Holiday gifts most likely to send kids to the ER
It’s that time of year again and the list of presents to buy for family and friends may only seem longer.
Before stuffing your shopping bags – or online cart, more likely – doctors say parents should be aware of unassuming toys and accessories (for others in the family) that land babies and small children in the emergency room each year.
“We do see a spike during the holiday season,” said Dr. Robert Kramer, a pediatric gastroenterologist at Children’s Hospital Colorado. “But it’s something we have to be vigilant for at all times.”
Here are some of the most unsafe objects to avoid during the holidays and why parents should be extra vigilant – year-round – to keep them away from little ones.
Button batteries
Button cell and lithium coin cell batteries are small, dime-like discs commonly found in watches, key fobs, hearing aids, musical greeting cards, cameras and flameless candles.
“The problem is you can find them anywhere,” Kramer said.
Button cell batteries look like round buttons while lithium coin cell batteries are typically thinner but have a higher voltage, according to HealthyChildren.org, a parenting website by the American Academy of Pediatrics.
If they get lodged in a child’s throat, the saliva triggers an electric current causing a chemical burn that can severely damage the esophagus. That can happen as soon as two hours after ingestion and lead to perforation, vocal cord paralysis or airway erosion.
A 2022 study shows more than 70,000 children in the past decade went to the emergency room for swallowing batteries. Button batteries accounted for nearly 85% of the emergency room visits. More than 84% of these patients were under 5.
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Based on an estimated 7,032 incidents a year, study authors determined that on average one battery-related trip to the emergency room occurs every 1.25 hours in the U.S.
“The danger is that if it burns a hole through the wall of the esophagus into the aorta (the main artery of the body), it will bleed into the esophagus,” Kramer said. “It’s almost a universally fatal problem.”
If a child swallows a button battery, experts recommend parents give them two teaspoons of honey every 10 minutes on their way to the hospital to coat the throat and reduce the risk of serious injury.
Doctors typically recommend babies under 1 avoid honey due to the minor risk that the infant could get botulism caused by bacteria sometimes found in honey products. However, the condition is rare and doctors say reducing the severity of a button battery injury outweighs that slight risk.
Besides honey, no other food or drink should be given after a child swallows a battery. If a child swallows a battery, the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia also warns against trying to induce vomiting, giving any medication, drinking milk or water or trying the Heimlich maneuver.
Micro magnets
These powerful magnets are typically marketed to adults as desk toys in the form of fidget objects, stackable sets, or as fake jewelry and to be used in piercings.
Although these objects are meant for adults, Kramer said children can still get their hands on them. They’re mostly round, come in attractive colors and can look like candy.
Most adult magnets are made of neodymium, making them five times stronger than a conventional magnet.
If a child swallows one or more of them it’s a health emergency. If one magnet shows up on the X-ray, that might mean the child needs to stay under hospital supervision. If two or more show up, the child might need surgery, Kramer said.
Inside the body, he said, the magnets will often pull toward each other and can cause damage.
As they move through the digestive tract, the magnets can entrap an intestine between them, causing organ damage, which “can be very dangerous and deadly,” he said.
Swallowed magnets resulted in about 1,700 hospital visits between 2009 and 2011, according to U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission reports.
Water bead toys
Superabsorbent polymer beads, or water beads, are small beads the size of a stud earring that can grow to more than 100 times their size when exposed to water, according to the National Capital Poison Center in Washington, D.C.
They’re also known as jelly beads, hydro orbs, crystal soil and gel beads, HealthyChildren.org said. An estimated 7,800 children went to the emergency room after ingesting water beads between 2016 and 2022.
While these objects were originally used in agriculture to maintain soil moisture, Kramer said, they’ve made their way into the toy market. They often come in brightly colored, spherical gummies and in different character shapes, such as dinosaurs, which might look edible to a small child.
Swallowing one of these toys is also “a medical emergency,” Kramer said. When these beads are exposed to fluids in the digestive system, they can grow and obstruct the gastrointestinal tract.
“It’s a traffic jam. If things can’t go forward, they’re going to stack up,” he said. The small intestine, the narrowest part of the system, is at the greatest risk of obstruction and possible damage.
Bowel injuries sometimes require surgery, in which doctors remove a part of the bowel that’s blocked and losing blood supply, Kramer said. A procedure like this could have lifelong consequences, depending on how much of the bowel needs to be surgically removed.
After this type of surgery, some patients can’t tolerate a normal amount of food and need to receive nutrition through an IV, he said. Others require an ostomy, in which surgeons create an opening in the abdominal wall to allow waste to leave the body into an ostomy bag or “pouch.”
Kramer said it’s important to recognize the common signs of bowel obstruction, including belly pain, vomiting, being unable to eat and generally feeling uncomfortable.
Glass ornaments, tree lights, tinsel
Babies and children can accidentally swallow shards of glass if they chew on ornaments or tree lights, Kramer said. Even swallowing LED lights, which are typically plastic, presents a risk.
“Any sharp object that’s swallowed can cause a hole in the bowel,” he said. “When there’s a hole in the intestine that allows stomach contents to leak into the abdominal cavity.”
Some patients require surgery to remove the object before this happens. A hole in the bowel could lead to sepsis and death.
It’s difficult to determine if a child has swallowed a tree ornament or light because they don’t typically show up on X-rays, Kramer said. So, it’s imperative to keep an eye on crawling babies.
Tinsel and decorative string can also cause choking or strangulation risks, said Dr. Chris Ford, an emergency physician in Wisconsin and spokesperson for the American College of Emergency Physicians.
Ford warns parents to think ahead before the holidays.
“Ensure toys are age-appropriate and make sure smaller children are monitored if they are in the same room with toys intended for older children,” he said. “Be vigilant.”
Adrianna Rodriguez can be reached at [email protected].
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