Most parents take extensive lengths to make their home safe for thier children. These dedicated parents cover outlets, baby proof the cabinets, and even put up gates to confine the kids to a smaller, safer space. Despite these precautions, one type of incident has been increasing steadily in the last 20 years; the number of ER visits for young children that have ingested small objects has doubled. This progression has largely been due to the increase of small objects found in people's homes over the years. Things like coins, buttons, and jewlery have always been subject to swallowing, but objects like batteries have been a more recent problem. As most would assume, swallowing small objects can cause problems in breathing. However, some do not realize that batteries and other objects such as magnets have been known to cause internal damage in children who swallow them. One suggested technique to make your home safer include putting yourself in the child's perspective so you can see what small objects are accessible.
Questions:
What other ways (besides keeping small objects away) would you suggest to keep kids safer from swallowing small objects?
I would put tape over things like remotes that have batteries in them. Also, I would keep small magnets towards the top of the fridge and put only the bigger magnets (that they couldn't swallow) at reaching level.
Did you play with/accidentally swallow small objects at a young age (6 or younger)?
I don't think that I ever swallowed any small objects when I was younger, but I did play with legos and other small toys at a young age. My siblings and I always liked to count up the coins that we had collected and saved away.
Full articles:
https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/12/health/kids-swallow-objects-study/index.html
Replies
Great job Lauren!
I would first make sure that there was no small objects in the reach of a child. To make the place safer for the kid, I would do the same things like putting up gates and locking cabinets. I don't think that I swallowed anything harmful when I was a kid. I just had no desire to.
I would buy bigger objects and pick up after myself so the child would not choke on it. Children are always going to find something interesting that they want to feel, touch, and taste. All you can really do is get the object out of their hand and put it somewhere else and keep a watchful eye on them. When I was younger I chocked on candy. I also thought that dimes were candy so I tried to swallow them.
Little kids are little kids and no matter where or what you do to keep small objects away from them they always find a way to get them. I remember I swallowed a penny once when I was younger but it didn't really hurt.
You could make sure that you always pick up after yourself and don't leave anything out that they can pick up and swallow. ALWAYS WATCH YOUR children!
Not that I know of. I really don't remember back that far from now.
You would just have to double check and make sure everything is picked up around where the babe is. If your going to have a baby you are going to have to spend extra time picking up after yourself. Yes, I swallow a quarter and had to go to the hostpital.
1. aside from keeping small objects away theres not really much you can do aside from trying to teach them not to
2. i played with small toys but i didnt swallow any though i did swallow a nickel once
1) I think that I would put a rule on it. I think that I would tell my kids that if they picked up any small objects that they would be in trouble. I think that this could stop some of the kids for swallowing objects and saving lives.
2) No I didn't. I think that I was probably inforced by my parents and they told me the right thing to do. I think that all of this depends on the parents and what they do to keep their kids form swallowing things. I think that parents need to inforce their kids more.
I would try to start teaching kids and show them that you can't put random objects in your mouth especially small ones that are easily swallowed. Or don't let them play with certain things that are very small. I don't remember if I did when I was a kid, if so it wasn't severe.
I would say that a few other ways to protect children would be to limit the number of small objects in a home, encourage parents watch their children closely, and encourage parents to teach their children that swallowing unknown objects is bad. I don't recall every swallowing a small object, but I assume that I did play with small objects when I was younger.
-
1
-
2
-
3
-
4
-
5
of 14 Next