Below, is an actual x-ray of two year old G’s tummy, taken last night in the ER at East Tennessee Children’s Hospital. And in her tummy, you will note the two small balls, stuck together. Those, gentle readers, are MAGNETS from the “Buckyball” that G somehow got her hands on despite our vigilance.
Apparently, she then unwisely decided to snack on the magnets.
I’ll write a longer post later explaining the whole, very bizarro story (right now I have to head in to work after a VERY late night at the hospital), but the good news is that Danger Toddler is now magnet-free, and thank God, no surgery was required. Jon and I are very grateful to the great staff at Children’s for their work last night.
Anyway, more later, but how about that x-ray, huh? And if any of y’all have any of the “Buckyballs” or “Bucky Cubes,” be aware that these magnet products are being pulled off shelves now because so many young children are swallowing the magnets. (For the record, I do NOT blame the company that makes this product. It is 100% our fault as her parents that G somehow got her hands on those magnets.)
So glad Danger Baby is fine- how scary. Also good for you for taking responsibility for the situation. It's something so many people don't do.
Sorry! Only pushed "post comment" once, I swear!
So glad Danger Baby is fine- how scary. Also good for you for taking responsibility for the situation. It's something so many people don't do.
Thank God, Danger toddler is ok. How scary for you. On the flip side, one day you get to tell your grandchildren how their mama decided to eat magnets one day. Take care.
Did you put a magnet on the outside of her tummy to see if it would stick? Because that would be cool!
No, but we did tell her that the next time she snacks on a magnet, she's spending some time stuck to the fridge as a consequence.
-Katie
Funny! Glad she is okay.
I once saw a youtube clip where a family tracked a swallowed coin in their daughter with a metal detector, (stomach, intestines, bottom) three days later she was coin free! lol!
I saw your facebook message last night:
>>In the ER at Children's. Georgia managed to break open several bottles of dangerous adult meds (with childproof caps) while at grandparents' house. Looks like we will be here for much of the night, at least
<<
You're saying she got her hands on several bottles of vitamins and the magnets too? Whoa.
@Maria,
She got into three bottles of meds (one was a vitamin – iron pills) while being babysat at her grandparents. My mother in law couldn't tell if she'd actually swallowed any, but poison control advised that she go to the ER. So she called us and we met her there. While they were x-raying her belly to see if there was any evidence of pills that could be seen visually (they also took blood levels over many hours to be sure), they did NOT see any pills, but they DID find those two magnets. We have absolutely no clue when she swallowed the magnets or how she got hold of them. We are just very, very lucky that this happened the way it did and the magnets were seen on that X-ray because they can do serious damage to a child's gastro tissue because they are such powerful little magnets. They stick together and pinch the tissue. Thankfully, we were able to get her to pass them without anything too invasive. The doctor was awesome. It was a very, very weird series of events. And it turned out she had not swallowed any of her grandfather's medication, so that was very lucky as well.
-Katie
After reading the article you cited, I'm truly curious as to how their effort to warn parents about the dangers of this product were not successful in this instance.
The product is labeled 'Not a toy', and 'Not for children'. I don't understand how this product ended up in C's posession. Was it outside the original packaging when it entered your home? Surely someone would have noticed the warnings?
Several years ago, I got Honey some Buckyballs for a gift. We were playing with them and the chain broke and the little balls flew all over the place. It took us weeks to find all of them. I can certainly imagine how easy it would be for a little kid to come across a few balls and eat them. She'd have found them a lot faster than we did, I'm sure!
Are they bright colors = if so they would look like candy even to a kid who's not an oral learner. Glad it all came out well in the end. (Joke intended, cuz after the fact it's funny).
I ate ant poison and had to have my stomach pumped at about the same age. Don't remember though. Yet my son, who fell on a Little Tykes xylophone at age 19 months and had to have his face stitched up at the plastic surgeon's, swears he remembers the bright light in his eyes and me holding on to him as the surgeon stitched.
They are bright, shiny little orange calls, about the size of pop rocks (anyone remember pop rocks?)
-Katie
Why did your five year old have a product that is meant for 14+ year olds?
G is actually only two! So she definitely shouldn't have had access to the little magnets. And honestly, we have no clue how she got them. Best guess is that they fell off the ball at some point and G found them because she's closer to the floor.
-Katie
You said on Facebook that the Buckyballs were C's. I'm pretty sure that's who Concerned is referring to.
yes- why would you even allow this item in the house with two small children? 2 and 5 and it's made for 14+ years? REALLY?
