I was feeding my kids pistachio nuts right out of my mouth when my 2-year-old daughter Sawyer starting coughing. She coughed a lot, but then settled down. So we piled in our minivan to go have Christmas lunch with my in-laws. Sawyer coughed more en route and eventually threw up. We pulled over, cleaned her up and she was happy again. With no other signs of sickness, it seemed the excess coughing must have caused her to vomit.
During lunch, however, Sawyer threw up six more times. I am aware this makes me sound like a negligent parent, but as soon as she was done coughing, then gagging, then vomiting, she would happily race back to the other kids and play. Finally, on the umpteenth vomit of the day, I remembered the story of an adult who got a nut stuck “in his lung.”
I ran out of the restaurant with Sawyer and back into the mini-van, fearful she had “aspirated” the pistachio nut. The hospital rushed us in because by the time we reached the E.R., Sawyer had passed out for a few seconds after a coughing fit. Once in an examination room, a nurse asked me a lot of peanut questions. Mostly about peanut allergies.
You know, up until this point, I found the “peanut-police” annoying. There are so many allergies among children now that I have often wondered if parents are putting labels on things too fast — or if current manufacturing practices have absolutely destroyed our food. Milk, soy, nut, wheat and gluten allergies abound in preschools now. Serve your kid peanut butter on a playdate and you will be a pariah in mommy society.
This was all somewhat annoying to me, until I had a run in with a food group that could have killed my kid. The same food group that is the captain of deadly allergens.
Having had enough of one nurse’s plan to “wait and see” if this was an allergy, I channeled Shirley MacLaine from “Terms of Endearment” and brought my vomitous child to the charge nurse’s desk. And let her puke on it until she found me a doctor.
The attending physician ordered X-rays and called a pediatric gastroenterologist. Our family pediatrician has become my friend, so I called her on my cell phone. She found me a pediatric ear, nose and throat specialist who — sight unseen, over the phone — insisted that the hospital prep my daughter for surgery.
Because who knew that whole nuts and dried beans expand inside the body? If these foods “go down the wrong pipe,” they will expand – and in a child under 4 years old, expand so much they could block an airway.
And I mean really who knows this? I have three kids. I’ve taken more parenting classes than most. I’m the class mom of the parents association at our preschool. I see doctors regularly and make all my kids’ food from recipes I’ve gotten from parenting cookbooks, kids’ websites and other families. In not one of these circles have I ever heard that my children COULD DIE if I fed them whole nuts before age 4.
Thank goodness this superhero-surgeon put a scope down my daughters throat, to find and then remove that pistachio from the bronchial area. Sawyer is now left with bronchitis from the fluid that surrounded the pistachio or the excess vomiting her body did to try to remove it. I’m giving her medication five times a day this week and have to put a mask over her face three to six times each day and night to give her a breathing treatment. All because of a pistachio, whose shell I carefully cracked in my own mouth so I could feed the nut inside to my child.
Needless to say, after removing every raw nut and dried bean in evidence at my house (as well as all carrots and hot dogs, which I’m no longer taking any choking chances with) and beating them mercilessly against the inside of my trash cans before throwing them out, we are now a nut-free house, also.
For more information go to http://bit.ly/wrongpipe
*For the record: Nut butters do not pose a threat of aspiration. Steamed carrots or raw, as well as hot dogs are two of the biggest threats for choking or aspiration because they form a solid block. Children should not be allowed to play with dried (sometimes called “uncooked”) beans in arts in crafts projects or any other way as they present very dramatic dangers if aspirated. The old adages of “Don’t talk with your mouth full,” and, “Sit at the table when eating” are not just for etiquette, but also in prevention of aspiration and choking. Please check with your pediatrician for the latest updates on safe food choices for your children, as I am nothing more than an incensed mother.
(Diane Farr is known for her roles in “Californication,” “Numb3rs” and “Rescue Me,” and as the author of “The Girl Code.” Her next book – “Kissing Outside the Lines” will be available April of 2011. You can read her blog at getdianefarr.com, follow her on twitter.com/getdianefarr or contact her on facebook.com/getdianefarr.)
COPYRIGHT © 2011 DIANE FARR
DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.
When I saw the title of this article, I thought “wow, it’s not only my kids who put nuts up their noses!” Alas, your kids are apparently less odd than mine as at least Sawyer consumed the nut in a normal way. However the result is the same. I had similar emergencies with kids who put peas, nuts, beans, etc. up their noses, and such things were subsequently banned from my house. It is weird that the books, other parents, websites, etc. don’t bother to mention the danger. Like you, I learned only by having the experience. I am really glad you wrote about this, and I really wish this information were more readily available to parents of young children. Years after the fact, these sort of incidents are amusing, but when they occur, they are quite frightening, and not worth the future entertainment value.
oh my god, well there would be no debate as to whether or not to remove the object if it went in through the nose, but so hard none the less. so sorry to hear, even many years later but it did make me feel better. thanks df
I’m glad that Sawyer is alright. That was awful what your family went through.
