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How to know if your child's illness or injury is really an emergency

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Q. Help! I think my child just swallowed something that wasn’t food!

Dr. Zibners' Answer:

Thanks to my sister and my niece for always giving me writing material. My 9 month-old niece ate something that was possibly aluminum foil but could have been a rock. She choked and gagged for a few seconds and then swallowed it. Once she stopped crying, we had her drink some water, which went down fine. After that, she took some peaches down the hatch without any trouble. At this point, because we knew that she was breathing comfortably and able to take solids, we assumed that whatever she got in her mouth had made its way to her tummy and wasn’t stuck in her esophagus or airway. So the lesson here is that if your kid gets something that isn’t really food but it goes down and she’s acting fine, it’s probably going to pass through her gut. No need to watch for it to come out in the poop. If she is choking and not breathing, call 911. Refusing to drink, drooling excessively, or refusing to swallow solids are all signs that it could be stuck in her esophagus and you should call your doctor. Please keep in mind that if your suspect a disc battery was the offending object, you will need an x-ray to see exactly where it is because batteries can leak fluid and cause serious damage (including up the nose and in the ear!).

Dr. Lara Zibners, Feb 11, 2010

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