THe Buckyball is mine. My boss gave it to me. Sometimes, under careful supervision, we let the five year old play with it. She does indeed love the thing. I have no clue if that's how my two year old ended up getting two magnets in her belly. My teenage son also has a thing made of tiny magnets and he says he thinks his little sister grabbed some of them when she was playing with him in his room. I have no idea. I am just super grateful that she didn't require surgery and was not injured.
-Katie
Take it to the office. No loose magnet games – or any of the small dime-sized batteries – anywhere a kid can get them. Not even under close supervision.
All pill bottles up and only taken down to administer and then back up.
Helmets, always
Always watch a kid in the tub or in any water. Here especially, careful supervision means eye on child every single second.
Window guards on windows, especially child's 2nd story or higher bedroom window. ( these can easily be released in case of fire)
Working smoke and CO2 monitors on every floor and ample extinguishers. ( no alcohol on a fire)
Carseeats, always.
"Accident" is the leading cause of death in kids Georgia and charlottes age
Also balloons and quarters. Which I'm adding to the list because this list is paralyzing long already. Balloons and quarters (and peanut butter) can all be lodged in the throat. The muscles then constrict so tightly around a quarter that the Heimlech manuever does not work. As a preschool teacher I would often discover one of my students playing with a quarter. "Where did that come from?" I'd ask. "My pocket. My dad (or mom) gave it to me."
I guess my real intent in my response is to point out that being judgmental about a 2 year old swallowing those small magnets is not helpful or realistic. I would guess that every household with toddlers also contains coins; I have yet to meet someone as hyper-vigilant as I was about coins as I was when my children were small.
After dozens of dangerous episodes involving Danger Baby/Toddler it's obvious that she cannot & should not be left unattended for even ONE second. Glad that she is ok. Sounds like you need to go through your entire house, including your other kids toys and remove ANYTHING that is small enough for her to eat/ingest.
Who has time to post all these social media updates about a child in the ER? Seems off to me.
Seems very strange. The focus should be on the child- just as the focus really should have been on a child that you constantly refer to as "Danger Baby". If the child gets into that much "danger", perhaps an adult/parent should have their eyes on said child all.the.time…….instead of the ever present cell phone/laptop/iPad.
And, since there are serious repercussions from ingesting (a) adult medications, and (b) magnets, you might want to avoid the joke-y tone of this post. (Apparently, she then unwisely decided to snack on the magnets)
I, for one, don't find it amusing. I hate to criticize a fellow parent, but sheesh! Don't post it all over the internet & don't proclaim to be "vigilant" if the evidence speaks to the contrary.
I would have kept this "bizarro" episode to myself. Please don't write yet another blog post, facebook update or tweet about this sad story.
@Marie-
I feel comfortable that I have conveyed the potentially serious repercussions of what happened, as well as my gratitude that she escaped injury. Clearly you feel otherwise, and I respect that your perception of my presentation of this incident differs from mine.
-Katie
Can't believe the accusatory tone of some of these posts. Get real, people. There's a 14-year-old in the house. Is he not supposed to have anything age appropriate because of younger siblings? Do any of you actually live in a house with kids? Best efforts can be undone in seconds.I remember when I was 15 and my 2-year-old baby brother drank my medicine for plantar's warts. It was on a shelf in my bathroom. It smelled horrible. And yet he found it, opened it, and drank it. Thankfully, he was OK (and has never had warts in his stomach). It was no one's fault. It happened. Thank God danger toddler is OK, Katie. Adventures in parenting never end.
I have crazy stuff happen to me and I don't even have kids! I don't know how we all survived our childhood. . . . .
One of my younger brothers was notorious for this kind of thing. There was the time he drank a bottle of Energine spot remover. The time he drank a bottle of Vitalis hair tonic. The time he got a container of roll-on deodorant and licked it like an ice cream cone until it was EMPTY. For awhile there, my parents were way more familiar with the ER than they really wanted to be.
My issue is that Katie has said that the magnets belonged to C. A teenager is old enough to keep their belongings away from younger siblings. C is neither old enough to have these items nor keep them away from G.
These are not run-of-the-mill magnets. They can kill a child. The reason they're not made in a size larger than a bee bee is because they can and have severed fingers. This is not a trivial matter.
I do not see that. Katie mentions: "I just asked her quite sternly if she ate some of her sister's toy magnets, and she rubbed her belly and said "yum."
Katie has three daughters; one of whom is applying to college. As you would know if you regularly read her blog.
Her is what Katie said. As you would know if you read her facebook, as S did.
Katie Allison Granju I cannot BELIEVE this happened. We are super careful to never let her near this toy, which belongs to Charlotte. I feel awful
@Char – I absolutely have let my 5 year old play with this magnet ball many times, supervised. I'm not sure how many times I should agree that that yes, that's the case. I'm not disagreeing with you.
