If a child swallows 10 rubles. How to help a child if he swallowed a coin

Young children often put everything in their mouths in their mouths. Babies especially like miniature objects - construction elements, Kinder Surprise figurines and even coins. The tiny part is easy to swallow, which happens to babies regularly. What to do if a child swallows a coin? Should I wait until it comes out naturally or sound the alarm?

Children regularly put small objects into their mouths - coins also fall into this category.

What is the danger?

A coin is an item of public use and there are certainly entire colonies of harmful bacteria on it. A baby who puts it in his mouth runs the risk of getting stomatitis or another oral disease. However, this is not the most unpleasant scenario. One of the dangers is that the metal object can be inhaled

together with the air, it will enter the respiratory tract - the trachea or bronchi. This situation is fraught with suffocation, and sometimes a metal product in the bronchi can remain for quite a long time without causing discomfort. In this case, over time, inflammation will certainly arise at its location.

If the coin has safely entered the esophagus, its path should pass through the stomach, then the small and large intestines, and finally end in a child’s potty or diaper. However, not everything is so simple. There are quite narrow places in the baby's intestines in which a round object can get stuck. The consequences are fraught with complications - intestinal blockage, as well as the development of inflammation when the penny begins to oxidize.

Symptoms to watch out for

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Parents are not always sure that the child managed to swallow something. The absence of money that was in the mother’s wallet does not mean that all of it ended up in the child’s esophagus or stomach. The kid could have moved the coin somewhere, or thrown it into the far corner. In this regard, it is worth taking a closer look at a child who has been playing with small objects before calling an ambulance. Let's look at the symptoms that may mean that the offspring has swallowed an object:

  • the baby is restless, he constantly cries and experiences discomfort;
  • the baby has profuse salivation;


Restlessness and increased salivation indicate a possible swallowing of an object.
  • refusal of food, water;
  • the child is vomiting, and the contents of the stomach come out in clots;
  • the baby complains of pain in the chest and abdomen;
  • The baby's stool is dark, almost black.

What should parents do?

Parents who notice one or more of these symptoms should immediately call an ambulance or go to the doctor themselves. However, it happens that the baby suffocates because a foreign object has entered the respiratory tract. In this case, you should try to extract it yourself:

  • If a child coughs or chokes on saliva, it can be assumed that a coin is stuck in the throat. Then you should open the baby’s mouth and try to remove it with your fingers. This method is the simplest, but it is not always possible.
  • The baby began to suffocate - he turned red and was breathing whistling. This means that a foreign object could have entered the respiratory tract. In this case, you should act quickly, without waiting for the baby to suffocate. If he is not yet 1 year old, the baby should be placed on his stomach on his knee and his lower jaw should be clasped with his hand. The head should be below the level of the buttocks. Then, with your free hand, give 4 claps on the back between the shoulder blades. Then turn the baby over (head below hip level) and rhythmically press 4 times with two fingers on the sternum below the nipples. These actions must be alternated until the ambulance arrives.


Knowing first aid techniques can even save a child's life
  • If the child is over a year old, you should ask him to cough. If you can’t cough up a coin, you should use the Heimlich maneuver. To do this, stand behind him and wrap your arms around his stomach. Clench one hand into a fist, press your thumb to the center of the abdomen - below the sternum, but above the navel. Press the child’s belly with a sharp upward push several times, bending your elbows. Do this until the coin falls out.

An important point is the peace of mind of the parents. Do not panic, causing stress in the child. If the baby is calm, cheerful, active, then even more so.

According to Dr. Komarovsky, statistics indicate that if an object is not stuck in the esophagus, but gets safely into the stomach, then with an 80-90% probability it will bypass the entire intestine and come out naturally.

When should you urgently call an ambulance?

Most often, a coin in the esophagus does not require the intervention of specialists, even if it is large, for example, a ruble. It will move on its own through the gastrointestinal tract along with food. However, some factors increase the risk of complications. If a child swallows a large ruble coin and a foreign object causes discomfort and prevents the child from breathing, you should immediately call an ambulance. The table shows typical situations, as well as the actions parents need to take before the specialists arrive.



