk, he begins to explore the world and various objects. And it’s good if he just took a book, spoon or any other object to play. But little children love to try different objects. And sometimes a mother, without seeing how her miracle swallowed a battery or a designer part, cannot understand why he suddenly felt bad, and where this terrible cough came from.

The baby’s desire to taste everything is nothing more than a natural reaction to the outside world, a desire to explore surrounding things with the help of taste buds. But often, just licking and trying to chew on the item being examined does not end the matter. As a rule, the last stage of getting to know an object is swallowing it. What to do in such a situation, what to do first, and what absolutely should not be done? About all this in our article today.

The eaten thing can leave the body on its own. But since this happens rarely, you should not sit over the child and wait for this moment. You need to provide first aid immediately to prevent dangerous consequences.

Each swallowed object can behave differently in the body. In addition, the algorithm of actions is different. For example, if a baby swallows a button (a streamlined, smooth object), it may come out on its own. Larger and more dangerous objects (needle, magnet, battery) can linger in the gastrointestinal tract and cause trouble. In this case, you need to call a doctor or take the baby to a medical facility.

And since swallowed products behave differently in a child’s body and their traumatic effect is also different, the first aid algorithm will also be different. More details about first aid in the table.

The most dangerous items if swallowed are the following:

1. Having large sizes. This is fraught with intestinal obstruction due to blockage by a foreign body.
2. Having sharp and piercing edges. If such objects enter the gastrointestinal tract, there is a risk of puncturing the walls of the stomach or intestines, which will necessitate surgery.
3. Small button-shaped batteries. There is an electrode inside such products, which can discharge in the esophagus or stomach and injure organs.

Reasons why children swallow various objects

Foreign bodies in children's bellies are found more often than in adults; appendicitis is operated on or CVS pathologies, in particular heart attack, are diagnosed. According to statistics, every fifth child in the world swallows something that is clearly unfit for food. Every parent needs to be as vigilant as possible so that a small alien thing does not cause big trouble.

So why does the baby constantly put everything he sees into his mouth? The main thing is to understand a simple truth: it is not the child’s fault for accidentally swallowing a ring or button. In childhood, there are several objective physiological reasons why children swallow all sorts of unnecessary things. The main thing is not to blame him and not to scold him in any way. All you need to do if you see that your child “had breakfast” with a pen cap is to help him and call a doctor.

The main reasons for cognition of everything around us through swallowing include:

• lack of adequate assessment of the physical parameters of objects. The child does not understand that the thing is sharp, hot, hard, or at least inedible;
• lack of self-preservation instinct. It doesn’t cost a child anything to put an object into his mouth that just by its appearance repels an adult;
• lack of negative experience. The “don’t put poop in your mouth” program is not laid down at the genetic level. The child needs to experience the problem in practice. Only in this way will he be able to understand that this cannot be done, otherwise his stomach will hurt and an unfamiliar uncle in a white coat will come.

Even if there had already been a sad experience, the baby might simply not have learned it. In other words, several similar situations are needed to develop the reflex “you can’t put it in your mouth, chew it, or lick it.”

• lack of proper communication. Young children cannot yet share negative experiences; they are not able to discuss different situations, in particular those that happened to them. In other words, the child cannot tell that he swallowed a designer part, the mother panicked and called the doctors, who came and began to scold him.

In general, children do not yet realize the seriousness of the situation; they do not know what it entails. In such a situation, all you have to do is provide first aid and consult a doctor so that nothing bad happens to your baby.

What age children are most likely to experience this problem?

Babies may put an object in their mouth as soon as they can reach it. This means that the “starting point” when mom and dad need to be especially vigilant is the seventh or eighth month of life. That is, when a child begins to crawl and tries in every possible way to reach the unknown.

At this time, little things seem to be created so that parents are constantly in tension. Since a baby’s vision is imperfect in the first year of life, and he is just learning to focus, first of all he will fix his gaze on something bright and small that appears in his path.