-Katie
But does it belong to Charlotte (who is too young to play with it) or you? You keep changing your tune. Funny that.
@C –
You're right. You've nailed me. I was trying to trick people by using the word "belongs" in a comment instead of the alternative "enjoys and really likes to play with" when describing my kindergartener's attachment to a plaything that I brought home from my office.
Too bad I blew my sneaky cover by repeatedly agreeing that yes, I've allowed my child who is not 14-plus years old to play with a toy safety rated for ages 14-plus.
-Katie
Excuse me?
I've been reading this blog since it was 'in loco parentis' at katieallisongranju.com. That was probably ten years ago. I used to read her column in the Metro Pulse before that.
It doesn't *belong* to my 5 year old, although yep, we have indeed let her play with it before under direct supervision. Perhaps this is how my two year old ended up swalloing two of the teeny magnets. I don't know. Clearly there was some break in the chain of oversight on our part, for which I take full responsibility and feel very bad. However she got them in her mouth without her mother or father noticing, it was Not Good.
-Katie
So on Facebook it belongs to your five year-old, but on your blog it doesn't? I see.
You clearly stated they belong to Charlotte.
Then you found out they are 14+.
Clearly.
"It doesn’t *belong* to my 5 year old, although yep, we have indeed let her play with it before under direct supervision. Perhaps this is how my two year old ended up swalloing two of the teeny magnets"
That makes no sense? Direct supervision = no one should be swallowing any magnets!!!!!
Wha?? Chalk me up as another person who saw, clear as day, the Facebook post where you said the bucky ball was 5-year-old Charlotte's.
Thanks for your post Tricia…
I find it painful to read the critical posts. As a parent, I'm not perfect; I don't know anyone who is. Heck, I don't think it's even possible. These sorts of things can happen to anyone, not matter how vigilant. Our 5 year old ingested half a blood pressure pill once; it was completely out of character for her to put something in her mouth, but she did. Fortunately, she was okay. I'm so relieved that Danger Baby is okay!!
And after the fact, you *do* have to laugh! DB goes to the ER for one thing, and they find evidence that she's been up to some secret mayhem as well? Trust Danger Baby to pull it off!
I think some readers are really quite concerned that one of these times G isn't going to "pull it off", and that is where some of the comments that seem critical may be born. Even after the fact, I can't see where this is funny, something to joke about or minimize. Of course there are no perfect parents, but there seem to have been enough instances of close calls with G that one does wonder what can be changed to decrease the risk of serious harm, or worse, befalling her. It is up to her parents to decide what those changes might be, if they are so inclined.
This.
And am I the only one praying the Leo and other pets did not/do not get into something as I know Katie does have a strong history of taking the pets to the vet? (Remember the guinea pig "oopsie" incident? Hmmm…. I'm seeing a strong pattern here.)
VERY glad all is OK!
All the critical posts slay me too. I mean, all most all parents realize that things just happen. If random – potentially dangerous – things haven't happened to any of your children, Great. Be Thankful – but also be cautious 'cause with kids, it's bound to happen one day, one way or another. It just does.
I am glad G is ok! I can't believe how critical people are. Accidents happen, it isn't like you handed her the balls and let her play with them. I have a 2.5 year old and a 7 month old, i am sure my time in the ER is coming. No matter how careful a parent is things happen.
I think Katie opened the door for comments, positive AND negative, by publicly blogging about the issue. Surely she knew that not everyone was going to find this funny , even after the danger had passed. If you don't want or at least expect some negative comments then you don't blog about it! And I also think that people have a valid point that while in the ER who has time or feels like constantly facebooking about the episode?? One would think that all your time/attention would be on your child, when at that point they didn't KNOW that this would have a happy ending.. for all Katie & Jon knew at that point G might have to have abdominal surgery or her stomach pumped??? Thankfully that didn't happen! If so we would probably be looking at posted pictures of her incision……sigh
Ms. Granju You are exactly the kind of mother we need in our county. I know your older daughter and she is obviously very proud of you. That speaks volumes.
Dear Katie:
This is not acceptable.
No, really. This is not acceptable.
You found out your toddler swallowed magnets. You found this out because your toddler "got into" some "adult" pills.
There are too many oopsies and whoops-a-daisies and teehees with you.
Get help.
Please, so many of us beg you: get help.
Stop calling it a grief flu and get help.
Be the mother your children deserve.
Critical commenters don't seem to understand how blogging works. The more dramatic the incident, the greater the number of page views.
