Question about

Boys r us wrote: swallowing Chewing gum.

I've tried several times to be a nice mommy and let B have gum when he begs for it..seriously, when I take him to the store and let him pick out any pack of candy he wants, he will bypass the chocolate and the skittles..and he goes straight for the chewing gum..the dyntene ice But aside from him having fiercly fresh breath from it, I'm afraid he's going to get ill effects from swallowing it.
I can' look at him and say,"Okay Brae, you can have this if you promise me you will not swallow it!" and he'll say "Okay, I pwomise, I won't twallow it" The whole time he's chewing it(which sometimes is quite awhile, I'm reminding him that when he's done chewing it, to spit it out in the trash can or to give it to me.
Usually two seconds after he tells me "Okay" he swallows it..and acts so darn proud of himself for doing it.

Anyhow, I know the old myth about how if you eat gum it stays in you for 7 years..this I KNOW isn't true, b/c I can tell by his white stringy poop(eww gross, I know) that for the most part, it's coming out.

But then this lady at work scared me, she said, one of her friend's children used to always swallow his gum and he eventually got really sick and had to have surgery b/c it had formed a hard ball in his stomach.

Anyone have any advice on this?

I know the simple answer would be, don't give him any gum..but I swear, he alwalys finds a piece somewhere, this kid thinks he's on a treasure hunt every evening looking for "chew gum"

gr33n3y3z replied: well you can try this
They make a chewing gum for kids and its a Vitamin

Boys r us replied: Now that's good thinking!! I'll have to look for it!

mom21kid2dogs replied: I've never thrown out a piece of gum in my entire life~I've always swallowed it with no ill effects. (And I used to chew/eat alot of gum) I'd say all things in moderation~as long as he's not got a pack a day habit, he'll be fine.
JMO opinion, but I think people make up crap like your coworker did all the time because they think they need to "scare" you into their opinion as they really have no real fact to go on! You could call her bluff and say "Really! Could I get her name & number? I'd really like to talk to her to see exactally how much gum she was letting her child have when it became a problem." I mean why wouldn't you call her, after all, it's imperitaive to your child's safety!!

akbutterfly83 replied:
They have it @ walmart in the vitamins area, by the pharmicy(sp?)....

coasterqueen replied: I'm embarassed to admit this but you are all friends so I know you'll be nice to me . I have *issues* with chewing gum. If it goes in my mouth 9 times out of 10 I'll swallow it . So I just try not to chew gum. Dh always gets on my case about it. It's like this reflex thing I have in my mouth, it's weird.

So I know I won't be any help. P.S. Don't tell Kylie you let B have gum.....she's always begging for some.

Boys r us replied: Oh Karen of course we'll be nice to you!!

So I see that you haven't keeled over
Just out of curiosity, is this a conscious thing..when you swallow the gum..like if you try not to, do you do it anyhow?

I'm just wondering b/c sometimes I don't think B means to do it...it's more like he can't help it. Of course he's only two so no wonder. But there are times I've seen him chew one peice for 2 hours..so I know HE CAN avoid not eating it.
I dunno!

I won't tell Kylie!

A&A'smommy replied: Just to let you know when my brother was 3 or 4 he swallode a WHOLE big thing of gum (like 30 pieces) in one night we took him to the emergency room and they said he would be fine and he was

coasterqueen replied:
I really *try* NOT to swallow it, sometimes I don't even realize it til after it's down the tube . It's strange, but like DH says I'm strange.

Boys r us replied: Interesting! Well, I guess I'll just try my hardest to not let him have any access to gum!

alice&arik replied: Arik always has to have gum when I have some. But he is really good about it. He used to swallow it but now he either spits it in the trash or has me take it out. Like if I give him a drink or he's gonna eat something. He opens his mouth and says "momma, momma". And he will chew it for hours. But I am glad that I can give it to him and not worry too much, I always keep an eye on him. But he does have some nasty bad breath sometimes and then I gladly give him a piece.

Kaitlin'smom replied: humm this has ben interesting, I have never been able to swollow gum even when I tried when I was a kid but I love chewing it. Kaitlin has never asked about it and I am not ready for her to try it. I pretty much let her try things when she asked (food wise) but gum I am terrified she mgiht have the same issue I did and choke while swollwing it.

Josie83 replied: Jason and I are always chewing gum and so obviously Cassie always wants it. We don't let her have it, so we have to give her softmints instead lol. BUt Jason and I never swallow it. If I do it by accdent I swear I can feel it going down. Ugh But I wouldn't think that it would do him any harm . . . I don't know tho. I just don't like Cassie having it, I'm scared it'll get stuck in her thorat! xx

My2Beauties replied: Karen how can you swallow gum, I have accidentally done it before and it felt so weird....I'm laughing so hard at you !!! Anyways, as far as your co-worker's friend I think she is either fibbing or there was another underlying reason why the gum made such a hard ball in his stomach, I've heard horror stories about gum too but I've never known anyone to personally be harmed from swallowing it I think the only thing is it could be a choking hazard since sometimes those Bubble-Licious ones are so big but as long as he is getting it down with no prob, I don't think it will hurt him! I would just tell him the next time he swallows a piece of gun he doesn't get anymore for a whole month (or something crazy like that) and give him a small reward if he spits his next piece out!

paradisemommy replied: i am an avid gum chewer (totally paranoid of bad breath) and in turn taven is too. he used to swallow it, but now is really good about not. i used to always tell him..chew chew chew and make him go aaaahhhh so i could see his gum and then keep repeating chew chew chew..it worked and he doesn't swallow it anymore (well 85% of the time)

but i really don't think it will hurt him - i'm sure it goes right out the other end!!! everything else does!