Sometimes new mothers are saved by the fact that due to imperfect vision, the child may simply not see a dangerous object nearby, even if it is very close. But under no circumstances should you hope that your child will not notice a dangerous thing.

According to statistics, most often children swallow foreign parts between the ages of one and three. During this period, they become more nimble, many are already taking their first steps, which means that the reach zone of the “toy”, which must be tried, increases.

Parents always need to be on their guard. It should be understood that the age of little “swallowers” ​​is not limited to either three or six years. Then the age of various experiments will begin, when children may deliberately or consciously try an inedible thing. This is especially true for those who go to kindergarten or have many friends, and subconsciously try to brag about their achievements to others.

A school-age child, even while at home studying his homework, may accidentally swallow an object that was previously just hanging around in his mouth. And there are many such examples. Therefore, parents need to always be on guard, even if the child is already 7 years old.

How to tell if your child has eaten something inedible

The fact that a child has swallowed a small part, be it a bead, a coin or a nut, often goes unnoticed. Mom may find out about this by accident when the eaten item comes out along with the feces. And it’s good if it all ends this way. But more often than not, everything happens a little differently.

And only an attentive parent can suspect something is wrong. What should be alarming is that the child suddenly became whiny, his behavior changed dramatically. In this case, the baby may feel guilty, which is why he stops behaving as he usually does.

In this case, you need to try to talk to him and try to find out if he accidentally swallowed the “colored candy.” Moreover, the conversation should be calm, the tone should be affectionate. Believe me, you won’t achieve anything by screaming, the child will close in on himself and will refuse to make contact in every possible way. Even if he feels bad, he will tolerate it, but will not tell you anything.

If the child is still very small and is not able to tell you what happened, you can understand what happened to him by the following signs. Often, a foreign body entering a child’s gastrointestinal tract (especially if it is larger than 1 cm) appears immediately and is usually accompanied by the following symptoms:

• sharp sudden choking;
• we cry;
• increased salivation;
• belching;
• nausea and vomiting;
• changes in the characteristics of feces, for example the appearance of mucus in them;
• behavioral disorder;
• loss of consciousness (in rare cases);
• paleness;
• loss of appetite;
• increasing temperature.

Most often, children swallow foreign objects that do not exceed the diameter of the esophagus, and therefore the entire gastrointestinal tract, and this in turn means that the part can come out naturally. Sometimes, due to a delay in the folds of the gastrointestinal tract, the object does not come out along with the feces.

In this case, it is necessary to take the child to the hospital. Do not hesitate to visit a specialist, this is fraught with disastrous consequences.

What actions are contraindicated

In panic, we can, albeit unconsciously, make the situation worse. In order not to harm the baby even more, every parent should know what absolutely should not be done if the child has swallowed something inedible.

1. Do not shake the baby under any circumstances, do not pat him on the back, do not turn him upside down (in the hope that the object will fall out). Such actions are fraught with unfolding of the object in a narrow place, displacement into the respiratory tract, and injury to the gastrointestinal mucosa.

2. Do not force your child to eat a crust of bread if he chokes on a fish bone. This can cause injury to the esophageal mucosa.

Do not remove the swallowed product yourself, either with your fingers or with tweezers. This must be done by a doctor, using sterile instruments.

3. If your baby has a cough or begins to choke and the ambulance has not yet arrived, place him face down on your knee. In this case, the upper half of the body should be lowered. Tap lightly with your fingers between your shoulder blades.

Is it possible to prevent the problem?

Unfortunately, parents do not have 100 eyes and they cannot follow every step and action of the child. Some children's affairs remain without parental attention. And it’s good if everything ends well, and not with hospitalization. To minimize the risk of foreign bodies entering the child’s body, experts advise:

• remove small parts from the floor;
• buy toys according to age;
• do not allow your child to play with pins, needles, or glass;
• if a child plays with beads, toys with a magnet must be with him all the time;
• prevent thermometers, building materials, and nails from falling into the child’s hands.

Babies from 1 to 3 years old are especially restless and interested in everything that surrounds them. Sometimes this interest ends sadly: the child swallows a foreign body, which causes severe pain and can be life-threatening.