It's not cute, it's not funny, it's not blog fodder, it's your DAUGHTER Katie, and it's time you started treating her as such.
You have already lost one child, Katie. Why on earth would you find any amusement or entertainment in this incident — which you clearly did, as you shared it on Facebook, Twitter, your blog, and are even joking about it (sticking Georgia to the fridge)? What on earth is wrong with you?
Jesus take the wheel.
It's excellent that have a readership of flawless parents, willing to school you! I've only had three kids, all of them fairly cautious kids and even with that, we've had several crazy issues (climbing out a window onto a roof? trying to scale bookshelves before walking?)
There is truly NO way to foresee every single way that a child can get into trouble, even if you were to hire someone to actually follow her every step (and never blink).
It actually sounds like it was a good thing that she got to the pill containers — it helped you find the magnets! Unless you actually start tempting her with dangerous activities, you have nothing but good thoughts from me.
Geomags are a similar toy but much safer. The rods are magnetic, rather than the balls; so, if any balls do get swallowed, they don't clump together in the intestines. So glad she is all right!
Katie, can you explain your criteria for deleting posts?
Those that respectfully disagree do not seem to last long.
Such a scary story – my husband was showing my son how to make a little motor with magnets this past weekend. I am glad everything is ok
Katie,
Please stop referring to this child as 'Danger Baby / Toddler'.
The appearance is that you regard her as a parlor trick. You blog these 'funny' stories about her that really are not funny at all. You argue that she is constantly and vigilantly supervised, even while she's swallowing mushrooms, magnets and pills. It's not funny, it's not cute.
Please do not turn her into a caricature for page hits.
Ah, the joys of parenting small children with older kids in the home. The little ones want to be so big, but instead of trying to be 1-2 years older they want to be 10-15 years older. I never would have imagined my first children trying some of the things their little brothers have tried.
I just wish when the first born was small we kept my husband from wearing shirts with buttons. That er trip to look for it would not have happened. Or the time our second was playing with water and managed to split open his head on a hose. Or the same child who fell on a funnel and punctured his tush. Or duck duck goose that went wrong. Or the kitchen counter. Or playdough that ended with a broken arm. Or running on carpet that ended with a broken arm.
How did some manage to be adults with full time jobs? The youngest is now 8 and there is no way I could handle a toddler who was determined to be 14. Our Bucky Balls are well loved by our Aspie kid. He is constantly counting his magnets and STILL I find them here and there. Even when missing a ball can cause him a melt down, he misplaces them. Not very often, but with so many in a cluster, 2 can be hard to notice missing.
OMG, Katie, how can you stand to even read these posts on your own blog and you are so calm. People think their crap doesn't stink. See I'm mad for you.
My daughter choked on a ring I had taken off and put on a dresser. She climbed up got it, plopped it in her mouth and came to me choking………according the jury of perfect parents above child services should have been called. Oh and how about this, my husband and I left a child at church once. Yep we got home and were missing a child. Again? I think I'm too stupid to have kids. Oh yea and they are now 24,23 and 21. I think they survived.
GRRRRR you are the most patient person I know!
I respectfully disagree. Many of the worried posters here would agree that kids can get into troubling situations and it isn't the parents fault. However, this is a child who has been branded as "danger baby/toddler." Many people posting here worry that a very adventurous child like this needs more supervision than the usual… and that often, children play up to their parents' expectations. If dangerous behavior is often seen as cute and blog-worthy, it becomes something the child wants to do to keep the parents happy. I am not saying that this is done purposely. It's human psychology. Posting multiple photos and multiple posts of one's sick/hospitalized child while the events are still unfolding (while referring to the child as Danger Toddler) on one's money-making blog and/or blog-linked facebook page seems to reveal a need for attention. Everyone who knows them loves them and is so happy G is okay. Perhaps we're just worried of what will happen when Danger Toddler becomes Danger 6 year old… Danger 12 year old… Danger 16 year old… You can care about someone, NOT blame them, but still want to see positive change and responsibility.
We had a similar scare but luckily our daughter hadn't swallowed any…we got them out of her mouth in time….I had to take them from my older son. I took them into work and they became the office's new toy…
Glad everything worked out!
I’m glad G is okay. I have one four year old daughter, who compared to most other kids her age is quite mellow and easy to care for. Even she has ended up in the urgent care to have her chin superglued.
You can’t wrap them in bubblewrap or shield them from every thing that’s dangerous. You can only do the best you can and pray they’ve got very good guardian angels. Looks like G does!
I would hate to be a pet or a child in your household, only a matter of time before something happens. If you only gave your children as much time as you invest online, updating your blog and FB. You need to check yourself,
something is awfully wrong.