Should you need urgent health advice please contact your GP or call NHS 111. In an emergency please visit A&E or call 999
Button batteries (lithium coin cell batteries) can injure or kill a child if they are swallowed. The Child Accident Prevention Trust state that around two children a year have died as a result of swallowing button batteries in this country.
If a button battery is swallowed and gets stuck in the food pipe, energy from the battery reacts with saliva to make a chemical that can burn a hole through the food pipe, leading to bleeding and death. This reaction can happen in as little as two hours.
If you think your child has swallowed a button battery, it’s really important to ACT FAST:
- Trust your instincts
- Don’t wait until symptoms develop
- Take your child straight to A&E or dial 999 for an ambulance
- Tell the doctor you think your child has swallowed a button battery
- If you have the battery packaging or the product the battery was from, take that with you. This will help the doctor give the right treatment
- Don’t let your child eat or drink
- Don’t make them sick
Unfortunately, it’s not obvious when a button battery is stuck in a child’s food pipe. There are no specific symptoms, but you might notice your child:
- Cough, gag or drool a lot
- Have diarrhoea or be sick
- Point to their throat or stomach
- Have a pain in their stomach, chest or throat
- Become tired
- Be more clingy than usual or ‘not themselves’
- Lose their appetite
- Not want to eat solid food/be unable to eat solid food
These symptoms vary from one case to the next, so it can be difficult to identify. This is why it’s so important to follow the safety advice and avoid your child coming into contact with a button battery.
If your child vomits bright red blood, this is a specific symptom of swallowing a button battery so seek immediate medical attention by calling 999.