Most often, the coin passes through the intestines and comes out of it on its own.

What to do it is forbidden?

Many parents, panicking, act imprudently. To avoid harming the child, you should never:

  • feed the baby if a foreign object causes discomfort - that is, if it is stuck in the esophagus;
  • give the baby a laxative or immediately give an enema;
  • there is no need to artificially induce vomiting or rinse the stomach;
  • Many pediatricians warn that you should not turn the child upside down and try to shake a foreign object out of the throat.

Doctors' actions

What do doctors do if a child swallows a coin? After the little patient is taken to the hospital, the doctor usually orders tests. As a rule, this is either an ultrasound of the abdominal cavity or an x-ray. This must be done in order to understand in which part of the gastrointestinal tract the foreign object is located. The further actions of specialists depend on the information received:

  • If the image shows that the coin is stuck in the esophagus, the doctor will most likely prescribe endoscopic removal. For children, such procedures are usually performed under general anesthesia. The doctor removes the foreign object using a flexible fibroesophagoscope. Sometimes this cannot be done, then the coin is simply pushed into the stomach.
  • If the foreign body is already in the stomach, doctors recommend waiting until it leaves the body naturally. How long will you have to wait? Usually the waiting time is from 3 to 5 days, sometimes this period extends to 10-11 days. The child is not admitted to the hospital, but the parents are only asked to carefully monitor the baby’s stool in order to see a metal product in the stool in time. If the coin does not go lower, a decision is made to remove it.
  • You can also see in the image that a foreign object is in the intestine. This option allows us to hope for a favorable outcome. It is important not to try to speed up the release of the coin - do not do enemas, do not give the child a laxative. If a metal object begins to move rapidly along with feces, damage to the intestinal walls may occur. Experts recommend feeding your baby vegetables containing large number fiber, give juices, compotes from dried fruits and prunes.


An x-ray or ultrasound can help identify the presence of a foreign object.

If your baby often puts inappropriate objects in his mouth, you should try to wean him from the bad habit. To do this, select several toys that can be licked and chewed without harm, and give them to the baby as soon as he is about to try something on his teeth. In addition, try to protect the little explorer from potentially dangerous objects - hide money away, secure batteries in children's toys well, store cogs, screws, needles, etc. in an inaccessible place.

A coin is a potentially dangerous object for a baby. It can enter the respiratory tract, cause suffocation, and the sharp edges can damage the esophagus and intestines. If it is an object with a large diameter, the risk of damage to the esophagus increases. However, as soon as a metal product enters the stomach, it is best to be patient and wait for it to come out along with the stool. In this case, it is advisable to consult a specialist who will tell parents how to act in the event of an unforeseen situation.

Any parent should know in advance how to behave if a child swallows a coin, what to do if it is 1 ruble or even 10 kopecks. When to apply medical care? Is it always?

Features of the condition

A coin is considered a very dangerous foreign object, which is primarily due to its mass. For example, a modern Russian ruble weighs exactly 3.25 grams, and a coin with a face value of 10 kopecks weighs 1.85 grams. Don't believe me? See Wikipedia “Coins of the_Russian_Federation”.

Heavy foreign objects have difficulty moving through the intestines and therefore there is a possibility that they will simply get stuck or will not be able to move through any part of the intestines.

In addition, the coin is created from metal that is not inert. For this reason, the foreign body will be exposed to gastric acid, as well as digestive enzymes, which will lead to corrosion and even chemical burns of the delicate intestinal mucosa.

Moreover, the coin can even damage the mucous membrane. It is clear that its edges are not too sharp, but in the presence of spastic contractions of the intestinal muscles, a condition arises when even not very sharp objects can cause harm to the mucous membrane.

What to do if a child swallows a coin?

Procedure and pathological manifestations

First of all, it is necessary to distinguish between swallowing a coin and getting a foreign body into the respiratory tract. Secondly, the condition should be considered as extremely serious. First of all, there is no need to panic. The first action is to immediately call an ambulance. All other manipulations should be performed while waiting for an ambulance.

