Baby Sucked Down the Snot Sucker
November 24, 2013 6:06 PM Subscribe
Your child ate what? I'm fairly certain that Baby Tafetta swallowed herself one of the filters from the Nosefrida Snot Sucker this evening. The blue filter consists of moisture absorbing polyurethane. I tried unsuccessfully to sweep out her mouth a couple of times but found nothing. She was otherwise fine and finished her bottle before going to sleep.
I can't believe that this is the only baby who has ever done this but I can't find any information. I'm fairly sure that it ended up in her tummy at which point the main concern is it making it's way through her digestive track.
There was no obvious respiratory distress and she finished her bottle like a champ. Do I need to be concerned or should I just be on blue filter poop watch?
I can't believe that this is the only baby who has ever done this but I can't find any information. I'm fairly sure that it ended up in her tummy at which point the main concern is it making it's way through her digestive track.
There was no obvious respiratory distress and she finished her bottle like a champ. Do I need to be concerned or should I just be on blue filter poop watch?
Right, so there are two concerns:
1. It's in her respiratory tract and causing breathing trouble. It sounds like you're past that.
2. It's in her digestive tract. This is concerning, especially considering that it's a filter and babies eat liquid. If it get jammed somewhere, things could seem fine for a while and then start to cause trouble.
I'm not a fan of rushing to the doctor every minute, but if it doesn't come out in the poop within about 48 hours or so, I'd probably go see the pediatrician.
posted by 256 at 6:26 PM on November 24, 2013
1. It's in her respiratory tract and causing breathing trouble. It sounds like you're past that.
2. It's in her digestive tract. This is concerning, especially considering that it's a filter and babies eat liquid. If it get jammed somewhere, things could seem fine for a while and then start to cause trouble.
I'm not a fan of rushing to the doctor every minute, but if it doesn't come out in the poop within about 48 hours or so, I'd probably go see the pediatrician.
posted by 256 at 6:26 PM on November 24, 2013
I would call Poison Control. They will know whether you should be worried or not.
posted by gubenuj at 6:28 PM on November 24, 2013 [4 favorites]
posted by gubenuj at 6:28 PM on November 24, 2013 [4 favorites]
How old is she? Have you called the on-call doctor?
(I once called the on-call doctor because my daughter had been crying for an hour. When the doctor called back, naturally she'd stopped. (the consensus was probably it was gas, BTW). So don't worry about disturbing the on-call doc. It's what they're there for. If you feel bad about it, does your insurance have a nurse line? That's a good place to call also.)
posted by leahwrenn at 6:28 PM on November 24, 2013
(I once called the on-call doctor because my daughter had been crying for an hour. When the doctor called back, naturally she'd stopped. (the consensus was probably it was gas, BTW). So don't worry about disturbing the on-call doc. It's what they're there for. If you feel bad about it, does your insurance have a nurse line? That's a good place to call also.)
posted by leahwrenn at 6:28 PM on November 24, 2013
Agree with 256. If it isn't in the diaper in the next day or two, to the doctor. I'd probably call the doctor now, to give them a heads-up, but I bet they'll say to wait and come in if it hasn't passed.
posted by gaspode at 6:28 PM on November 24, 2013
posted by gaspode at 6:28 PM on November 24, 2013
Based on one of your older questions, baby Taffeta is older than my 11.5 month old. That little pencil eraser bit wouldn't stress me out if he ate it, as he's at the stage where he's eating solids and has swallowed larger bits of foods... and, to be gross, has run through corn kernels only marginally smaller than that filter, unchanged. He's moving enough fiber that I would expect that thing to be propelled promptly through. Which is not to say I'd freak if he was younger and this happened, but I'd keep my concerns in context of other things being eaten and passed.
Dr Sears addresses swallowed objects here. In your shoes I'd call the pediatrician tomorrow and just keep my eyes out to watch for signs of intestinal injury & the filter. But since you're not positive it went down I also wouldn't stress over it beyond what the doc says to do.
posted by phearlez at 7:24 PM on November 24, 2013 [2 favorites]
Dr Sears addresses swallowed objects here. In your shoes I'd call the pediatrician tomorrow and just keep my eyes out to watch for signs of intestinal injury & the filter. But since you're not positive it went down I also wouldn't stress over it beyond what the doc says to do.
posted by phearlez at 7:24 PM on November 24, 2013 [2 favorites]
Baby swallows something unusual - Call Poison Control. They have access to lots of information, this is precisely why they exist.
posted by theora55 at 7:48 PM on November 24, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by theora55 at 7:48 PM on November 24, 2013 [1 favorite]
Call Poison Control now! They're staffed by nurses and pharmacists, and will know what to do.
posted by discopolo at 7:49 PM on November 24, 2013
posted by discopolo at 7:49 PM on November 24, 2013
Best answer: Call someone if you want to have some peace of mind, but I know those filters and I think that if it got past her throat and into her stomach, she's going to be fine. It'll probably get soaked in her nighttime milk and go down with the rest of her stomach contents. Do look for it in her poop.
posted by CrazyLemonade at 7:55 PM on November 24, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by CrazyLemonade at 7:55 PM on November 24, 2013 [3 favorites]
Response by poster: Spoke with her pediatrician this morning and he was spectacularly unconcerned. So, we're just on poop watch. Thanks to all who answered.
posted by tafetta, darling! at 9:03 AM on November 25, 2013
posted by tafetta, darling! at 9:03 AM on November 25, 2013
Thanks for the update! Hope she gets over her cold soon and that the poop watch ended...successfully.
posted by leahwrenn at 9:48 AM on November 27, 2013
posted by leahwrenn at 9:48 AM on November 27, 2013
This thread is closed to new comments.
First off, if your child has any difficulty breathing, changes color, stops making sounds, coughs a lot, etc, get medical help right away.
I would call the advice nurse and everyone on this site will tell you to see a doctor, but if there are zero signs of respiratory distress, then you're probably in the clear.
Over the next day continue to look out for signs of distress because it could potentially get stuck somewhere in the digestive tract but you are most likely fine.
My daughter swallowed nickels twice. It was super nerve-wracking. If you google around you'll find some common sense advice from sites like Dr Sears etc that basically say to just watch and observe.
posted by latkes at 6:15 PM on November 24, 2013 [1 favorite]