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My toddler swallowed a penny!

post #1 of 22
8/14/08 at 11:22am
Thread Starter 
Do I need to be concerned at all? Are there any negative ramifications at all? I noticed her choking but then she swallowed. She is just upset because she wants her money back!
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post #2 of 22
8/14/08 at 11:29am
You might want to call the doctor, just to be sure. I think I read somewhere that there's something in coins that's not so good for their stomach lining or something.
post #3 of 22
8/14/08 at 11:58am
I would call poison control. They have all of the up to date info on what is toxic. I have called for my toddler three times now and he is only 16 months old.
post #4 of 22
8/14/08 at 12:24pm
Do you know what year it was? They changed the composition from mostly copper to mostly zinc sometime around the late '70s early '80s. I can't reacll off the top of my head if either was a problem, I do know that some coin can cause toxicity. I'd call poison control to be safe.
post #5 of 22
8/14/08 at 12:31pm
I would call the doc just to be safe. I'm sure she'll be okay since she didn't choke, but you might want to check to be sure. Good luck!
post #6 of 22
8/14/08 at 12:53pm
when did she swallow it?

My DD#1 swallowed a magnet. I called the DR, they said if it didn't pass in 2 days to bring her in. It passed the next morning.

DD#2 swallowed a doll shoe (her older sister's). She passed it within 2 days and I didn't call the DR.

For a piece of change, I'd call the DR just to be safe. I'm sure they'll tell you to watch for it to pass, but just to be safe, I'd def call the DR.

(nak)
post #7 of 22
8/14/08 at 12:54pm
Poison Control: 1-800-222-1222
post #8 of 22
8/14/08 at 10:11pm
Mine choked on then swallowed a dime a little over a year...I didn't know what she swollowed so we got to go to the ER and all that fun! They were not sure if it was a penny or a dime but same protocal for both. All in all it was just checking to see if it passed...which you wouldn't think is that hard Coins are smooth and pass pretty easily. Watch for trouble signs...vomiting, no BM's unusual abdominal crampping that type of thing.
I'm silly I washed it up really good and saved it to go in her scrapbook. I didn't realize that a passage through the gut would make such an impact on a coin...kinda cool really...ok I'm sounding insane now!
post #9 of 22
8/14/08 at 10:28pm
We were surprised about a month or so ago when DS pooped out a dime! nobody had seen him eat it and i thought the tummy ache he had the day before was diet related. But...clearly he was working a dime through his system. Since we didn't know he had eaten one, we did nothing and it passed just fine, despite the tummy ache.
post #10 of 22
8/14/08 at 11:06pm
My brother ate some coins when he was a kid. I just remember the conversation, because it was hilarious.

Mom: J, what did you just eat?
Him: Candy..... *shifty eyes*
Mom: Really? Are you sure? Did you eat anything else?
Him: ..... money....

Trip to the ER and some nice xrays, and two days later, mom had a new addition to the scrap book.
post #11 of 22
8/14/08 at 11:56pm
Thread Starter 
She's just started pooping in the toilet - how am I supposed to find the coin? I don't want to dig through the toilet!
post #12 of 22
8/15/08 at 12:15am
omg, my ds ate a nickel once...After having xrays and doctors visits, and re-xraying, and digging through 4 yr old poop for a month and a half, we never found it, and it showed up as being gone on the 3rd xray.

what a PITA.

If I were you, I'd do nothing but watch your child. If something goes wrong, THEN worry/go to the doctor/ER/etc.

Otherwise, trust her body to do what its supposed to. Pass it. And if not, her body will tell you that something is "awry."

post #13 of 22
8/15/08 at 12:22am
An xray definitely. You need to know that the penny is no longer in the esophagus. The penny can be straight up and down in the esophagus right now causing no problem at all. Coughing, gagging, crying can cause the penny to shift or flip and form a blockage. You want to know that the penny is not in the airway and will not cause an obstruction.
post #14 of 22
8/15/08 at 6:29am

Yup

Quote:
Originally Posted by gsd1amommy View Post
An xray definitely. You need to know that the penny is no longer in the esophagus. The penny can be straight up and down in the esophagus right now causing no problem at all. Coughing, gagging, crying can cause the penny to shift or flip and form a blockage. You want to know that the penny is not in the airway and will not cause an obstruction.
This is what I have been told as well. This is the biggest concern with kids swallowing coins.
post #15 of 22
8/15/08 at 10:47am
Ummm. . . I'd think a coin wedged sideways in her airway would be extermely painful. Ever get a pill swallowed sideways? I think you'd know if it was stuck somewhere.

I swallowed a dime after I was potty trained, and my mom had me poop on the baby potty for a few days until she found it.

It would also be extremely diffucult for the body to absorb any significant amount of copper from a solid object.
post #16 of 22
8/15/08 at 11:46am
A couple of months ago my baby swallowed what we think was a coin. She was in the next room when we heard her gagging. The next day she was nursing just fine but would gag up any solid food she tried eating. On a hunch I took her in and had an x-ray. It clearly showed something flat and round stuck in her esophagus. They had to insert a tube down through her nose to push the obstruction into her stomach. They told us to look out for the coin coming through but we never did find it. I think we just missed it. We were only supposed to be concerned if she had symptoms of of a bowel obstruction.

I agree with heidirk--I think you'd know if it were stuck somewhere. It was pretty obvious for us.
post #17 of 22
8/15/08 at 2:45pm
[QUOTE=heidirk;11949726]Ummm. . . I'd think a coin wedged sideways in her airway would be extermely painful. Ever get a pill swallowed sideways? I think you'd know if it was stuck somewhere.QUOTE]

It's not necessarily true that it would painful if it was stuck. Just depends on the kid. Have an xray for the peace of mind.
post #18 of 22
9/21/08 at 9:20pm

swallowed penny

Our daughter swallowed a penny a couple days ago. She choked at first and then was really uncomfortable. She threw up a lot and in between was drooling excessively. We went to the ER and got X rays. The penny was stuck in her throat right at the junction between the esophagus and trachea. The Dr. said it could flip at any time and block her airway. She was breathing okay at that time. So they sedated her and went in with a scope to get the penny. By the time they had her in surgery, the penny had moved. They took another X ray and it was in her small intestine! The tissue in her throat was irritated from the penny being there for almost 6 hours. But she was okay. So now, 3 days later, she passed the penny! 1979. We're very relieved that she's okay. Oh, and yesterday we gave her prunes. I think that helped.
post #19 of 22
9/21/08 at 9:40pm
My 11 mo recently swallowed a penny. It went down fine and she had no symptoms. Doc said to just wait and if it didn't pass within 2 weeks to get an x-ray. I was also advised that if there were symptoms, gagging, swallowing excessively, drooling, crying inconsolably that we should get an x-ray. It took exactly a week for her to pass it and she was fine. Trust your instincts.

Wendi
post #20 of 22
9/22/08 at 3:52am
DS1 swallowed a penny around that age. I took him in for xrays. They didn't see any sign of a penny whatsoever. I went home and searched all around my bed, pulled everything out, went over that room with a microscope (so to speak). Still no penny.
To this day, I have no idea what happened to that penny. Maybe ds1 has an iron stomach?
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