What began as a family day out soon became every parent's worst nightmare. Stella, 34, had taken her 2-year-old daughter out for a meal and ordered baby shrimp with glass noodles. She carefully separated the shrimp from the noodles and gave her daughter the noodles to eat.
After lunch, the pair carried on with their day, enjoying ice cream and spending time at the park. But, by dinner time, Stella's daughter suddenly began screaming in pain. "When I looked inside her mouth at dinner time and saw the bone stuck near her throat at the left gum, I felt absolutely terrible," Stella told Newsweek.
"I almost wanted to pluck it out myself, but I quickly realized it was way too far back for me to safely remove for her. Without a second thought, we rushed straight to the hospital." Stella said that they suspected a sharp piece of the shell or tail from the shrimp was stuck to the noodle. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans and the American Academy of Pediatrics recommend introducing children to foods other than breast milk or infant formula at about 6 months.
As the kids get older, parents can offer a variety of bite-sized vegetables, fruits, proteins, dairy without added sugars, healthy fats and whole grains. After 12 months, children can begin eating more family foods, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). "It was a complete emotional roller coaster," Stella told Newsweek.
Initially, the family based in Singapore, Southeast Asia, were told there would be a three-hour wait at the emergency room. However, the toddler was later moved to a high-priority list and seen by a doctor. Despite the successful removal, the ordeal was not yet over.
Medics worried in case another tiny fragment could still be lodged deeper inside. Four hours later, a specialist was called and suggested the toddler might need to be put to sleep for a two-hour emergency surgery if there was still another fragment present. "My daughter was starving and crying for milk.
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