Q: My toddler often puts small objects in her mouth. How can I keep her safe with all the button batteries in our house?
A: The best way to protect kids from the serious injury caused by these kinds of batteries is by treating them the same way you treat other potentially deadly items in your home, such as cleaning products, kitchen knives and medications. Lock them up or limit your child’s access to them as much as possible.
Little kids often explore their worlds by putting things in their mouth, ears and noses.
As a pediatrician, I’ve removed craft beads, pencil erasers, popcorn kernels and plastic toy bricks from kids’ noses and ears. I’ve answered calls from parents about kids swallowing paper clips, rocks and acorns. But button, or coin, batteries are very different.
When a battery comes in contact with a body fluid like saliva, it generates an electric current. That…
How can parents protect kids from coin batteries?
