Teething 9-Month-Old Has Strange Bump in His Mouth. Docs Think It’s a Tumor Until They See a Toy Embedded in His Gums

What doctors feared was a tumor in a 9-month-old baby’s mouth turned out to be something far less serious — and totally unexpected.

Rowan Steiner, a mother of five from Salt Lake City, Utah, was changing her son Max’s diaper when she noticed a strange, blue lump on the roof of his mouth, near his gums. Concerned, she and her husband rushed the crying baby to the hospital.

Over the next 12 hours, five doctors examined the mysterious mass — with one even recommending an urgent CT scan, fearing it could be a tumor. But things took a surprising turn when an ear, nose, and throat (ENT) specialist took a closer look and used a dental tool to pry the lump off.

To everyone’s relief, it wasn’t a tumor at all. It was a suctioned plastic bubble from a fidget toy — likely part of one of the many items lying around the Steiner household.

“Throughout the day, the doctors said it might be a toy,” Steiner told Daily Mail. “And we were open to that — I have five kids, and at 9 months, babies put everything in their mouths.”

Still, she says she, her husband, and every doctor had physically examined the mass. “No one could get it to move. It was suctioned so tightly to his gums that it felt fixed in place.”

Once the ENT specialist carefully removed it, they realized it was part of a small Amazon fidget toy — possibly a “pop-it” — that Max had somehow managed to suction into his mouth.

Max had minor bleeding and swelling after the plastic was removed but recovered quickly. His mom says she’s just grateful it wasn’t something far worse. “After being terrified it was a tumor, or that he might have choked on it, finding out it was a toy was honestly the best-case scenario.”

The incident is a reminder for parents of curious babies to stay vigilant — and that sometimes, the scariest moments have surprisingly simple explanations.