Taking into account the physiology of the respiratory tract, it can be predicted that the coin will most likely affect the lumen of the larynx. The resulting coughing attack can push out the coin, especially if it is a small coin with a low denomination (from 1 to 10 kopecks).

The patient's condition will inevitably worsen: panic, fear, sore throat, noisy breathing with wheezing, coughing, pale skin and bluish complexion, severe drooling, and so on.

First, you need to use a flashlight to examine the child’s oral cavity. If the oral cavity is free, you should clasp the baby’s chest with your hands and press firmly on it, at intervals of 3 to 5 seconds.

You can also place the child belly down on your knee and walk on the back several times. If all the actions did not lead to the removal of the foreign body, one can only hope that an ambulance is already somewhere nearby.


When swallowing a coin, the situation will not look as threatening as in the previous case. If the foreign body is not too large, most likely the ingestion process itself will not lead to the appearance of any terrible symptoms.

If the coin is large, say, in denomination of 1 ruble or more, it is possible that negative symptoms may appear: pain when a foreign body passes through the esophagus, the appearance of hiccups, drooling, nausea, vomiting.

As soon as the coin is in the stomach, the child’s condition should completely return to normal. There is enough space in the stomach and therefore a foreign body will not lead to spasms and pain.

The parents' actions in this case, in principle, come down to only one thing - this is still the same call for an ambulance. There is no need to undertake any independent manipulations. If the child is calm, there is no need to scare him with scary questions. If the baby is excited, he should be reassured by saying that nothing bad happened.

What not to do?

Obviously, any relative of the child wants to help him. But nevertheless, there are actions that are not recommended. First of all, you should not give your child stale bread to push a foreign body down the esophagus.

In addition, it is unacceptable to use enemas, induce vomiting, give laxatives, try to palpate a coin, or use semi-esoteric techniques carried out with the help of magnets, electrical appliances and other improvised objects.

Further tactics and forecasts

The patient will undergo an X-ray examination at the medical facility. Metals do not transmit x-rays and therefore the coin will be clearly visible.

Most likely, the patient will be hospitalized, and doctors will adhere to a wait-and-see approach. The patient is prescribed strict bed rest. In this case, the coin is more likely to be able to travel the entire length of the intestine.

Intestinal examinations will be repeated periodically. In addition, you will have to study the child’s stool to determine whether the foreign body has been independently removed.

You should talk about a negative development of the situation when the coin stops in some part of the intestine. It is quite difficult to predict where exactly this will happen, but most often foreign bodies get stuck at the border of the small and large intestines.

In this case, the patient's condition will rapidly deteriorate. There will be acute pain, an increase in the size of the abdomen, nausea, vomiting, dehydration, and so on. In this case, there is only one way out - immediate surgical intervention, the purpose of which is to remove the foreign body and restore normal intestinal patency.

In unadvanced cases, surgery is usually simple. But in any case, it will take time for the body to recover. After a period of several months, only a scar on the abdomen will remind of what happened.

Small children are so inquisitive that they cannot sit still and just play with toys. They are interested not only in seeing and touching everything, but also in tasting it. Unfortunately, parents are not always able to be present with their child every second. Many people forget while doing household chores and do not remove small objects from the baby’s field of vision in time. This is where he has a holiday: he immediately rushes to study them! Coins, beads, buttons, batteries, small parts from toys, etc. can be dangerous.

So, dear parents, be careful. But even if a child swallows a coin, do not panic under any circumstances; perhaps nothing bad will happen. This article will teach you how to behave in such an unpleasant situation.

The child swallowed a coin. What you should absolutely not do:

  • use an enema to quickly empty your bowels;
  • give water and food to the child (for example, a crust of bread) to push the coin through;
  • shake out the stuck object from the baby.

A child swallowed a coin: what to do?

First, make sure that the object is not stuck in the airway. This can be determined by the baby’s condition; if he is cheerful and does not feel any discomfort, then everything is fine. Usually in such cases you just need to wait a little time until the coin itself leaves the body naturally.

