Most foreign body ingestions take place in children between 6 months and 3 years of age. It’s that phase of their development where they like to explore absolutely everything and often with their mouths.
One of the most common causes children especially toddlers and preschoolers are brought to the hospital is accidental foreign body ingestion.
You can take every precaution, but sometimes, in the blink of an eye, your child can swallow a random object before you have time to react. Fortunately, in most cases, the object will work its way through your child’s digestive system without incident.
Common Items That Babies Tend To Swallow
- Coins
- Toy Parts
- Jewels
- Batteries
- Needles and pins
- Chicken bones
- ‘Large amounts of food’
Did you know that foreign body ingestion can also be deliberate with some kids?
Let me tell you how to respond and identify red flag signs of foreign body ingestion.
What Should You Do
The Red Flags
The red flag signs indicate an emergency situation and you have to reach the hospital as soon as possible. The doctor might advise an immediate intervention by endoscopy or surgery when.
The foreign body should be removed immediately in cases of ingestion of
Some Dos & Don’ts To Keep In Mind
Things to be mindful of to avoid such incidents in the first place
Kids who are more than 6 years might have a single or sometimes repetitive behaviour of foreign body ingestion.
This could be attention-seeking or even a risk-taking behaviour and this needs to be addressed immediately preferably by a psychiatrist.
As always, prevention is better than cure and it becomes a necessity when you have tiny tots who are entirely dependent on us.
Janani S Koushik
Mansi Zaveri
Parul Gupta
Sasha Baweja
Vaishnavi Venkatraman
