Button Batteries Bad for Babies and Kids in General

December 14th, 2009. By LucyC

Just a heads-up as Christmas is around the corner…a warning was issued today about those ubiquitous button batteries—you know—the little round guys that power everything from alarm clocks to greeting cards to cameras.

Dr. Sam Daniel who works out of the Montreal Children’s Hospital, in Quebec, Canada, told the media that if kids ingest these batteries, it’s serious. “Button batteries in the wrong place can be potentially fatal or can cause long term damage. If you child ingests a button battery, it is a medical emergency your child needs to be seen immediately, ” he told United Press International (UPI) in an earlier interview.

I don’t know about you, but I can barely hold on to one of these little batteries long enough to get it into my camera, so the battery drops to the floor—then the phone rings—and half an hour later I’ve completely forgotten about the battery, which is now lying in wait for a small, curious pair of hands to grasp and see where it fits—the mouth maybe?

According to Dr. Daniel, these batteries can, not surprisingly, cause serious health problems if they’re swallowed.

“At The Montreal Children’s Hospital we treat approximately 12 children a year who have ingested button batteries and we tend to see a spike in the numbers around the holiday season. The average age is between 1 and 2,” Dr. Daniel told UPI. “It doesn’t take long for the battery to start corroding in as little as three hours, significant damage can occur.”  Yikes!

So, if your little one has chowed down on a button battery, a trip to emergency is likely a very good idea. (How is it that they won’t eat their vegetables but they will eat your batteries?) The long-term complications can include tracheostomy—tube or gastrostomy—tube dependence, vocal paralysis, hearing loss or nose deformity.

I’m also going to keep an eye on my dog…

Tags: Lithium Batteries

This was posted on Monday, December 14th, 2009 at 5:13 pm and is filed under Personal Injury . Feel free to respond, or trackback. Read our comments policy.