What to do if a child swallows a foreign object?

Signs of an object entering the esophagus

If a foreign object enters the baby’s esophagus in front of parents or other adults, the situation becomes simpler. In this case, you can immediately assess the level of danger and take urgent measures (call an ambulance, try to induce vomiting so that the foreign body leaves the body).

It is much worse if the baby was alone with small parts of toys or sharp objects. In this case, the following symptoms can inform you of what happened:

• nausea, vomiting
• moodiness, irritability;
• loss of consciousness;
• belching, drooling;
• loss of appetite;
• elevated temperature;
• stool mixed with mucus or blood.

The shape and material from which the item is made is of great importance.

The following may pose a danger to life:

• mercury, if the baby broke the thermometer and then swallowed balls of heavy metal;
• plasticine;
• magnets, batteries;
  glass and other small sharp objects.

If your child swallows a button or bead, do not panic. Round plastic or metal objects are not harmful and will soon be excreted from the body along with feces.

Round objects

The situation when a child swallows a plum pit or a button is not so tragic. A round object without sharp edges made of a safe material or of natural origin will pass through the esophagus into the stomach and intestines and will be expelled independently with feces on the second or third day.

The same will happen with beads, dry peas, coins with a diameter of no more than 2 cm. In this case, you should carefully monitor the baby’s condition. If he is calm and does not experience pain or discomfort, you can calmly wait until the foreign body leaves the body. It is worth going to the hospital if the child complains of pain, there is blood in the stool, or other alarming conditions are observed.

If your baby swallows a button or plastic part of a toy, try to make sure there are no jagged edges or sharp corners. You can ask older children what they played with the day before. As a rule, it is possible to find out what exactly the child ate.

If you suspect that a plastic part has nicks or corners, you should immediately go to the hospital. When passing through the esophagus, an object can injure it and cause irreparable consequences.

Many mothers are frightened by the situation when the baby swallows his baby tooth. After all, it is also jagged, which means it can cause bleeding. However, such logic has no basis. The tooth has a streamlined shape and smoothed edges. The small size of the tooth helps it easily pass through the esophagus without touching the walls.

If your baby swallows a tooth, don't despair and just wait until it comes out on its own. Some mothers tend to think that the tooth can introduce an infection into the digestive tract and cause inflammation. Such reasoning is baseless. Even if the tooth had a carious cavity, the bacteria that are on it are already present in the microflora of the digestive tract.

Thus, the baby tooth is not dangerous. If the child feels well, just wait until the tooth comes out in the stool. A baby tooth is a natural foreign body that does not pose a danger.

Batteries and magnets

If a child swallows a magnet or battery, the alarm should be sounded. Many parents think that such a detail will not cause harm, and the situation is not dangerous. But that's not true.

If a child swallows a battery, it begins to break down under the influence of stomach acid. An electrolyte reaction begins, which is life-threatening. In addition, toxic substances contained in the battery can lead to poisoning.

If a child swallows a magnet, it can affect the water and electrolyte balance in the body. The situation gets worse if there were 2 or more magnets. Today, children's toy manufacturers produce magnetic alphabet books with small letters, and curious children often put them in their mouths. Several magnets, located in the esophagus or stomach, can attract each other and cause injury to internal organs.

If you suspect that your baby has eaten magnets, go to the hospital immediately. There, doctors will use X-rays to determine their location and remove them from the body.

Sharp objects

A situation can be called catastrophic if a child swallows glass or other sharp parts. This applies to pins, needles, and sharpened small parts of toys.

In this case, you should not hesitate and wait until they leave the body on their own. Sharp edges damage the walls of internal organs and provoke bleeding. You should go to the hospital immediately, since a foreign body poses a real danger to life.

Sticky items

It often happens that a child has swallowed chewing gum or plasticine. There is nothing terrible in this situation, and there is no need to panic.

If a child swallows chewing gum, it will soon dissolve under the influence of gastric juice, turn into a liquid mass and be excreted in the feces. The most important thing is that it does not contain toxic substances that can cause allergies or poisoning. Antihistamines or sorbents will help prevent the latter.

