My younger daughter is really oral. Still. And at five, she was really oral. Even though she spent three and a half years with a nipple in her mouth (mine, not somebody's random one because that would just be weird). Some kids are just oral like that, mouthing things, carrying things in their mouths, all that. So it was no surprise when one day she had a nickel in her mouth for awhile, just sitting there calmly, and then all of a sudden no one could find it anywhere, so the only possible explanation was that it had been swallowed. So we waited patiently but it was never recovered.
But lots of kids require surgery or other emergency procedures from swallowing coins or other little appealing objects.
Take New Zealand, for example. Go ahead, take it. I'll wait.
Okay, ready?
Yeah. New Zealand. A couple of doctors at Starship Children's Hospital took a look at the past couple of years of data on stuff kids had swallowed and had this to report:
- Most swallowers were of preschool age.
- The average age was three.
- They especially liked the ten-cent coins (I like dimes myself).
- Hardly anybody swallowed those humongous fifty-cent pieces.
- Preschoolers swallowed other stuff too. Shiny! They like shiny!
- Grade school kids swallowed a fair number of fish bones.
- Okaayyy.
- And beads. In kids' ears. And noses.
- That reminds me—I told my son not to put that bean in his nose and of course he did.
- (Tweezers.)
- 1/5 of those kids up there (or down under, actually) required surgery.
- And 1/3 needed an ear, nose, and throat procedure.
- Ouch.
Kidding! The doctors actually didn't say all that.
But, you know, hello, chokable. And x-rayable. So that nice dish of coins we have sitting out where everyone can reach them? Should probably not be there. Except my oral kid isn't so oral anymore, but there's her unpredictable little brother who would probaby like nothing more than to drop those coins down the heater vents, one by one, to hear the metallic clanking sounds, but you never know, he could eat some too.
And so could your kid, so lock up your money! If you haven't already, which you probably have, and I'm like the last parent in the universe to have loose change lying around like that, so irresponsible!
photo: Timaru Herald
