Button battery

[ShalommJackie]

I am not being u but I need to spread this message! I'm a surgeon who removes these on a regular basis. (I'm off work at the moment with cancer but I've just been given the stats of how many batteries we've removed in the last year and it's gone up exponentially)

If you suspect your child has eaten a button battery, take them to A&E immediately as the battery can burn their oesophagus or stomach.

If your child is over 1 year old whilst either waiting for the ambulance or in the back seat of the car give them 10ml of honey every 10 minutes up to 6 times. The honey will coat the battery and protect their stomach from potential burns.

If your child is under 1 years old old. Do not give honey because of the risk of botulism in the honey because their immune system isn't strong enough. Just go to hospital immediately, it might be quicker just to put them in the car. *
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I've added a photo to show the effect honey can have on button batteries.

Button batteries are in so many things these days it's so scary. If you've got toys with button batteries in them (bath toys etc) please put something like duct tape over the battery compartment so your child can't open it!

I hope this helps someone

Thanks for sharing, I didn't know about honey

I don't know you but sorry to read you have cancer.

I did indeed know cell batteries were incredibly dangerous if swallowed but didn't know that honey could help, so thank you for educating on this.

Thank you for the kind words.

I need to spread awareness of this. It really is an awful thing. They need to ban them!!

If you don't have honey would something like golden syrup do a similar job or is there specific quality to honey?

Syrup will work just as good. In fact you could probably give syrup to a baby under 1. It just needs to be thick.

Thank you for this message, it's kind of you to take the time, & I wish you well in your life

Last year, regarding a child swallowing a button battery, I spoke to somebody who works in Social Services who said 'It isn't a big deal, it will just pass through the other end'

& a parent, who said 'It isn't dangerous like it used to be, they have a special coating on them nowadays'.

Oh my god that's just sent shivers down my spine. They're so dangerous!! They need banning really!

That's really useful thanks. However, I would say that the risk of harm from a swallowed button battery far outweighs the risk of catching botulism from honey to under ones so I would be give the honey anyway.

It's just the nhs advice not to give a child under 1 honey. I didn't want to confuse things

www.alderhey.nhs.uk/what-to-do-if-your-child-swallows-a-button-battery/

Thanks for raising awareness @ShalommJackie - this is a reminder that the little blighters are everywhere - do watch out with little ones if relatives have hearing aids. https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/risk-of-harm-to-babies-and-children-from-coin-button-batteries-in-hearing-aids/

I had thought this too! I would definitely agree (not a doctor) - honey is to be avoided but it's such a tiny risk, and much less of a danger than a swallowed battery.

Good to know about the sticky substances anyway - will bear in mind thank you.

I would add I am finding button batteries increasingly used in the little cheap poorly made toys you get from amazon - I am forever sneaking them away from my DC after they have received in a party bag or similar. The toys are often so badly made that the battery compartment also has no safety features so it easily falls off. It's so dangerous.

Thank you for sharing this information @ShalommJackie
I didn't know about the honey, that's good to know.

I know of a young child who swallowed one of these batteries as a toddler. It wasn't immediately detected and by the time it was removed it had burned through the poor child's oesophagus.

The more people that know about the dangers of these batteries the better, both to children and pets.

My elderly mother swallowed one. Didn't tell me until a week later! She did nothing.

Thankyou for sharing. I treat button batteries like they’re live bombs about to go off! Never knew the honey info - I will share this. Good luck with your recovery!

Button batteries really scare me. For such a little thing, they can cause so much damage. I know last year there was national reporting, of button battery ingestion, for all paediatricians, to try to improve data. Awareness is so important. Thank you for doing your part.

Same! I wish they were illegal in children’s toys given the danger.

I was called sad by friends when I removed all devices from the house that had button batteries when my kids were small. My kids ND and ate various things. It was a risk wasn't willing to take. I even now won't buy products that need them

They are literally in everything it's awful! They need to be banned. They're in most bath toys that move

Absolutely the right thing to do!!

Just bumping this again.

I suspected my child swallowed on when she was around 7 months old. It was a false alarm but I rang ambulance immediately.

They told me on the phone not to give her anything to drink not even breast milk.

I didn't know about the honey thing at the time. They did a metal detector/magnetic thing on her in the hospital and thank god there was** nothing there. Worst day of my life. I will not have button batteries in the house now at all, and hate those electronic books with them in.

That's so scary!

Thank you for sharing. My dad has hearing aids and I was very worried when the kids were small. Though he did take the information on board and was careful with the batteries when changing them. I didn't know about bath toys though.

All the best for your recovery. It's kind of you to be worrying about strangers babies when you're going through that.

I thought I was vigilant with heath knowledge for the kids, but the honey thing is new to me too, so thanks! They should do some kind of campaign...

How I wish they would stop making things that need button batteries. Fairy wands in particular - there's plenty of room to make them with aaa batteries, why are they still using buttons?!