Tiny shiny batteries pose terrible danger ““ and in some cases, death ““ to toddlers.
Annually more than 3,000 button batteries are found by curious little ones who put them in their mouths, ears and nose, said the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). These batteries cause tissue damage and can cause fatal blood loss.
“Small, shiny, and appealing to children” is how the AAP described the batteries it calls a hidden household danger.
And, they’re everywhere:
- Grandma’s hearing aid
- Dad’s key fob
- Mom’s thermometer
- The family’s TV remote
- Aunt Mimi’s camera, and even
- Baby’s board book with the singing farm animals
Recent local headlines highlighted successful treatment of an Arizona five-year-old who has spent three years undergoing surgeries and hospitalizations ““ including eight months in ICU ““ after a button battery burned through the tissue in his airway.
While I was just straightening up after a visit recently, a shiny something caught my eye on the coffee table. Yep, a hearing aid battery which was either swapped out or fell from Grandma’s purse. No young visitors this week, but the headlines were enough to send me on a careful search around the house and the decision not to send a “talking” board book to a niece with a delightfully inquisitive toddler.
To help keep your toddlers safe, tape the battery compartments shut and know what items in the house are powered by the miniscule source also found in calculators, bathroom scales, and numerous games and toys.
If you suspect your child has ingested a battery, go to the emergency room immediately. Doctors should assume any metallic foreign object is quite possibly a battery, said the AAP.