Even doctors advise this. But until this happens, you need to carefully monitor the baby’s health and behavior. Introduce foods rich in fiber into your child's diet, and then the coin will not take long to appear: within 2 days you will find it in the pot. But it is better to avoid laxatives; they do more harm than good. This all applies if you are sure that the object is small in diameter and not dangerous.

So, if your child swallows a coin, you already know what to do. But if you doubt what exactly was inside the baby, then it is better to immediately consult a doctor. The following items can cause the greatest harm to a small organism:


Typically, if the swallowed object is made of metal, doctors recommend tracking it on an x-ray. The picture will show where the coin is currently located and whether its location is dangerous. The worst thing is if it ends up in the bronchi, where surgical intervention cannot be avoided. Dear parents, please remember how to behave and what to do if your baby swallows a coin! Most often, children aged 3 to 5 years are susceptible to this. Be careful!

In life little man there are so many interesting things going on! You need to be in time everywhere, keep track of everyone, try and touch everything. And, of course, the baby tries to put everything in his mouth. Adults don’t even have time to come to their senses when a child swallows a coin, what to do in such a situation? How can you tell if something has been swallowed?

A coin swallowed by a child can in some cases cause serious internal injury.

Surely everyone knows a story when one of the children they knew swallowed a coin. In such cases, parents and grandparents panic, but the child himself is calm and serene and continues to play. The situation would be funny if it weren't dangerous. And it’s unclear how to behave.

What may be the symptoms and consequences of swallowing a foreign object? Once the coin enters the digestive system, it may begin to cause discomfort or some kind of anxiety. The baby may begin to have hiccups or excessive drooling. The baby will not want to eat for some time.

Much depends on what kind of coin it will be, for example, 10 kopecks or 2 rubles. After all, if the coin is large, it can put pressure on the respiratory canals, causing shortness of breath or coughing. The baby's esophagus is very tender and vulnerable. When some muscles contract, it can result in spasms. This is why, if a child swallows something, he may begin to complain of pain in the chest area.

It is very important to see a doctor as soon as possible. The consequences can be very serious, even fatal.

If a swallowed coin causes pain in the abdomen, you should immediately consult a doctor.

You should start worrying if the following symptoms appear:

  • constantly increasing abdominal pain;
  • nausea and vomiting;
  • blood after going to the toilet.

If these symptoms are not present, then you should remain calm only when you are one hundred percent sure what exactly the child swallowed. Otherwise, consult a doctor immediately.

If a child swallows a coin, every parent tries to react as quickly as possible. But here it is important what exactly to do and what not to do.

Forbidden:

  • Use an enema. There is a possibility of injuring the intestines, thereby greatly complicating the exit of the coin.
  • Water or feed. Parents want to push the coin this way. But this method is not suitable.
  • Shake. Parents, in a panic, try to push the foreign object out of the child, but this way it can get stuck even more.

If your baby swallows a coin, you should not feed or water him.

What to do

If there is such a possibility, first of all it is necessary to find out which coin was swallowed. If it's 5 or 10 kopecks, then nothing. What if it’s 5 rubles?

You should make sure that the coin is not stuck in the breathing passages. Although this is immediately clear: if the child breathes freely and continues to play, then everything is fine with breathing. In this case, you can simply wait until the coin comes out on its own, naturally. You should remain calm and feed your baby foods rich in fiber. This will help stimulate digestion processes.

Coin in the respiratory ducts

Instructions on what to do if a coin has already entered the respiratory tract of children under one year of age are as follows:

  • The child must be placed so that the tummy rests on the forearm of your hand.
  • The baby's back and chin must be supported.
  • The baby's head should be tilted 60° down.
  • Afterwards, use the edge of your palm to lightly apply no more than five blows to the back between the shoulder blades.
  • We look in the mouth to see if a foreign object has come out.
  • If this does not happen, then we place the baby with his back on his knees.
  • Press about five times in the chest area. You cannot press on your stomach.
  • If the swallowed item comes out, we remove it.
  • If the object still does not appear, call an ambulance, and while you wait, be sure to repeat the procedure, performing artificial ventilation.

