# Has anyone's toddler gotten something lodged in their nose?



## hibiscus mum (Apr 6, 2009)

Ugh! I feel like the worst mom. We were playing at the park today and DD (she'll be 3 in 2 weeks or so) found a tiny little plastic BB (from a pellet gun) on the ground. She's picked up BBs before, because my MIL's neighbours shoot BBs into their backyard sometimes (a whole other story). She just likes to hold them, and we always take them away, but I waited too long this time and she shoved it up her nose.

My husband tried to get it out with tweezers, but DD snorted it further up there. I even tried blowing in her mouth while blocking the other nostril, hoping to blow it out....but no success there either. So we took her to our family doctor, which is a teaching clinic as well, and one of the residents had a look with his light. Getting her to sit still was like wrestling a crocodile, and the poor young resident had no idea what to do. He brought in the doctor who runs the clinic, who had seen stuff like this before. I had to sit on the table with DD's head in my crotch, her arms under my thighs, and I had to hold her head steady with my thighs/knees. The doctor held a light while the resident tried to get the BB out with big long tweezers. All he managed to do was shove it in further.







I shouldn't roll my eyes actually - it was a valiant attempt with a difficult toddler.

So they said to take her to the hospital where she'll likely have to see an ENT specialist. I'm mostly afraid that she may have to be sedated.







My husband's gone to the hospital with her now, while I stay home with 4 month old DS...and I'm feeling awful.









Does anyone have stories of their kids sticking stuff in their noses? How did it turn out? I feel sick about this, even though I'm sure it's relatively common.


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## ledzepplon (Jun 28, 2004)

Dd got a pea stuck up her nose when she was about 2. I couldn't get it out for the life of me and made an appt with her doctor. Well, before the appointment I gave her a bath, and lo and behold, it came out. I think the water lubed thing up a bit. It sounds like the bb got farther up your kiddos nose than the pea did, though.

I'm sure she'll be fine.







Kids really are resilient, and it'll make a good story someday. Please post an update when you hear from your dh!


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## HeatherRenee (Apr 3, 2009)

None of my kids have (yet.. lol) but my brother got the wheel of one of his hotwheels cars stuck in his nose. My mom ended up taking him to the hospital like your hubby did.

It's ok! don't feel too bad. LOTS of kids do it!


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## Serenyd (Jan 6, 2008)

My son stuffed bits of foam rubber from DP's old truck seat up his nose. They thought he had a regular sinus infection, and keep prescribing him stronger and stronger antibiotics ... until he was puking and had diarrhea ... finally the nurse practitioner realized what was causing the problem ... she pulled one (pretty large) bit out with the tweezers and the other bit he blew out. I think he was three??? It was really hard to tell because of all the discharge from his nose ... should have realized something was going on because it was mostly coming from that one side and it was red and irritated where it had been draining ... smelled AWFUL too. Of course they didn't want to admit he had had it in there all that time but I know he did. It took about three trips to DR to figure it out though.


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## StrawberryFields (Apr 6, 2005)

My ds stuck a piece of sucker stick up his nose but luckily later that day he sneezed pretty violently and it came out with a huge splat.







His little friend stuck a stick-on earring up her nose, though, and they could not get it out They had to schedule and appointment for her to be sedated and have the earring removed. I think it is very common for little ones to stick things up their noses!

I know the idea of sedation can be really worrisome. When my ds was 2 he had an accident and was restrained on a papoose board while they worked on him. I think that sometimes when they are so little, don't understand, and can't stay still, sedation can be lot less scary for everyone than restraints.

I hope the procedure is simple and quick for your dd!!


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## *jeanine* (May 29, 2005)

Mine stuck a rock up her nose. I told her not to put it in her mouth - silly me, I forgot to say nose too. We took her to the doc, and he used one of those newborn suction things to suck it out while plugging the other nostril. She had been crying quite a bit, so I think that helped it come out easier. She was under 2 1/2.


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## Jemmind (Nov 13, 2007)

My son broke a tip off of a crayon and stuck it up his nose, luckily I could get it out. He was around 2 I think. And once he stuffed some peas in his ear. LOL


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## Katwoman (Apr 15, 2004)

My DD2 used to stick stuff up her nose all the time.







: Drove me crazy! One time she shoved 7 craisins up her nose. (At my Mom's house, my brother was watching her.) He called because she was just crying and crying. By the time I got her home - no one had any idea she'd shoved something up her nose - she wasn't responding to my voice and she was rocking back and forth and screaming. I was trying to see if the doc had any appts. My DH came home and noticed she had some snot running out of one side of her nose. He went to wipe it, he got her to blow and out came the craisins. She promptly said she was hungry.

I do not understand what is so appealing about sticking something up your nose. Do they not have enough pockets??

You are not alone! You are not a bad parent! (Unless you take the hospital visit charge out of her college fund.







)


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## Teenytoona (Jun 13, 2005)

My youngest stepdaughter, when she was, oh close to 2 (give or takea few months) was fussing with her nose one day, and it was all red, so I took a look and saw some kleenex up there... I called to DH to get the tweezers and I held her down (it takes a very steady hand) while he pulled out over an inch of wadded up kleenex!

My gram loves to tell the story of my aunt shoving a doll eye up her nose and the doctor who removed making light of the creature staring out at him from her nose.

Then there's my aunt, she told me this unforgettable story of someone at her church. The kid has some really stinky breath and even saw the doctor on account of it. They ended up doing some sort of scan of hishead. He had dying old stinky bean sprouts growing in his nasal cavities because of a few beans he'd shoved up there. That's what was causing the stink. This one takes the taco, IMO!


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## hibiscus mum (Apr 6, 2009)

Phew! Your stories made me feel better.

