Extracting Foreign Objects From Your Toddler

It will happen one day. No matter how careful you are or how clean your house, your toddler will find a way to get something lodged in the bottom of their foot or in their hand. This is nothing to panic about. It was shear accident that I came by this information. It was a Sunday morning as I recall, my son and I were playing on the front porch. He is a tough little boy, so whenever he whimpers I am quick to pay attention. Anytime that your toddler comes to you tiptoeing, that should be your first clue that something is wrong. Now there are some children that walk on their tiptoes. I am not speaking of those children.

I scooped him up and took him to the vanity, the same as any mother would do. That is the area with the most light in the house. I would suggest that if you do not have a vanity, that you go to a room with a lot of light or outdoors if it is convenient. I checked his foot, it was very difficult to see however. When I pinpointed the glass, I quickly went to work on extracting the glass with a pair of tweezers. If you have ever tried to do this, it is difficult to get your child to hold still. From my experience, toddlers especially boys, do not wish to sit still, for anything, much less for a torture treatment of getting glass out of his foot. I tried for it seemed like an eternity. Finally, I had to call for reinforcements, my mother who is my next door neighbor.

She heard us coming through the front yard and met us at the door. Again we tried to get it out of his foot with tweezers. By this time he is completely hysterical. Like a bolt of lightening it hit her. She remembered an old wives tale. We quickly went into the kitchen and held his foot over the kitchen sink. My mother went to the fridge and got out an egg. She racked it and let it drip over his heel. She explained that when the egg dried it would pull the glass out with it. I was not a believer, but at this point I was willing to try anything. Sure enough, about 20 minutes later he was running through the living room.

When I checked his foot the glass was gone. At work on Monday when I was telling this compelling story, a co-worker informed me of yet another helpful hint. She explained that when he gets a splinter, you can wrap a piece of bacon or bacon fat around the area, making sure to cover the splinter. Within 10 to 15 minutes the splinter will work it's way out. This will help you out one day when you least expect it. So good luck and may this help you the way it did me. I will no longer have to torture my child when trying to extract foreign objects. Just wrap him up with breakfast foods.