This is such a cute picture. Sawyer and Coco are so precious. Aww! http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/tribu/ct-humor-hotel-nut-story,0,3026664.story
ya know, now that I think about it, I was kinda lucky that my kids ingested small items via their noses, as it was quite apparent that they needed immediate medical attention. If they had ingested these things through their mouths, I would not have immediately known that there might be a problem. That had to be really scary to realize how much worse things could have been had you not recalled the adult who got a nut stuck in his lung. I am so glad that it all turned out okay.
Hmm, since you are a writer, and there don’t seem to be parenting books that cover many of the things that can happen with small kids, maybe you should write a parenting book? I’m thinking something that would have really useful information interspersed with your usual humor. Come on, you know you want to write a parenting book….sure, the whole acting career thing is cool, but you could write a really great parenting book…you know you want to….
i think my parenting book my be a little heavy in the sarcasm department right now. maybe in a few years. but thanks
thanks for the love Nicole
oh come on, sarcasm is good! Sarcasm gets me through the day…. and I am sure there are many other moms out there who would really appreciate a parenting book that is useful, yet still funny and sarcastic. Way too many of those parenting books are so serious…the moms of the world need a parenting book that makes them laugh while also informing them.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Ana Lucia and Diane Farr. Diane Farr said: @toby279 thank u, this is where i was http://getdianefarr.com/2011/01/07/get-that-nut-away-from-my-child-click-here-for-comments/ [...]
Wow, how scary. I’m glad Sawyer’s OK. My daughter was allergic to nuts when she was little but fortunately she outgrew it. It was scary for a few years though. A parent’s job never ends.
oh, so glad you wrote this Scott Keller. How did you know it was safe to let her try peanuts again??? in other words, how did you know you could even test it out?? df
As best I can remember (this was 16-18 years ago) our pediatrician told us that some children grow out of it by age 4 or 5, and to try giving her a little bit of peanut butter at that age. Her allergic reactions had not been severe enough that we had to rush her to a hospital (as long as we had Benadryl handy), so maybe that had something to do with his diagnosis.
Wow! I thought I was informed but this was totally off of my radar! Thank you for this information! Poor baby, and poor parents!
On another note, a sarcastic parenting book sounds like a really good idea. The ones I read are either too idealistic and sickly sweet or more than a little bit like the author sees her/himself as dictating the one true way from above. Sarcasm would be appreciated!
I had no clue. I think i have fed my kids whole nuts at least every third since age one. I peeled grapes for like two freakin years. remember how annoying THAT IS? meanwhile, i has handing them nuts by the bowlful.
Maybe I should jump right past the sarcastic parenting book and go right for the full mommy rant.
send one if you got one! df
You’re welcome, Diane!
Thank goodness things turned out OK. take care
Meri wrote: “On another note, a sarcastic parenting book sounds like a really good idea. The ones I read are either too idealistic and sickly sweet or more than a little bit like the author sees her/himself as dictating the one true way from above. Sarcasm would be appreciated!”
Thank you Meri! That is exactly what I have been saying! The existing parenting books are way too serious and sickly-sweet. And they don’t even give good information, like this info from df about the danger of feeding small children nuts. We need a parenting book that is informative, not nauseatingly sweet, and funny. df is the perfect person to write such a book. My kids are mostly older – 25, 21, and 4, but I would buy it in a heartbeat. And hey df, you could collect info from all us moms who follow you for possible use in your book. I am sure many of us have plenty of mommy rants that we’d be willing to share.
Glad to hear your daughter is okay and I too saw the photo of your twin girls and they are both adorable.
Thank you for writing this! Three days ago I had to do the Heimlich on my ten month old granddaughter because my son gave her the tiniest piece of raw apple against my nagging wishes. “But she loves apples. I just let her get the taste of it.” With four teeth, two just in half way, she nipped a piece and nearly choked to death. It took three Heimlichs to get the pieces out. Livid? Very. I can’t thank you enough. I’m buying those baby food grinders and insist they use them since she doesn’t like baby food anymore.
Oh I am so glad to hear this from you Vicki. thank you so much for sharing your experience and big props to you for knowing the Heimlich and doing it correctly. so so impressive.