Yesterday I had a rather large scare. My youngest daughter (six years old almost seven) was home sick and was playing with Magentix. For those who don’t know, Magnetix is a toy building kit for ages 6 and up what consists of small tubes with disc magnets at each end and half-inch ball bearings. They stick together and you can build stuff with them. She went to cough and covered her mouth and accidentally swallowed a piece. Specifically one of the balls. Fortunately she said something to us after a few minutes of worrying that she’d get in trouble for loosing a piece. Since it was round I wasn’t worried about much but just for fun I looked up if this had happened to anyone else and if there were any real dangers. I was surprised at what I found. Read More Below...

A quick search found that many kids have swallowed the balls from this toy and much worse the little disc magnets had a habit of falling out (we noticed this happening and just glued them back in). What can happen is if the magnet is swallowed with another magnet or something else that a magnet is attracted to (such as one of the balls) it can pinch the walls of the digestive tract and cause tearing which in one case was fatal. More often when things like this happen emergency surgery is called for. Usually with success but not without physical and emotional scars.

Magnetix found out about this problem a few years ago. They reengineered the toy making it MUCH harder to loose magnets. The provide free replacement to anyone who asks. You can find out about that program here. The replacement/recall is voluntary so some stores have NOT pulled the bad products off the shelves. Granted this was a few years ago but check to make sure that the toy was purchased AFTER March 2006, has a label saying for children 6 years old or more, or has the warning “CAUTION: Do not ingest or inhale magnets. Attraction of magnets in the body may cause serious injury and require immediate medical care.” For more information about this look at the press release from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission from April of 2007.

In my daughters case it could have happened with any magnet it was just an accident. Luckily she only swallowed a single round ball which should pass in a few days which is good news except that I have to check to make sure it passes.

I don’t feel that the company that makes Magnetix is wrong or bad and I didn’t even take the toy from my kids. This was an ACCIDENT that could have happened with ANYTHING or to ANYBODY even a parent. So do I blame the company? No.. Myself? No.. My Kid? Not really… Just dumb luck

A few quick tips on keeping you and your kids safe from magnet swallowing.

• Look for toys and other things with magnets. I found the same size magnets on my refrigerator, in a tiny flash light/laser pointer and in a money clip.
• With toys and other things that have magnets make sure they are secure and cannot fall out easily. A few toys that have magnets that you may not realize are Littlest Pet Shop (in a paw or mouth), My Little Pony(In the hoof) and almost any toy that can ‘touch’ to activate. The magnet is used to hold things to the toy, flip an electronic switch or move a catch that causes something to happen.
• Check these magnets from time to time to make SURE they are not loose. If they are throw them out. If you’re worried about something ingesting them place them in a zip lock bag.
• If you have small loose magnets keep them AWAY from the mouths of kids, pets and even yourself.
• Even if a single magnet is swallowed still get X-Rays. If there is a ferrous piece of metal in the body it can be attracted to the magnet and in turn possibly case a serious if not fatal situation.
• If it does happen don’t try to stick your kid to the fridge. It doesn’t work.

I hope that you NEVER have to go through a trauma of a swallowed toy much less a magnet. Follow these guidelines and it will help to keep you and your family safe.

PS: You might notice that the advertising on my site may sell Magnetix. Personally I have NO problem with the toy itself. Just take precautions and react appropriately. I love playing with them and now have more respect for the toys themselves and my children and I are a bit more cautious.

Update: All is Well everything turned out OK!