Plasticine scares many mothers. But there is no need to be afraid. Children's plasticine is non-toxic and can be easily neutralized with a product such as Espumisan or Enterosgel.

Today, many manufacturers produce plasticine for babies on a natural basis. If you notice that during home modeling lessons your child often puts plasticine into his mouth, buy him a special modeling dough or prepare it yourself from water, salt and flour. This “plasticine” will be completely safe, and you will not be afraid to leave your child alone with the material.

Mercury

If a child breaks a thermometer, the situation is dangerous not only for him, but also for the whole family. Mercury can spread throughout the room and be difficult to collect. A broken thermometer must be thrown away immediately, and the mercury must be collected using paper, a brush or a broom (you cannot pick up a broken thermometer and mercury) and eliminated (pour it into a jar of water).

If a child breaks a thermometer, immediately pay attention to its condition. Mercury can cause severe poisoning, the symptoms of which will appear immediately:

• shortness of breath, difficulty breathing;
• vomiting, nausea;
• dizziness;
• stomach ache.

At the first signs of intoxication, take your child to the doctor or call an ambulance. While the doctors arrive, you can try to induce vomiting in the baby. If your baby breaks the thermometer, open the windows and let in fresh air. It will eliminate harmful metal fumes.

If a child breaks a thermometer, mercury is not the only danger. The baby may swallow pieces of glass. In this case, the thermometer he broke poses another serious threat. Call an ambulance immediately, as damage to internal organs caused by a sharp object can also lead to poisoning.

What's waiting in the hospital?

If your baby swallows a foreign body and you take him to the hospital, rely on the professionalism of the doctors. Be sure to tell the doctors whether the child put the object in their mouth (if such information is available). If a child breaks a thermometer and may have swallowed mercury or glass, doctors should be informed about this. Intoxication may be added to damage from a sharp object.

First, doctors will determine the location of the foreign body in the body using an x-ray or ultrasound. The extraction operation is usually performed under general anesthesia using a special loop. In severe cases, bleeding may require surgery.

Prevention

In order not to worry about your baby, it is better to prevent a dangerous situation than to prevent it later:

Do not leave your child alone with small or sharp objects.
Do not allow the thermometer to be handled, even if you are carrying out treatment, so that the child does not accidentally break it. Remember that it contains life-threatening mercury.
Prepare your child's play area so that she does not reach for foreign objects.
Buy plasticine based on natural materials or special modeling dough. Even if the baby eats a little, nothing bad will happen.
Constantly explain which items are edible and which are not.
A foreign body in the esophagus is dangerous and harmful to the child. Try by all means to prevent it. If a foreign body enters the esophagus, be sure to

consult your doctor. Thus, you will eliminate the threat to the baby’s life.

Children are very inquisitive and take great pleasure in tasting the world around them. Therefore, parents are not always able to protect them from swallowing various foreign objects or inhaling their parts.

Evgeniy Komarovsky, a pediatrician of the highest category, talks about how to act in such a situation.

What do they choke on and is it dangerous?

There are a wide variety of objects that a child may swallow or inhale, and the severity of the situation must be assessed based on what exactly the baby has swallowed. It is clear that a small and smooth cherry pit that gets into the digestive tract will not cause any harm to the baby. You don’t have to worry - after a while the baby successfully goes to the toilet and the same cherry pit will be found in the feces. The same can be said about situations in which a child suddenly swallows gum.

Therefore, parents should evaluate the nature of the surface of the swallowed object, as well as its size.

Even if a child swallows a plastic part from a construction set, one should talk about danger only if this part has sharp, uneven edges, which theoretically could injure the esophagus or intestinal walls.

The most dangerous objects that children often swallow are:

• button batteries and regular AA batteries;
• screws;
• small nails;
• pins;
• coins;
• large buttons;
• glass;
• pits from plums, fish, chicken, dates.

In this case, parents should definitely contact a medical facility, even if the child looks good and does not show any negative symptoms. Signs may appear later, and it is important to prevent this.

