Recovering From A Very Minor Emergency

amother

Mon, Oct 15 2012, 1:23 pm

Just thought I'd vent here. My sweet little trouble maker 3 year old stuck a bead in his ear yesterday. We spent quite a while at the emergency clinic, and Baruch Hashem it was removed quickly and painlessly. But I was so freaked out from it, I'm not sure why. I have taken other kids to the hospital for bigger emergencies, such as a gash on the head requiring stitches and CAT scans. But somehow I got so scared from this, and last night I had nightmares of him falling off the side of a spaceship (weird, I know.) And now I am still feeling anxiety and stress. Do you think it's because he is my youngest? Or because I am getting older? Or because I know he thinks it's fun to stick things in his ear?

mommyla

Mon, Oct 15 2012, 8:27 pm

PinkFridge wrote:

You say he thinks it's fun. Does he do it a lot? If so maybe getting some input from someone - child psychologist? OT? even informally - may be helpful.
And yeah, maybe you are getting older ;-) Hope you sleep well tonight and beyond!

Kids stick things in their ears! Especially 3-year-olds! Totally normal. Annoying and worrying, but definitely not necessary to get him evaluated.

PinkFridge

Mon, Oct 15 2012, 8:55 pm

mommyla wrote:

PinkFridge wrote:

Kids stick things in their ears! Especially 3-year-olds! Totally normal. Annoying and worrying, but definitely not necessary to get him evaluated.

Glad I got the ball rolling. All those views and no comments ;-)
Yeah, I think I could have gone differently with what I was thinking. All I meant was, if an experienced mother is finding a behavior new or difficult to deal with, it could be helpful to find someone to talk to. I pulled those ideas out of thin air and did say informally. I should have stressed that.
But again, just my way of bumping. OP, I hope I didn't alarm you at all.

amother

Mon, Oct 15 2012, 9:25 pm

When I was 6 years old my sister was playing a trick how you can put a bead in your ear and it comes out of your nose YUCK!
well I tried it and I stuck an orange bead in my ear but it wouldn't come out!
I was so embarrassed that the trick didnt work so I didnt tell anyone untill a long while later.
At that point no-one believed me until......
In 7th grade I went for a routine ear cleaning at my pediatrician and lo and behold! the orange bead came out!

the world's best mom

Mon, Oct 15 2012, 10:13 pm

amother wrote:

That's hysterical. How come no doctor ever found it though? You're lucky it didn't damage your eardrum.

OP- I think I have an idea of what you feel like. When my 3 yr. old put a bean up his nose and needed to have it removed in the ER, I had bean phobia for a while after that. I never let my kids do anything with beans and I warned his teachers to be careful if they plant beans. When making Chulent, I made sure not to drop any beans on the floor. But I got over it. I saw how scared he was, and it did hurt him a lot when the bean was in there and when it was removed. B"H he hasn't tried it again.

amother

Mon, Oct 15 2012, 10:31 pm

This comment:
Foreign bodies are a relatively common occurrence in the pediatric population.
A wide variety of objects have been retrieved from both the ear and
nose, including toys, food, paper, beads, and insects.

is in a paper called
Pediatric Ear, Nose, and Throat Emergencies

I've heard that this is a pretty common event in a pediatric ER.

amother

Mon, Oct 15 2012, 10:49 pm

OP here. I really appreciate all your responses! I was a little upset that no one was responding at first, so thank you pinkfridge for getting the ball rolling.
To the poster who had an orange bead in her ear for a few years, YIKES! Didn't it hurt?
He doesn't normally stick things in his ear, but he is the type of kid who likes to experiment in general. I just worry about him, and this incident didn't help.
He was scared when his sister brought him to me and said there is a bead stuck in his ear. She was a bit panicked, so he picked that up from her. But at the clinic, he was pretty calm because I kept telling him on the way there that it won't hurt, and explaining how they remove it (I called the doctor on the way over and asked her what they'll do.)
I know it was a very small incident, barely worthy of even being called an emergency. For goodness sakes, I had a call from school once that my son was in a car accident! (Baruch Hashem he was totally fine, but it was a huge scare.) And I've been at the ER three times with head wounds needing stitches and once even a CAT scan. But somehow, I am so shaken from this little bead. I keep thinking, who knows what else this kid can do and what can happen to him?!?
He isn't even the kid that worries me the most. One of my sons used to stick his finger in the electric sharpener to see what will happen (even after he saw what happens a few times! and it wasn't pretty!) I guess I really just have to remind myself that Baruch Hashem, if we had to make an emergency room visit, at least it was for such a minor thing.
I need a vacation...

mommyla

Mon, Oct 15 2012, 10:58 pm

PinkFridge wrote:

mommyla wrote:

PinkFridge wrote:

Kids stick things in their ears! Especially 3-year-olds! Totally normal. Annoying and worrying, but definitely not necessary to get him evaluated.

Good. I wasn't sure if you were serious or not!
Funny, I've been thinking about this kind of thing and I'm amazed that my own 3-year-old hasn't tried it yet bli ayin hara! I did catch him stuffing macaroni up his nose once (ewww) and gave him quite a speech, so maybe that's why...
OP, good luck! Sounds like you have a spirited bunch there. I'm betting he's not going to try it again (at least for a little while Wink

)

amother

Mon, Oct 15 2012, 11:59 pm

Hi op I can relate. My sweet 4 yo had an endoscopy this morning, and here I am. Lying awake in bed. I think its the emotional trauma us mothers go thru when something out of the norm happens. I totally understand you. . Anyways hope u sleep tonight. I for one don't think I'm gonna get much tonight...

amother

Tue, Oct 16 2012, 12:17 am

amother wrote:

OP here.
I hope your toddler feels better, whatever the endoscopy was for.
And I totally agree with you, there is emotional trauma that only a mother can understand when a child needs even the smallest procedure done. (And of course for major procedures, but that's not what we're talking about.)

Funny update: I was putting his pajamas on him tonight, his favorite ones, spaceships and planets. And I said, Oh! That's where the spaceship dream came from! Smile

amother

Tue, Oct 16 2012, 7:38 pm

when my daughter was younger she stuck a chocolate lentil up her nose (she was maybe 5 or 6). then it melted in her nose and she was fine! My other child and I thought it was funny the way it melted and all and couldnt help laugh at the time but she was sooo pissed at us for laughing!
chocolate doesnt just melt in your mouth, it melts in your nose too!