12 Yr Old Son Swallowed a Quarter

One of the funniest resposes I've read on this site was about another child swallowing something non-edible - the advice was "have the child eat something that you know will pass, like corn". Once you see the corn, it's probably safe to say that the quarter has passed, too (especially after 4 or 5 days).

Never had that experience, but before I was born, my brother did that. He was on his way to the ice cream truck. My mom called the doc, and he said "give that boy another quarter and send him to the ice cream truck, and if you want the quarter back, check his stool in 1-3 days." I think it's probably fine as long as he's not complaining of anything. If you want to have him xrayed, it has probably already passed, so you could go ahead and do that.

My little cousin did the same thing, and of course we were younger (and meaner) at the time and told him he was going to die from quarteritis. I think he spent the next few hours straining on the toilet trying to get it out. Poor guy. He must have passed it though because it was never an issue except for us older cousins getting in some pretty big trouble.

Don't worry, you don't need to get an x-ray, it will pass. Know it is stressful but it happens, when my brother was younger it happened atleast once a year (usually the boys daring eachother...UGH)

Funny - it must be a 12/13 yr old boy thing. I did the same thing at that age. Somehow I never noticed it passing, but it must have because I've had several MRI's and such over the years and nothing's been noticed. And I've never had any problems.
Just be glad it didn't go down the windpipe. My cousin did that - around the same age too. : )-
Just tell him to keep an eye on the toilet. But obviously, if he starts having pains, call the Dr.

Delicious! :) Don't worry, as long as he is not in pain, he is fine. It will come out the natural way!

My daughter swallowed a dime last year. We were super worried. Rushed to the Dr. and had x-rays taken. And yep... sure enough the x-ray showed it nearing her stomach. We were told it should pass in the next day or so. We actually had to inspect each specimen she left in the toilet. We never ever saw it come out so we followed up with ANOTHER x-ray only to find that it did in fact pass. After all that we had a bill of $175 (with insurance). We joke that that was one expensive dime but the moral of the story is that we had peace of mind. So I do suggest you go to the Dr. especially because it was a quarter (which is a bit bigger than a dime). Good luck. One day you will laugh about this.

My hubby and I were just joking...I guess the "dumb thing that boys do" phase never really ends????? With that said, my son swallowed a quarter when he was 3. It got stuck in his throat. Had to get an x-ray. The x-ray was taken several hours after he swallowed it and the quarter didn't move. So we had to take him to Childrens Hospital to get it removed. They put him under and used a small camera and tiny prongs to try to get it. But the air that they needed to get the camera down his throat opened up his throat just enough to push the quarter down to his stomach :(. So they couldn't grab it. For two weeks we had to search his poop because they were worried about the quarter not passing through and oxidizing in his stomach. We never found the quarter but x-rays never showed the quarter again.

But he was 3, so I would guess that your son being much bigger, it should pass alot easier.

And then just for kicks...three weeks after the quarter incident my son was back in the ER because he stuck my keys into the electric socket RIGHT after I told him not to do it. Same as the quarter incident, Mommy said to put the quarter down, then he swallowed it. Then about a month after the socket incident, he dropped a big clay pot on his foot in the backyard (right after Grandma and Daddy both told him not to pick it up) and had to go back to the ER to get 3 stitiches in his toe without any type of numbing medication. Oh the dumb things boys will do "just because" :O.

I swallowed a quarter when I was five. I assume it passed, my mom doesn't recall ever "investigating"... never had any issues with my digestion. You can have him x-rayed to put yourself at ease, but a quarter won't harm him.

I've also known of at least 3 other people who have done the same thing when they were little... and numerous others who swallowed smaller coins. I think it's pretty common.

My flipping nephew was that age when he swallowed a can lid. He took the pop top off and put it in the can. Without thinking, he swallowed it. My sister to him to get an x-ray and basically they told her to watch and make sure it came out. It did....a few days later. No harm done except she had to check his poop everytime which wasn't exactly fun. She had him go in a coffee can.
His first swallowing experience was his last. I think it should come out eventually.
If there's no bleeding or pain and he's still able to go, it sounds like he doesn't have an obstruction. Just be patient.

Best wishes!

My husband is a Dr. and has worked in the E.R. its rare but one kid who swallowed a coin weeks before, still had it logged in his throat . Can you imagine how guilty that mamma felt letting it go so long? Just go get the X-ray, put your mind to rest.

My friend's 4 year old swallowed a quarter and it never passed. They had it x-rayed a week after it happened and it was still there so they had to have it removed by the doctor. When my son swallowed a dime we checked the poop and it did pass. I think quarters are the hardest to pass.

My daughter swallowed a penny around 2 years old. I had to check her poop each time to see if the penny had come out. It took about 3 days and out came 2 pennies!!!! (Apparently she swallowed two!)