Another toy to take off the list.

[cardaway]

Yeah, they're pretty strong. I wouldn't have imagined they would be strong enough to close an intestine, but you only have to have one of the sticks within a few inches of the balls or other sticks and they'll pick them up.

Yes, most magnets are strong enough to stick to each other in your bowels, but I don't think the people who made those things should have to worry about that. No way that on that lip thing though, they are not that strong.

If the people who made the toy get dinged for this look out. Can you imagine all the things that have magnets and the companies that make then needing to worry if they could be swallowed? Not their fault IMO.

 

[ckay87]

While there are stronger magnets, these could definitely close off intestines.

My DSs use their to make earrings. In other words, the magnets do hold with an earlobe-amount of flesh between them.

And I know this is gross, but they make pierced noses too where the magnets stick with that center bone between them (think African Tribesman look)(They're so creative )

So an intestine is nothing. Although, I can think of a lot of things that would be dangerous in an intestine. That poor poor boy.

 

[Planogirl]

How big is an intestine anyway? I suppose that it's pretty small in a young child.

This seems so freaky. To close off an intestine, it seems like there would have to a large amount of force. You hear about bowel obstructions all the time. Do these kill that quickly?

It's so sad.

 

[wvjules]

I was wondering about that too, planogirl. I didn't think having obstructed bowels could kill you that fast. Maybe there was something else wrong with him.

 

[mickeyboat]

I know of two people recently who had bowell obstructions. They were in such tremendous pain, they were both rushed to the ER. One person had the obstruction pass on its own within a couple of days. The other had emergency surgery several hours after being brought into the ER.

Denae

 

[can'twait]

Omigod, I believe it. We had these for a while and they freaked me out. I managed to have them find the trash.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

When I saw this story yesterday my thought was "How unfortunate!"

Then the mother went on to say how the package ONLY said the pieces are a choking hazard. This woman requires a step by step accounting of all possible scenarios that would follow if someone successfully swallowed not one but TWO magnets WITHOUT choking? COME ON!

It is tragic, no doubt about it! But am I going to throw DS's Magnetix in the trash? Nope. He is almost 10 and doesn't put toys in his mouth. He also has one of those deadly water filled yo-yo balls, which is only deadly when you swing it around over your head and it wraps around your neck!

Toddlers are capable of swallowing all sorts of things. There is a display of X-rays at the children's hospital of things kids have swallowed, including an OPEN safety pin. I am quite certain every home with toddlers has plenty of items small enough to swallow - you take precautions to prevent that from happening. If it DOES happen it is an ACCIDENT. Common sense goes a long way. I still think what happened was unfortunate, but I don't think it is a reason to strip the shelves of Magnetix.

 

[teacherforhi]

It is not my job to make you believe. Obviously this is a toy meant for older children. Those of us who have younger children or children who put small items in their mouths are well-warned about supervising this toy. Small children will put the darndest things in their mouths(I sent one to the ED just last night for swallowing her sitter's ring--it was stuck in her throat. Guess they coulda used one of these magnets, huh

I don't believe I ever said to let your small children play with magnets. As a matter of fact, I would say anyone letting small children play with these would be irresponsible.

But there is absolutely no way that the magnets are strong enough that it would be impossible to pull them apart. If you can't pull them apart, you wouldn't be able to play with them.

 

[Chereya]

I was really saddened when I read this story. It was a freak accident and made me say a little prayer that nothing like this ever happens to my children. But now that we know it can happen, what ways can it be prevented in the future? I had thoughts of people doing this on purpose to cause harm - like the sickos who laced tylenol with cyanide which led to the safety seals on the lids. I will admit, I had a fleeting moment of imagining my FIL ingesting two tiny magnets.

As for the bowel obstruction, my interpretation of the story was that the magnets stuck to each other in different parts of the intestine causing the intestine to bend/twist up on itself and cause the blockage (like when you bend a water hose with the water on).

I will definitely think twice about Any kind of magnet which is small enough to swallow without being a choking hazzard.

Chereya