I Saw My Child Accidentally Eating Dirt. Is It Dangerous? What Do I Do?

You’ve hit that stage: Your lit­tle one is putting any­thing and every­thing in their mouth. The first time they swal­low a clump of dirt or munch on a slab of card­board can be ter­ri­fy­ing (and disgusting). 

For­tu­nate­ly, many of the things that kids tend to swal­low are called swal­lowed harm­less sub­stances. These can include cer­tain non-sol­id or non-food sub­stances, and bad-look­ing, ‑smelling, or ‑tast­ing food. While they car­ry minor risks, they typ­i­cal­ly are not cause for alarm.

On the oth­er hand, there are cer­tain things that are poi­so­nous — and even life-threatening.

Depend­ing on what and how much your child eats, they may need any­thing from sim­ple mon­i­tor­ing at home to see­ing their pedi­a­tri­cian to get­ting imme­di­ate emer­gency care.

So, what should you do when your child decides to fix them­selves a non-tra­di­tion­al snack?

Want to learn more about what to do if your child eats some­thing they shouldn’t? Sched­ule an appoint­ment with a Duly pedi­a­tri­cian.

Want to learn more about what to do if your child eats some­thing they shouldn’t? Sched­ule an appoint­ment with a Duly pedi­a­tri­cian.