If a coin gets into the respiratory tract, it is necessary to provide immediate assistance to the child.

If the child is over a year old, then you should:

  • Grasp the baby by the waist from behind, wrapping your arms around him.
  • Gently press on his tummy just below the navel.
  • Make strong pushes with a break of 5 seconds.
  • If an item comes out, we remove it. If the result is negative, you need to calm the baby down and repeat the procedure until the ambulance arrives.

Coin in digestive systems

A coin in the digestive organs can cause serious injury to the stomach and intestines.

As already mentioned, the esophagus of children is incredibly vulnerable and sensitive. In some muscle groups, spasms may appear during irritation with the edges of a coin, which leads to serious complications. You should be wary if your child complains of pain in the chest or when swallowing food. He may have difficulty eating solid foods and may experience discomfort when swallowing saliva. The most dangerous thing is if there are attacks of nausea, vomiting and coughing. In such cases, it is important to call an ambulance as quickly as possible and take the child to the hospital. Delay threatens the formation of a hole in the esophagus and bleeding. This can cause food waste to enter the chest area and, as a result, death.

Is it worth the wait

In some cases, it happens that the baby swallowed something in front of the parents, but this did not cause any visible consequences. And then parents prefer to take a wait-and-see approach. But it is important to know: even if the child is completely healthy, a foreign object will not always be able to leave the body naturally. But even if it does, it can cause serious harm to health along the way. The consequences cannot always be predicted in advance.

In some cases, wait-and-see tactics provoke death. You should be on your guard.

Particularly dangerous items include:

  • batteries;
  • toy parts;
  • small sharp objects;
  • pins, needles;
  • paper clips, pins (stationery);
  • hooks for catching fish;
  • magnets (especially if there were several of them);
  • small keys;
  • bones.

If a child has swallowed batteries, magnets or sharp objects, immediate hospitalization is required.

This is why it is so important to know exactly what the child has swallowed. Waiting is acceptable in cases where the object was streamlined, for example:

  • buttons;
  • coins;
  • balls.

If mom and dad clearly saw that it was a small object, they are allowed to wait 3-4 days. During this time, you should carefully monitor your baby’s stool.

It wouldn't hurt to check everything several times. Suddenly the object is simply lost somewhere, and all worries are in vain.

Treatment

If foreign objects enter the body, children are hospitalized in the pediatric surgery department. Doctors first clarify what was swallowed. If it's a coin, it will easily show up on an x-ray. But food or plastic will not be visible in the photographs. Therefore, doctors resort to endoscopy. A small diameter tube with a small chamber at the end is placed into the esophagus. Sometimes this process takes place without anesthesia.

But if the object gets into the respiratory tract, then everything is more complicated. You can't do it without anesthesia. Without it, the vocal cords will not let the device inside.

After this, doctors take out the object and prescribe medications to the child to avoid inflammation.

Resume

If a child swallows a coin, you need to know exactly what to do and how to react. Doing it wrong can be very dangerous. Objects getting into the baby's respiratory tract occurs due to the carelessness of adults. As soon as the child begins to move independently, all small objects must be removed from the accessibility zone. You should not leave coins, buttons or other things near your child.

Young children need parental control and attention. As soon as a child begins to crawl and walk independently, he needs an eye and an eye. Shelves, drawers, small objects - all this should not be accessible to the baby. Children explore the world around them in two ways: tactile and taste. Having seen an interesting, bright, attractive or hitherto unfamiliar object, the child will immediately want to study and understand what it is intended for. Therefore, it is possible that a coin lost on the floor will become the object of “research”. It is necessary to remember that even such a small object is dangerous to the child’s health.

Dangerous coins: a penny, a ruble or ten?

If a baby swallows, for example, a penny, it is not so dangerous. It will pass through the stomach, intestines and come out naturally. If a ten-kopeck coin enters the body, it will come out on its own within a week.

