The 8 Strangest Things Kids Have Swallowed (And The X-Rays To Prove It)

Kids have notoriously unrefined palates — they’ll put anything in their mouths just to figure out what it is. If it’s small enough, it’s gone, and while lots of stuff can pass right on through, lots of other stuff can get stuck. Lots of really weird other stuff. Seriously, you won’t believe what some of these kids choked down (or, in one case, what they choked back up).

A Grill

Sometimes toddlers mistake small toys for candy and sometimes parents willfully buy their kids choking hazards. In 2007, a 7-year-old, hip hop-loving Florida boy choked on a $10 grill his mom bought him from a flea market while he was still snapping photos mugging with it. At the emergency room, doctors said the whole situation could have been avoided if the boy’s favorite rapper had been DJ Kool.

A Rubber Duck Squeaker

When your kid has been squeaking like a rubber duck every time he talks or laughs for the last 2 weeks, and the doctor tells you it’s either psychological or constipation, you go find another doctor who believes your story about the kid swallowing a rubber duck squeaker.

Buckyballs

One small magnet could pass without incident like a coin or a button, but two or more can tear the intestines and require surgery because they attract each other inside the digestive system — and little kids never eat just one. In 2012, a 3-year-old girl ingested a ridiculous 37 Buckyballs; two years and multiple incidents later, the company was no more. Yeah, magnets.

A 19th Century Vest Buckle

Babies put things in their mouth to make sense of their world, but one incident in 1897 had a profound effect on everyone else’s world, too. Dr. Charles Mayo used a newfangled technology called an x-ray to determine the orientation of a vest buckle lodged in a 3-year-old boy’s esophagus. Surgery was successful, the boy was discharged after 13 days, and radiology at the Mayo Clinic was born.

Water Balz

One horrible way to teach your baby that humans are 80-percent water: have them eat an expanding ball that grows more than 400 times its original size if left in water. That’s what happened to an 8-month-old Texas girl who consumed a toy called Water Balz, which starts out looking more or less like a piece of gum — just one that can seriously gum up your internal plumbing if swallowed.

A Toy Dart

Speaking of second opinions, here’s another example of when you might want to go get one: Your 7-year-old inhales a toy dart tip, but the doctor can’t find it even though your kid’s sniffles persist — for 44 years. Or just wait until he sneezes it out at age 51. Up to you.

Sponge Bob

“Who lives in a toddler in Saudi Arabia…?”