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Magnetix and other magnet design toys may be lethal. Children have died from choking on the small parts and there are other dangers too.
A five-year-old boy died when the two magnets he swallowed joined two ends of his small intestine together, closing it off and forcing bacteria into the bloodstream. This isn’t a one off either. Another boy’s life was saved when emergency surgery found the magnets caught in his intestine.
Yet another reminder to keep an eye on our kids’ safety. Not necessarily hover and overprotect, but just be watchful.
Update: Magnetix has been recalled. Also don’t miss the over 100 comments that have been posted from parents whose children have swallowed Magnetix balls.
PlastWood, makers of SuperMag, is suing MEGA Brands for economic loss due to injuries associated with Magnetix.
ABC12.com, March 20, 2006
my son 2 years of age swollen a ladies wrist watch lock just half cm in length after 48 hrs still in small intestine. suggest me what to do.
I feel your pain all ,It was my son s turn today . Such a horrible feeling knowing its inside him . I cant sleep right now im too worried about it causing him problems while he is asleep . Its quite a heavy ball and I really hope it comes out soon 4 him x
My son just swallowed a magnetic hematite stone which is stuck in the throat as shown in x-ray and they are sedating him and taking it out. Waiting for the MD to respond to the page and ofcourse all these things happen at midnight
My 10yr old Daughter swallowed a Bulls Eye Ball and has had two x-rays and it shows it is stuck in her small intestine. She swallowed it on Aug 8th and has not moved.
Just wanted to say here I am in 2011 and my 5.5 year old son swallowed a metal magnetix ball. He had brought some into the car for who knows what reason and was in his car seat playing with it in his mouth, husband put on the brakes and it went back. poor kid looked so scared! It has been 3+ days, poop everday but haven’t found it. He seems fine. Will have to get an xray one of these days if we can’t find it. Also, doctor advised mineral oil which i have given him everyday, but thinking I should stop that if it is going to be a while.
My daughter (4 years old) swallowed a steel ball (10 mm diameter) from this magnetic game, one month ago. Approximatively 40 minutes after this event, the x ray procedure identify the ball in her stomach. After 3 days and 12 ours she eliminated the ball (which was now black) without any complications. So, it is wise to wait 2 – 14 days, checking if the ball is eliminated and using a diet with soft food.
Thank you for this website. One of my 5 1/2 yrs.old twin sons swalled on Saturday night a metal marble made by Magnetix. Nowadays they are not making them of magnets, good to know. It is the size of a small cherry, pretty heavy, though. Since it was over the week-end I immediately search on the web and most information it was reassuring that unless the marble is a magnet and more than two balls were swaled, not to worry about it, cause it would pass naturally through the stool. I called the Dr. on Monday and he wanted to see my son immediately. After an X-ray, that located the marble at the bottom of the stomach. Since this was late afternoon,we were sent home and asked to come in next morning for another X-ray, for the purpose of having performed an Endoscopy. This is the procedure done through a tube reaching down the Esophagus and removing the object from the stomach. It requiers anestesia and it is considered an outpatient intervention.
After finding this web sites and so many succesful stories about passing out the marble without and invasive procedures I have postponed taking my son for another X-ray and Endoscopy. The marble has been in the stomach for two days now, today is the third, we do mot know where it is at today, if it moved down or not. We are are monitoring the stools,using trash bags over the toilet seat, along with surgical gloves. It helps. Considering that my son is old enough to tell me if he went # 2 at school in the am, I am in a search mission when he goes to the bathroom at home. Nothing yet…….it’s been only three days now. He eats, sleeps, plays normally. Woud the fact that the ball was not moved from the stomach in two days mean that it won’t come down at all towards the intestines? Has anybody dealt with this aspect when the X-ray captures the marble location within two days from happening? What should I do, the waiting time is killing us. I am so concerned. Praying helps, yet, still this is a metal marble,a foreign body into my son’s little stomach? I am trying to minimize the X-ray exposure and avoid the Endoscopy, anestesia, the trauma of all of these………Any advise? I will let you know when it would pass. Today is March 2nd. THANK YOU ALL and take care!
My 4-year old son swallowed one of the Magnetix balls about a year ago. He was laying on his bed putting it on his lips and trying to blow it up into the air and then opened his lips too far and it went down his throat. He is not a kid who put things in his mouth normally. He didn’t tell me about it until morning (really scary that he didn’t tell me) when his stomach kept going into spasms after he stood up and made him try to throw up every 15-30 minutes or so.
They did x-rays and found that it was lodged up high in his stomach (probably because he was laying down when it happened). Because it was causing his stomach to continually spasm, he was unable to keep food down so they had to put him under and go scoop it out.
