What a terrible thing to have gone through for all of you. Your baby nearly dying, your older child feeling guilty because she brought the magnet toy home and the distress you have been going through. So many of us squeak through things similar to this happening to our child with no aftereffects and not realising how close we had come to an outcome like yours. Don’t feel guilty – we are all busy and it can happen to anyone especially if you don’t know the item has been brought into your house.

The response below is for BellaB about her comment about Lego. Unfortunately the response did not attach to her comment.

Lego along with other toys can indeed be tricky to keep all in one place; we ended up purchasing a big container for all of the Lego. We also had a designated area for playing with Lego. Keeping the Lego in a container and having a designated area stopped any of those rogue Lego pieces that drop to the floor and can be trod on!

I understand that you may feel guilty about your little girl but, rest assured, the only person to blame is the person who invented it and the company who built it. All little ones whether crawling or just walking will pick up something from the floor and put it in their mouths. My boys are now adults but I can still remember them doing the same. I hope your daughter is much better soon and back home where she belongs with you

That’s just so horrible! More safety checks need to be done before some of these ‘toys’ go on the market. I realise there are age limits, but even my 9yr old tends to put things in his mouth. It wouldn’t take much to accidentally swallow. I hope this little girl makes a fast recovery.

The poor child; such an awful ordeal for the child and the family. Small toys can indeed be a hazard and even when vigilant accidents can happen. Children do explore and have a natural curiosity about everything in their environment and around them. Good on this mum for raising awareness.

mom489452, although that’s a good theory, it’s much harder to manage once you have older kids and babies. Lego was the bane of my existence; my older kids loved it, and people gave it to them constantly, but of course it was dangerous for the baby. I worked hard to keep it away from the smaller ones, but I sympathise with this sort of accident.

To mom489452
That’s a bit harsh and damning as a comment. The mother said her older daughter had brought them home from school unbeknownst to her, and inferring the parents are dumb is pretty insensitive, the poor family has been through enough without comments like that.

That’s a bit harsh and damning as a comment. The mother said her older daughter had brought them home from school unbeknownst to her, and inferring the parents are dumb is pretty insensitive, the poor family has been through enough without comments like that.

This is so scary and terrifying for that family. Small toys were always a big concern for me when my daughter was small, it was something i never allowed in my house as it was always on my mind. This baby was indeed very very lucky on this occasion and this is a great reminder to anyone who has small children to be extra vigilant.

How dangerous small toys could be? I have two kids but I never thought it could be that dangerous. Its a big lesson for all parents. We should learn from this incident. Hope Araya gets better soon. Lots of best wishes for family.

How dangerous small toys could be? I have two kids but I never thought it could be that dangerous. Its a big lesson for all parents. We should learn from this incident. Hope Araya gets better soon. Lots of best wishes for family.

This is absolutely terrifying. It can be easy keeping risky toys away from littles when they are the only ones in the house, but must be much harder when older siblings want certain toys. What an ordeal for such a tiny girl, really hoping that she’ll be okay from here on

What a horrible experience for young Araya and the family. I hope she has a speedy recovery. I still worry with my 6 year old that he may swallow something small. I’m constantly tell him. to not put small bouncy balls or lego in his mouth. “why mum, I’m a big boy now I won’t swallow this” I always remind him doesn’t matter how old or big you are, you can still accidentally swallow them. I’ve also thrown those bouncy balls away when he was at school.

Praying for a full recovery and hoping something like this doesn’t happen to anyone else. How very scary for every one involved is okay too, quiet traumatic all round. My toddler has started putting everything in his mouth and it’s super stressful, especially in other environments other than home which I have more control over

Educating older siblings about safety of small items is vital. I haven’t seen these, hopefully they’re not available in Australia and it stays that way. I am sure they look just like the little sugar balls hat we put on cakes to decorate. I hope she has a good recovery.

If it fits in a babies mouth and it is not food get rid of it. How simple is that we all know what children can get up to but really how dumb are some parents. None of my children choked on a tennis ball or a football and I kept them entertained with BIG THINGS YOU CAN NOT SWALLOW

Oh the poor little angel. This is terrible. I’ve never actually even heard of these balls but can totally see how dangerous they could be to both kids and animals. We’ve always been super careful with batteries or anything magnetic because they can do so much damage. Thank you for helping raise awareness and sharing your story.

Oh this is shocking. I hope Araya doesn’t suffer any long term effects and makes a full recovery.

Oh my goodness this is scary! I havnt seen those magnetic balls before but you can see how dangerous they would be for little ones! Poor wee girl having to go through all that