Sunday, October 07, 2007

Another day in the life of a toddler
All day today I've been cleaning the house from top to bottom because for one, it needed it and we're also having company for a couple of days. I've been doing loads of laundry while Logan was eating lunch. The way our house is designed, you can see Logan from every part of the house unless you go into a bedroom or bathroom. The rest is open space, so I feel alright about doing housework while he's eating. I'll be able to see him if he starts choking or if anything else happens...like today.

I had just checked on the load in the dryer & noticed that Logan had his finger up his nose. No big surprise, he does this all of the time. I told him to get his finger out of his nose, but then I realized how far he was up his nostril & I just knew what he did.

He stuck a pea up his nose.

I tried to get him to blow his nose & he kept sucking it up farther. I did a quick Google search on what to do (yea for the internet!) & all I read was to not stick my finger or anything else up there to try & dig it out. It would just push it up farther, much like how you're not supposed to do a finger sweep on a choking child.

I called his pediatricians office to see if this qualified as a weekend emergency thinking, NO! Our insurance is still screwed up & I'm not positive that we have coverage here! The on-call nurse said I would get a call from the Doctor to try some things I hadn't done yet & to stop feeding Logan lunch just in case he would have to go under anesthesia if the tips didn't work (holy crap).

While I waited for the Doctor to call, not only did I try to get Logan to blow his nose more, but I kept asking him to play me songs on his recorder, thinking that hey, you have to blow into that, it might help him blow his nose! He wasn't going for it.

The Doctor called & said that since I could see the pea, I could try to pull it out with a pair of tweezers. He also said that I could plug the clear nostril & puff into Logan's mouth (kind of like CPR) & that would help to pop the pea out, much like the Heimlich Maneuver does for choking. If these tricks didn't work, then I was told to call the office on Monday so they could extract the pea. I chose the second option.

I put Logan on the floor & wrapped him up in a towel because he was kicking & screaming & thrashing his arms around, knowing that I was going to do something to him. It took about 10 puffs because he was freaking out so much, but finally, the pea exploded out of his nose & shot across the room, rolling under his bed & I ended up with a big splat of snot on the lens of my glasses.

I gave him a big hug to help him calm down & within seconds he was up & running around. I'm glad we didn't have to go to the pediatrician tomorrow because I'm sure we would have been stuck with another bill.

So, a pea up the nose. Does it get anymore "typical toddler" than that?

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh gee'z! Glad all went well. I would'a freaked out too!

Wendy said...

oh, man! I would have freaked!! I am glad that it all worked out though!! GEESH!!

Ami said...

I never have heard of that trick. Eww on the snot! :)

Matt, while at preschool, stuck a cherry pit up his nose. They called me at work, and I could hear him screaming in the background.

I had to take him to the doctor and lie on him while the doctor scooped the cherry pit out of his nose.

It was payback for the time I stuck a piece of a broken toy telephone up MY nose at age 4 and had to go to the doctor.

Erin said...

Oh my gosh, what is it with kids and putting things up their noses?! I'll have to remember that trick when that happens to Hailey!

Hey I can't find your email address anywhere, I must have deleted the email with the Virtual Fitness button html code on it...do you still have my email? I need you to email me so I can send you an invitation.

Dawn @ Bent, not broken said...

OH my gosh!!!! I've heard stories about this type of stuff from my mom..and thought, oh..okay. I won't have to worry. LOL I'm now waitin' for the day especially since James loves to put his finger up there sans pea... Good for you for being the hero!!

Anonymous said...

That is amazing - I think that is the last time i had to endure an emergency room visit - your cousin T stuck a button up her nose. It was so stupid, she was about 8 years old. The nurses and drs. and even I laughed and laughed. She was really embarrased, but this only happens to little kids. Not an 8 year old. It was scary, but too funny. That was a really good solution - I would never have thought of it. Congrats on the article also. Aunt M

Cindy said...

My son at 2, shoved a half popped popcorn kernel up his nose. Not so funny, it had to be surgically removed!

Bringing Up Ben said...

Good thing you were wearing glasses. ;)

Damselfly said...

OK. You win. That's the funniest thing I've read so far this week! I know it probably wasn't funny to you at the time.... And thank you for sharing what to do in a case like this!

Anonymous said...

Doh!!

Thanks for letting us know how to extract it though -- will come in handy for me should that happen to Kira!

And glad he's ok; he has tried doing it again since?

Ashley said...

Okay, I'm sorry, but I had to laugh. My nephew just did the same thing. Thanks for the tips though, I'll remember them the next time I get a pea stuck in my nose.

Kristin said...

I was surprisingly calm during the whole incident, mostly like this happens all of the time with toddlers. I'm glad it was easily resolved & to answer your question Erica, no he hasn't tried it since. Hopefully he's learned his lesson!

Amanda said...

I just read this maybe yesterday? And today my 3 year old stuck a piece of corn up her nose. I was not upset at all, because I'd read on here how to fix it. The kernel shot out of her nose with amazing speed!

Anonymous said...

I can identify with you! My child is a repeat offender - first peas, then a pretzel rod (scary) and now dried fruit. Not sure how to get him to stop putting things up his nose!!!

Anonymous said...

We just had this same need and sure enough, the plug the nostril and blow trick worked first time. Thanks!