Ensure that if the toys use button cells, the covers they are well secured, do not let the reach of small musical holiday cards, wrist watches and remote controls.
Are you aware that musical holiday card, flameless candle, and many other items contain small “button” batteries that can cause serious harm to young children?
“We are seeing more very young children swallowing small button batteries out of everything from musical holiday cards, wrist watches, and thermometers to small toys and remote controls,” Kathy Sie, M.D., surgeon and director of the Childhood Communication Center at Seattle Children’s Hospital, said in a statement.
“It’s much worse than when a child swallows a coin,” Sie said. “When a battery gets stuck in a child’s throat, saliva triggers an electrical current that causes a chemical reaction within a few minutes of contact. Serious internal injury can happen in about two hours.”
A video on button battery safety is available on Seattle Children’s YouTube site.
More than 3,400 swallowing cases involving all sizes of button batteries were reported in 2010 in the United States, according to Safe kids USA. Nineteen serious injuries occurred, and some children died. All fatalities and 85 percent of major injuries were among children age four and… continue reading
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