My 6 year old swallowed the magnetix metal ball today. I didn’t take him in as he was breathing and talking and told me what had happened. After talking to a friend who is a Nurse Practitioner, who said no need to take him in to the ER as nothing will be done besides an X-ray. After reading all the above comments, I am wondering if I should have taken him in for an X-ray to know the progress if he doesn’t poop out in the next few days. Since this is day one, I am really anxious and somewhat scared. I am throwing the stupid toy which he got as a gift from a friend. I gave him fruit for dinner and some prune juice. How long should I wait before taking him in for an X-ray? School starts in few days and I won’t be able to monitor him all the time.
First, I was so glad to find this space because it made me feel like I didn’t have rush to the ER on a Sunday. It’s been 2 days since my 6 year old swallowed the ball from his brother’s I-Coaster set (and no sign of it yet). My sister in law tried to warn me but I thought that my kids were old enough to not worry about putting things in their mouth. My son said he was squeezing the ball between his fingers and it popped out and before he knew it it went down his throat. Sounds like a tall tale but after reading other comments here I may have to give him the benefit of the doubt! Anyway, I really wanted to let you know something I think will be helpful. I had a kidney stone and they like to test them so they told me to put Saran wrap over the toilet (between the toilet and the seat) to catch the poop. It is much easier to do, I would think, than the plastic bag (which I haven’t tried) because it sticks very well to the porcelain and you can even kind of smoosh through it while it’s on the bowl. Then wipe the poop off with toilet paper into the bowl. Sounds disgusting, I know, and of course, it is, but it is very easy and has worked well for me (with the kidney stone) and now for my son’s situation. I hope this is helpful- I would never have thought of it.
1116 days ago
[...] talked about the dangers of Magnetix, and about the recalls here on Play Library before. Now the US Consumer Product Safety Commission [...]
My 2.5 yr old has just swallowed one of these magnetic marbles and we called nurse on call and they said she needs to be seen so hubbys taking her to the hospital now! Doesn’t sound like a fun journey ahead unless she passes it quickly but good to hear almost all your children have gone on to pass it themselves!
My 5 1/2 year old son swallowed a Magnetix marble four weeks ago tomorrow (3-13) He has had two x-rays. The first x-ray which was taken two weeks ago showed it in his small bowel and we wnt again today and it has barely moved at all. Our doctor is supposed to be checking with a GI doctor but it seems like it should of had plenty of time to pass by now. Has anyone had it stay in that long without moving? My son has complained occasionally about his stomach hurting but never anything major.
Catrina,
So happy the ball made it’s way out!!
Trisha,
Amazing …and sad. I’m glad I know about it and I’ve informed all those that I know…I even called and emailed the company…
Frustrating!
Kerri
It amazes me how Its been 2 years since my son almost died from choking on this ball that was to heavy to come back up and After the cpsc came to my house I truly thought that something would be done about the product and I still get notices to this day about more and more kids swallowing this ball. They didn’t even lighten the ball so that the Heimlich maneuver could be done. The only think I see is this stupid warning now about a choking hazard OMG this is so pathetic. How many people have to go through this before this product gets pulled off of the shelf???
Thanks Kerri
Good news the ball passed after 3 days
Catrina,
From what I understand and from what I was told the ball is non-toxic.
Good luck!!
Kerri
My 3yr old just swallowed a magnetix ball, she got an x-ray done within a cple of hours which clearly showe the ball, we have been told that it should pass within 2-3days but have to return to doc if she starts to vomit or has any tummy pain, my biggest concern is the poison factor, I did throw out the toy about 2 yrs ago but she found 2 balls inside another game that hadn’t been played with for a long time, I will feel so much better when I see that ball
My daughter age 7 suffered the same fate! But it wasn’t Magnetix. She was playing with magnetic hematite stones. She was putting one on either side of her lip (why?) she leaned back and the stone shot down her throat. There was no choking but if you’re reading this you know the fear. We went to the emergency room (to be on the safe side.) The ER was crowded there was a 4-5 hour wait. I went up to a nurse expecting to be reassured that everything was fine and I didn’t need to be there because my daughter had merely swallowed a magnet (I showed her a sample) instead of saying don’t worry you don’t need to be here she said we can send you ahead of the others. They took xrays to make sure the magnet wasn’t stuck near the esophagus and sent us home saying I should check my daughter’s poop each night until I found it. That it could exit anywhere between four and thirty days. I urged her to eat more fruit and vegetables (with a bit of success) and using the ziplock method I read about here was shocked to find the magnet in three days. In on Sunday out on Wednesday. What a nightmare!
We are thankful and very much relieved that the ball came out! Wishing you all well and a quick find!