Last Tuesday, my son who is three and a half, swallowed a cell battery.
Like a watch battery, an LR44 is a standard type of 1.5 volt button cell alkaline battery, commonly used in small LED flashlights, watches and toys.
He was playing with a toy flashlight. I don’t know what he was doing but it happened very quickly. He somehow he took the toy apart, put one of the two batteries in his mouth and swallowed by accident.
He told me just after it happened! Thank goodness he’s old enough to know the danger and told me. I saw the toy and the other battery.
I called Poison Control to get some advice. While I was on hold, I quickly searched the internet and the consensus was that it would likely pass, but with a fear that with some kids it would get stuck somewhere in the esophagus or worse, in the stomach.
Stomach acids reacting with the cell battery could cause damage… like burn a hole in the body!
I was panicked but forced myself to calm down. As I suspected, Poison Control told me to take him to emergency where they would give him an X-ray at the hospital.
The waiting was excruciating. But because the Destroyer’s demeanor (he was bouncing off the walls), I was almost certain he would be alright.
Finally, after two hours of waiting, we had the X-ray done.
Immediately, we saw the image of the inner workings of his little body. And there it was. A shiny, white button.
Where was it located?
Thankfully at the bottom of his stomach, near the entrance to the intestines.
As the ER doctor told us, he would more than likely pass it through his poop. But in the event that it didn’t in the next few days, we would have to return for another X-ray.
The scary thought was that if he didn’t poop it out, this tiny little poisonous cell would remain in his body??? I was frightened that it would get stuck somewhere in transit and who knows what would happen.
He did a big poop that night and I searched but there was nothing to be found.
I had a conference all day Wednesday and wasn’t able to be with him to monitor his poop… and considering he had just done a large one the night before, I thought he’d be in the clear while I was gone.
My dad took him to preschool that morning. My son never needs to do a number two at the school.
Until this day. Of course! Murphy’s Law.
Well, my father “didn’t see” anything… wait another day, wait another day.
Thursday rolled around and lo and behold, my son did another big poop… but still no battery!
Had he gone on Wednesday morning and my dad didn’t see it?
I couldn’t take that chance in not knowing for certain.
I called his pediatrician and saw him that afternoon. When I explained the story, he looked worried.
The hospital should have done a scope to get the battery out.
Really?
I said it was already entering intestines, that’s why they left it there. But he would’ve dealt with the situation differently.
We did the X-ray and within minutes, the X-ray was clear. Big sigh of relief!
Thank God!
It’s funny how things sometimes work out… Had I called the pediatrician’s office and had the X-ray done there with results immediate on Tuesday, rather than having to go to the hospital, my son may have had to go through being sedated and then scoped.
So perhaps it was best that we had gone to the hospital and waited for that damn battery to come out the other end.
Thankfully, the Destroyer is all fine and will never, ever eat another cell battery again.
But please beware of these cheap toys with button batteries! They do pose a great danger.
18 Comments
OMG! It must have been scarry! I Am glad he is okay and managed to pass it through his poop.
Thank you for bringing awareness to battery swallowing danger! Swallowing batteries is deadly. You were very lucky that your son passed the battery to the stomach! My son swallowed a disc battery when he was 1.5 years old. It lodged in his esophagus and had to be surgically removed. His throat was slightly burnt so we spent 1.5 weeks at a children’s hospital on a liquid diet. We were lucky that he was not more seriously injured, because we were warned that children die and get permanently injured from swallowing batteries. Very scary, horrifying experience I hope no parent goes through.
Wow! What an ordeal! I’m glad that your son ended up ok… scary stuff indeed.
My 3 1/2 yr old daughter just did pretty much exactly the same thing with an LR44 battery yesterday, even came and told us right away like your son did. I’m so glad she is old enough to talk, and that she didn’t try to hide what happened. At first we weren’t worried, but a google search came up with http://poison.org/battery and I was surprised to see there is even a 24-hour National Battery Ingestion Hotline (202-625-3333). We gave them a call and learned how serious this can be, especially if the battery gets lodged in the esophagus.
They did an x-ray at urgent care right after we took her in and found the battery in her stomach, which was a big relief at the time, because we had heard how if it gets lodged in the esophagus it can burn a hole through it. She is going in again this morning for another x-ray to see if it is still in her stomach, and they may extract it if it isn’t making its way out already. When we called national poison control, they had said that if it is in the stomach that extraction is usually not required, and recommended that we have the doctors call them to consult about the case if they decide to extract it. Hmmm… let me see, they want me to tell a doctor to call a government office for advice? Not sure how well that will go over.
Anyway, at first I was thinking, “heck yes, go ahead and extract it!” And then I remembered that anesthesia carries its own risks, and so maybe being overzealous about taking it out isn’t such a great idea. I guess we will find out.
Thanks for your post.
I hope your daughter passes the battery. By now it should be in her intenstine and hopefully on its way out. Thanks for reading and commenting 🙂 Keep me posted!
Yep – her x-ray this morning shows that it has entered the small intestine. The relief that brought reminded me of watching shuttle launches for some reason. It is like when the shuttle reaches orbit and now we just have to wait and make sure it makes it through the rest of its journey. 😉
My thirteen year old son has a mental disorder.Today he swallowed a cell battery and poison control said since he big it should slip right down what should i do?
I’d go to have an xray done to make sure it passed through stomach.
My three in a half did the same thing but he had 2 in him. This happened on a Tuuesday and its now saturday. He has a rash from battery. The battery posion control place state not to wokrry. Km sl scared now. Any suggestions pls?
Go to the hospital and get an x-ray done to see if he has passed the batteries!
hi my dauther ydid swolled lr44 battrey .its come out but still afriad some chemical element stay her stomch .do you know that after damage anything?
As far as the doctor told me, if the battery passes, everything is fine. I would not worry!
Hi.I swallowed a LR41 or LR44 Battery when i was a kid(almost forgot that i swallowed a battery) i was worried for this past few days. do you think i poop it out already or it is stuck in the stomach. im 15 yrs old now
plss answer
Oh it’s long gone! I’m sure you pooped it out. Otherwise, you’d have had stomach problems as a child.
Thank you for replying,That was a big relief for me 🙂
Omg so my daughter (4 yrs) is going through this right now and i tell you its so terrifying for me , long story short its now in her stomach and she just made a big poop no battery yet. So i panicked and called her doctor and said i didnt see any battery (lol) im freaking out but shes fine everything is normal eating alot drinking shes her normal self but not me lol im just worried BUT reading this about your son made me feel a little better and calm 🙂 Im so glad your son is ok now its the waiting game for me to hunt for this damn battery!
howz ur daughter???
3 days ago my child swallowed a battery, he is fine but I m still worried ..i daily check his poop but can’t see battery,,,what should I have to.do??? plz help