A ruble, a two- to five-ruble coin will come out on its own. A ten-ruble iron circle is much heavier for the body, because it is quite large. If the object is more than two centimeters in diameter, this is fraught with unpleasant consequences. If the swallowed object does not appear in the stool within three days - a maximum of a week, you should consult a doctor. Be sure to take an x-ray, on the basis of which you can decide on further actions. It is possible that surgical intervention will be required. With this option, anesthesia and an endoscopic apparatus are used to make the removal procedure painless.

Coins for children are not a toy. It is necessary to remove all coins from the baby’s access area

If a six-month or one-year-old child eats a coin, you need to be as careful as possible, since an object of any size can injure the baby’s body. Plus, you need to take into account that he cannot verbally express what happened. If the baby can more or less express himself, then game form we need to establish what happened. Older children, with stronger bodies, may not feel any changes in their well-being, but even in this case there is no need to lose vigilance and consult a doctor.

How can you tell if a child has swallowed a coin?

As soon as a foreign object enters the child’s body, into the stomach, some signs appear:

  • aching, increasing pain in the tummy;
  • chest pain;
  • nausea and vomiting for no reason;
  • blood in the stool.

Indirect symptoms

  • the child is restless, whiny;
  • refusal to eat, excessive salivation and even hiccups;
  • Large coins put pressure on the respiratory tract, causing shortness of breath and coughing.

There are cases that even after swallowing a coin, a child feels well and no unusual behavior is noticed.

How to urgently consult a doctor?

If a swallowed coin enters the digestive system, it will be released naturally. If it does not cause any symptoms or inconvenience, it is still a good idea to monitor your child for a few days to make sure everything is okay.

When a small foreign body gets stuck in the digestive tract, coughing, pain when swallowing, and vomiting appear. In this case, do not hesitate - consult a doctor.

What should you not do?

As a parent, you always want to help your little one. The desire to react quickly and deal with the problem yourself is commendable. Therefore, you need to know how to properly help a child who has swallowed a coin.

Attention! You should not give a laxative or emetic, or give an enema to a child who has swallowed a foreign object. This will complicate the situation. There is a huge risk of injury to the intestines from the edges of the same object located in the baby’s body.

  1. You cannot give water or food to a child to advance a coin.
  2. You cannot “shake” a small object out of a child.
  3. You should not be forced to chew bread crust.

How can I help?

Initially, if you decide not to wait for the coin to come out on its own, but call an ambulance, sit or lay the child down and monitor his condition.

Make sure there is no object stuck in the airway. If respiration is not difficult, there is no shortness of breath, it means that the coin has passed through the digestive tract. You just have to wait for the doctor and a solution to the problem.

Emergency: coins out!

If a child chokes and immediately develops symptoms of suffocation, wheezing or persistent coughing, remember that you have approximately four minutes to provide assistance.

If the child cannot cough up a foreign object on his own, you need to open his mouth and press the root of his tongue with your thumb, thereby inducing vomiting.

If you manage to find the “cursed” coin, carefully remove it with your fingers. This must be done very carefully so as not to push the object further.

Place your baby on her stomach in your lap and tap her on the back, as you would when someone chokes on food.

If your baby is choking, gently turn him over onto his stomach and pat him on the back.

Video by Dr. Komarovsky: “What to do if a child is choking? First aid"

How long can you wait?

If the coin does not cause any symptoms, then you can wait 12-48 hours and monitor the child's condition. If a coin does not come out within a day, this does not mean that it is stuck. Since the body cannot recognize what kind of material is in the stomach, it will try to digest it until it finally gives up.

Precautions

Often, unpleasant situations happen due to parental negligence. Therefore, as soon as the baby begins to move independently around the apartment or house, it is necessary to remove the tiny dangerous items that he can reach.

Do not let the playing baby out of your line of sight. He needs an eye and an eye.

Video about what to do if a foreign body enters a child’s body

Be vigilant, attentive and caring. A child needs affection, warmth and love. If you give all this to your baby, then he will not put unfamiliar objects into his mouth without asking.

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