Another child, another button battery, another intensive care unit, it’s a worrisome thought. Wide Open Country gave an update on a four-year-old child on March 27, 2026, when the situation was deeply concerning. These events will keep cropping up as sure as traffic accidents. The best we can do at UPS Battery Center is help maintain public awareness.
How Can a Button Battery Do This?
Button and coin cells are small round batteries for compact devices. Most every family uses them in watches, calculators, remote controls, and hearing aids. Unfortunately, this means button batteries and coin cells are in reach of almost every child.
Every button battery and coin cell holds an electrical charge. This may be the full power when new, or the residual charge after it runs down. These batteries transfer their current from one side to the other when in use.
Another child and another button battery can be a lethal combination, according to Child Accident Prevention Trust. Most times these batteries pass harmlessly through a child’s body after they swallow one.
But if the battery gets stuck in the food pipe that’s another matter. The battery charge reacts with saliva and forms caustic acid. This acid can burn through the food pipe to the main artery, with serious, even deadly results.
The Symptoms ‘Through the Eyes of a Child’
Typical symptoms include cough, fever, fatigue, loss of appetite – in other words the characteristics of a virus. In this particular case, AOL reports the four-year-old kept saying ‘mommy I’m hot’.
However, this child was not running a high temperature. She was trying to explain her throat was burning. Fortunately her parents took her to hospital where she is receiving dedicated care.
So what can parents do to prevent this happening to their child? It’s dead simple but not that easy to do. Parents must educate their children and keep batteries out of their reach. That includes all coin and button batteries, even those that seem to be flat.
More Information
Penny Button Batteries Could Harm You
Advice for Parents: Do a Penny Battery Audit
Preview Image: Battery in Child’s Throat
