Worried baby swallowed my earring

[Anonymous]

Yesterday mid-day I noticed one earring (a stud with a post) had fallen out and the back was still stuck to the back of my ear. I have no idea how long the earring had been gone before I noticed- I am assuming not too long since the backing was still with me. However, I can't find the earring ANYWHERE and last evening the baby developed a fever, and now I am worried that she ate it. She is ten months old. Should I take her in to get an xray? Or wait a day or so to see if it comes out in her stool? I don't know if she even ate it- is it worth all the harm of an xray if I'm not sure?

Thanks for any advice.

[Anonymous]

Do she seem to be in pain or just have a fever. If she had an infection from swallowing an earring it would be b/c it pierced her intestine. She'd be in pain and would especially express pain when you pressed on her belly and then let go -- the letting go would be when she really showed pain.

If it is just a fever and nothing else, I'd wait a bit to see if the fever goes away. You don't want to subject her to an x-ray of her intestines for no reason. And, trust me, if you ask the Doc for an x-ray, they'll probably give it to you even if they think you are crazy.

Let us know what happens.

[Anonymous]

Call the pediatrician, OP.

[Anonymous]

fever from swallowing an earing? it would take more than 24 hours...

[Anonymous]

Did you ever leave the baby unsupervised? Then I doubt she ate it. I'm sure you would have noticed if the baby was putting something in her mouth, right?

[Anonymous]

If she swallowed it, I doubt that it would pass. It would perforate something, more likely than not. The end of an earring is pretty sharp.

No one but you can say whether it is unlikely or likely that she actually swallowed it. But if she did, you should not wait to talk to a doctor.

[Anonymous]

It might set your mind at ease to get an x-ray and confirm she did not swallow it... since it's metal it would show up very easily.

[Anonymous]

Is there any particular reason why you think the baby ate the earring beside the fact that you can't find it. I've found the backs of earring still stuck to my ear a few times, I think they'll stick for a quite a while.

[Anonymous]

OP. No reason except I've looked everywhere for it plus the fever started.

[Anonymous]

OP- I do occasionally leave the room, I have another child and our house is very well baby proofed. So she may well have eaten it without me noticing, although on this day I don't remember leaving her side. BTW when I do leave her it's for seconds only. Still,long enough to pop something into her mouth.

[Anonymous]

How big of an earring are we talking about? Most 10 mo's I know can't pick up something as small as a stud earring, so it's highly unlikely it made it from the floor to the baby's mouth. Both my kids were sick earlier this week - there are a lot of illnesses going around. And I agree with the PP - if there's no pain, BMs are normal and there's no blood, it's highly unlikely. Call your ped if you want to find out what to look for if indeed this was the case.

This reminds me of the time when my mom thought the dog ate her wedding rings...after a week of using the metal-detector on her poop (and she did eat screws, washers, coins, etc.), my mom found them on her dresser, hiding under a doilie (sp?). Earrings do disappear...

[Anonymous]

What was the earring made of? Any risk of toxicity? I would call your Ped. I'm not sure I'd jump to an xray...

DS swallowed a twist tie. We were not sure if it was all plastic or if it had the metal inside, surrounded by plastic. It was overlapped when he swallowed. We know he swallowed it because he showed us it on his tongue. As I was going towards him, the little stinker closed his mouth and swallowed. We called poison control who had us give him a piece of bread to eat (help it go down in case it lodged somewhere along the way) and drink a glass of water. He could breathe so we knew it wasn't stuck, but worried about an edge piercing something. We also called Ped and brought him in. He showed no signs of distress so we were on poop patrol for about 3-5 days, I think, and never saw it. Ped then sent us for an xray, just in case. It was not found on the x-ray. We figure it was missed in the poop or it was all plastic and would not show on an xray. Still a mystery...

[Anonymous]

OP. It was a pearl earring. Baby clearly unhappy today, will only sleep on me, super fussy. However, she also has a 103 fever. I have no issues with going to the doc, but if i need an xray i will probably go to an urgent care clinic instead. At this point I am leaning toward xray, even though I hate exposing her to all that radiation. Of course I can't even put her down long enough to look for the damn thing, she's soooo clingy.

And I don't even like those earrings!!

[Anonymous]

OP, I really think the risk of an xray is better than the risk of her becoming ill from an earring. Plus, maybe they wont need to do an xray and can do an ultrasound? In any case, get thou to a doc!

[Anonymous]

I highly doubt your child swallowed the earring. I would not expose the child to radiation just because you suspect as much and I would probably think a doctor would agree. Also, our pediatrician told us that unless it's a magnet that they usually just "wait it out".

You'll probably find it in the carpet or couch cushion at some point.