So my husband took her to the hospital...and amazingly, they only waited about 15 minutes. They had to tie her down to a table at first, and they had my husband blow in her mouth while plugging the opposite nostril, hoping to force the BB out. I had tried this at home a few times, but it didn't work. Since the BB was so small, the air was getting around it. So the doctor there was talking about having to freeze her nose to get it out, but they called in the ENT. The doctors had my husband hold her in a big bear hug while a nurse held her head steady. The ENT could see the BB right away with his light, and he had some sort of hook - almost like a long, thin crochet hook, and he was able to get it out right away. He gave the BB to my husband, and read him the riot act about not letting kids play with small objects (poor guy - it was my fault anyway). DD was relatively unscathed and we talked about it a few times and she reenacted the incident with her toy horse who had shoved a ball up his nose. She was the doctor and helped the horse feel better.









I'm glad they were able to get it out without freezing or sedation. Thanks again for all the stories everyone.


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## Masel (Apr 14, 2008)

Earlier this summer my DD put a bead up her nose. I tried getting it out with tweezers but this freaked her out. We called the doctor's exchange and the on call nurse was emphatic that we not try to use tweeziers. She said that mostly just pushed it further in. The other thing she really emphasized was the difference between some inert like a bead and something organic like a pea or rasin that could absorb more fluid and expand. Because it was a bead and we could still see it the nurse was not worried. This was a sunday and she said it was fine to wait until the next morning to go the the doctor's office. The one thing I did was put a drop of olive oil just inside DD's nose. I squeezed the bridge of her nose and tried to gently massage the oil around the bead. It came out an hour later.

Two months later DD put a popcorn kernal up her nose. I didn't even get the tweezers out. I was worried that it would expand so I didn't try the oil trick either. We went to the ER. (Of course this was on a weekend.) We didn't even sit in the waiting room. They took us back to the ped unit and just as we go to the exam room DD sneezed. The kernal was forward of the ridge of her nostral. They got it out easily with a suction tube.

I had just joined Facebook so this was one of my first posts. I got a lot of "oh yeah, my kid did that" and from parents of younger kids "I guess that's what I have to look forward to." Do not beat yourself up about this!


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## HoldensMama (Feb 25, 2007)

Oh my gosh, this happens all the time, you're so not a bad parent. My ds hasn't done this yet, but I have and so did my mom. With my mom it was an m&m and she had to go to the doc. With me it wasn't my nose, it was my ear and a stick-on earring and the dr told me stories of the other stuff she's removed from ears and noses while she worked to make me feel better.

Glad your dd is all better now and hopefully she learned that she shouldn't put things in her nose.


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## kcstar (Mar 20, 2009)

One night, dear brother 1 (DB1) stuck a pea up his nose. He was 5 or 6 at the time. Mom & Dad got it out okay.

The next day at lunch, DB 2 (3 or 4 years old) stuck a carrot stick up his nose. They had to go to the ER for a carrotectomy.


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## sunnygir1 (Oct 8, 2007)

I'm so glad they got it out without any more toddler (and parent) torture!

My dd is 2.5, and she has stuffed tiny wads of tissue and paper napkin up her nose before. I was able to get the napkin out, but the first time, with the tissue I couldn't get it out. I knew it was a very tiny piece, so I decided to just wait and see if it worked itself out...while watching for signs of infection. It, apparently, caused no problems.

When I went to drop her off at daycare one day, one of the little boys had put a piece of pea-gravel up his nose on the playground, and they couldn't get it out, so they had called his parents to take him to the hospital...I was SO glad it wasn't my kid! What a pain!


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## GISDiva (Jul 13, 2007)

There was a "Home Movies" episode (cartoon out a few years back) about Josie sticking marbles up her nose and so Brandon (her film-making big brother) made a PSA movie about not sticking marbles up your nose...

Sorry, a bit OT, but that's the first thing I thought of!


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## flapjack (Mar 15, 2005)

Two of mine have. One was a piece of sponge from a sofa, which stayed there. An elimination diet for dairy, five x-rays, a few months and seven courses of antibiotics later, we found a consultant who was prepared to sedate him on the off chance that there was a foreign body- and I have never in all my life smelt anything as disgusting as that piece of sponge.
And DD inserted a pompom up her nose (small craft supply, nothing to do with cheerleaders.) She sneezed and I saw this ginormous red thing sticking out and thought it was a nosebleed- until I saw the sparkles. That was- erm, fun.


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## MissMommyNiceNice (May 1, 2007)

Oh, I'm sitting here crying & trying not to pee my pants! Carrotectomy! SEVEN craisins! Bwahaha!

BFF (when she was a little girl) leaned in to sniff a pussy willow. Well, she sniffed a little too well and ended up in the emergency room having it removed. She's 28 yo and her parents, grandparents & various relatives still torture her about it to this day.


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## texmama (Jun 4, 2005)

My DS did the exact same thing! He shoved one of those plastic bb's up his nose. He was 2 at the time, I tried everything to get it out - sucking on his nose, plugging one nostril while blowing in his mouth, giving him the pepper shaker to sniff - we finally ended up at urgent care. Luckily the doc easily removed the bb with tweezers. (and charged the insurance co. for *surgery*, oh please!)

DS talked about the experience for months afterward, quite an adventure for the boy!


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## kblackstone444 (Jun 17, 2007)

My son took a wheel off of a Hot Wheels car when he was three and somehow got it stuck up his nose at 11:30 one night. After I realized it was really stuck and I wasn't gonna get it out, I had to walk him to the emergency room (by now it was quarter after 12) and they were about to sedate him and perform "surgery" (long tweezers up nose), when he randomly sneezed it out. I'm sure the doctors got a good laugh out of it all after we left, but I wasn't amused.


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