There's a running joke in my family about how paranoid my mom is about kids eating "hard" candy. She has an extreme fear of children choking and cringes at the sight of a Jolly Rancher. After my experience today, I think I will be joining her in the Banishing of Hard Candy ranks.
Obviously I've never offered my two year old a Jolly Rancher, but he does get a Dum-Dum lollipop after each speech session as a reward from his therapist. She did ask if it was okay the very first time and I gave her my consent. It seemed like a harmless little lollipop.
Today, we were on the way home from speech, driving on the interstate during rush hour traffic. Camden was happily sucking on his grape Dum-Dum in the back seat when I heard a very casual, "Uh oh." I glanced back to see an empty stick in his hand-- no purple ball to be found. I knew he wasn't finished, as we had only left speech a few minutes before. So, I assumed the ball had fallen in his seat. Then he opened his mouth and my heart began to race. The purple ball, the size of a marble, sat on his tongue. (Keep in mind that I am on the interstate, driving in excess of 60 mph and surrounded by traffic on all sides when I make this realization).
I panicked right away. "Camden, spit it out!" I yelled. Yelling, it turns out, was a big mistake. Camden mistook my fear for anger and, instead of spitting out the candy, he started crying. Hysterically. I thought the situation couldn't be any more dangerous and then suddenly it was. I could feel my car start to weave into the other lane as I desperately reached my hand in the back seat and begged him to spit it into my hand. He cried harder, the purple ball balanced delicately on his tongue.
At this point, we were nowhere near the next exit and I was sure this nightmare was going to end in one of two ways: we were going to get into a car accident or Camden was going to choke. So, I made a split-second decision. Even though there was heavy traffic behind me and very little shoulder space, I swirved off the road and put on my hazards. I climbed into the back seat as quickly as I could and fished the purple marble out of his mouth.
Somehow we made it back onto the interstate without being smashed from behind. This was, hands down, my scariest moment as a parent so far. And, it goes without saying that Dum-Dums are banned from our household for the forseeable future.
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
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11 comments:
Oh my gosh. That would have scared me too. I am glad everyone is OK.
Does this beat when he fell down the stairs? I am pretty sure we're going to be scared the rest of our lives! I'm with your mom though, we don't do lollipops!
Does this beat when he fell down the stairs? I am pretty sure we're going to be scared the rest of our lives! I'm with your mom though, we don't do lollipops!
Yes, it beats that! I think mainly because the stair thing was over in a few seconds and he seemed to be sucking on that choking hazard for eons before I could pull over.
Oh my goodness, Kerri! How terrifying! I am so glad everything turned out OK and that Camden didn't choke and you didn't get into a car accident. I can blame you for banishing dum-dums.
Oh my! This sounds like it was a terrifying experience. As I was reading your account, I had to jump to the end to be sure Camden was okay and that there were not issues on the highway before rereading the post. I am so very glad that all of you are safe!
A few years ago, my cousin (who is 5 now) started choking on a peppermint while my aunt was driving down the road. She literally stopped right in the middle of the busy road and jumped out of the van, ejected Lucy from her carseat, and managed to get the peppermint out. Like 5 people stopped their vehicles and ran over to try and help. She said her heart was still pounding when she got home 15 minutes later. Scary!
That is way scary- You handled it great! Love your blog!
Wow that is scary! Great job handling it... Camden is in good hands :)
I had a horrific experience with Dum Dums last night, which is how I came upon your post today.I googled Dum Dums and choking Leaving the doctor's office they gave my son a lollipop. I am a pretty responsible parent but let him have it while we were getting in the car which proved to be a foolish error. He is 3. Long story short he choked on it in the parking lot- I rushed back into the doctor's office screaming for help. The doctor was amazing and sure enough a purple round ball flew out of his throat where it was lodged! I cried so hard and thought horrible things about my mothering. Dum Dums- banned for life! And if you think your child will remember to just lick the lollipop and not bite it- think again! They are awful treats for youngsters!
Sorry this comes 2 years later.. This has been a common issue with Dumdums. My daughter (6) and I have been noticing them slide off the stick and even posted a warning to the manufacturer that this occurs. I am worried for kids who get these during Halloween though now that my daughter is old enough she can chew them up. I have one that fell off the stick right now in fact but as for younger children it is all the more to worry about. Even safety suckers have their issues to because they are flat and can get stuck in the throat at an angle.
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