However, a foreign body that enters the respiratory tract rarely “behaves” without symptoms. And such an incident often requires emergency assistance. Indeed, a swallowed foreign object itself, even if it is paper, a napkin, or if a baby chokes on food, may well harm the child, but much more often he is harmed by the unreasonable and incorrect actions of colicky parents.

Parents should at least have a rough idea of ​​not only the size and texture of what they swallow, but also the volume.

A harmless cherry pit will not cause harm if there is one, maximum two or three. But just a handful of these seeds can cause intestinal obstruction.

What to do?

If a child swallows a foreign object and begins to feel sick, then Komarovsky does not advise parents to interfere with this important process - the gag reflex is very wisely invented by nature precisely to rid the body of a foreign object.

If an object is swallowed and the baby does not show reflexive attempts to get rid of it, but the object belongs to the group of dangerous, it is important to immediately call an ambulance. While the doctors are traveling, the child should not be given anything to eat or drink.

If the object is safe and does not bother the child in any way, then you should wait until it leaves the child’s body in a completely natural way along with feces during bowel movements.

It is much more difficult to independently deal with the situation when a child has inhaled a small object. A foreign body stuck in the trachea is manifested by a strong suffocating cough, limited inhalation, cyanosis (blue discoloration of the skin and lips) may appear, the child may bulge his eyes, he will suffocate and may even lose consciousness.

If the child is breathing, there is no need to do anything, you need to wait for the ambulance. The maximum that needs to be done if the baby is breathing independently is to open the windows wide and ensure the flow of a large amount of regular fresh air.

Attempts to hit the child on the back or shake his head down will not lead to any good - the object can move further along the trachea and lead to mechanical asphyxia.

If a foreign body becomes lodged in the gastrointestinal tract, symptoms will depend on where exactly it occurs. When the esophagus is blocked, difficulty swallowing occurs, saliva flows intensely, and there is pain in the chest area.

If an object is stuck in the stomach, there will be pain in the stomach and an unproductive urge to vomit. When the intestines are blocked, abdominal pain occurs, blood and mucus appear in the stool, there may be no bowel movements, and bloating is observed.

First aid

Komarovsky advises providing first aid only if the child is not breathing. In this case, the Heimlich maneuver, which every mother should know, will help. While the baby is coughing, this means that there is a chance that the body itself will get rid of the foreign object.

If the cough stops and the object does not come out, you need to move on to active action.

• Take a position behind the child, with the front of your body facing his back, and hug him from behind with your arms.
• Make a fist with your right hand and place the bend of your thumb on your tummy between your navel and ribs.
• The open palm of the second hand is placed on top of the fist and with quick and precise movements the fist is pressed into the stomach.
• Repeat as many times as necessary to clear the airways. If everything worked out, the skin acquires a normal color, breathing is restored.

If the child is small, place him on a hard, flat surface (the floor) and take a kneeling position next to him. The middle and index fingers of the mother’s hands should be placed on the child in the same epigastric region described above; the pressure should be applied gently, upward towards the diaphragm.

If a child has pushed something into his nose, Komarovsky recommends using a technique called “mother’s kiss.” The technique was invented in 1965 by Canadian emergency physician Stephanie Cook.

The essence of the method is this:

1. the mother presses her lips tightly to the baby’s mouth;
2. closes the nostril free from foreign objects with your hand;
3. inhales forcefully into the baby's mouth;
4. the air flow “presses” on the foreign object and it leaves the place in the nasal passages.

The method helps in about 60% of cases. But even if the appointment is successful, the child must still be examined by a doctor as soon as possible.

Watch another first aid technique from Dr. Komarovsky in the following video.

Prohibited Parental Activities

While the ambulance is traveling, an open window and vigilant monitoring of the baby’s behavior and well-being by adults will be enough.

There is no need to try to push objects stuck in the esophagus or nose using any available means. Parents who have ever met or heard from the older generation recommendations to give a choking child something hard, for example, a bread crust or cracker, can reach this point.