Toddlers love to put things up their nose and in their ears and occasionally, something gets stuck. If your toddler gets something stuck in her nose or ear, you may not notice it for a while, and she will not make it apparent.
Many times, a parent will find a piece of cereal, a bean, a popcorn kernel, even a small toy stuck in a child’s nose or ear and they can tell that it has been there for awhile. You can tell by the odour for one thing. A bean that has been up a child’s nose for a couple of days will not smell good!
A parent need not feel bad over this experience. It is all too common.
If you notice that your toddler has something lodged in her nose or ear follow these steps:
1. If you can see the object, and it is something you can grab hold your child still and use tweezers or your fingernails to remove the item.
2. If the item is truly stuck and won’t come out when you pull on it, take your child to the doctor for removal. The doctors have many special instruments that make the task easy.
3. If you cannot see the object, but you know something is in there take your child to the doctor. A child with something in their nose will often have an odour, only one side of the nose will be runny, or they will sound funny when they talk. A child with something stuck in their ear may complain that things sound funny.
Infection can occur in the nose or ear because of an item being stuck there for a while. If you remove something from your toddler’s nose or ear and you think the item was there for period of time, call the doctor. They may want to have your child start on a prescription nose or ear drop just in case there could be infection.
