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Over this week, we are delivering a Safer Sleep and Winter Messages series, which provides practitioners with essential guidance to support families in keeping their children safe over the festive period and, in particular, how to keep babies safe while sleeping.
Through these briefings, we will cover topics including prevention of accidental injuries, such as button battery ingestion, creating a safe sleep environment, managing disruptions during travel or festive periods, and understanding the risks associated with alcohol and co-sleeping. Each briefing will offer practical advice, resources, and links to trusted guidance, which you can share with the families you work with.
We recognise that Christmas can be a difficult time for families, and there is a lot of pressure for them to have a “perfect Christmas”. We hope that the guidance provided this week, gives families some support during the festive period.
Thank you for following this week’s Safer Sleep and Winter Messages series. By using the guidance provided, from emergency safety measures to creating a safe sleep environment and supporting informed choices around co-sleeping and alcohol, you are equipping families to protect their babies every night. Practitioners are encouraged to revisit these resources as needed, share them with families, and continue reinforcing safer sleep practices throughout the year.
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Button Battery Safety & Emergency Response
Button batteries are one of the most urgent hazards to children, particularly during festive periods when toys, gadgets, remote controls and decorations frequently contain them. Swallowing a button battery can cause severe internal burns in as little as two hours, even if the child initially appears well. This briefing highlights the risks, symptoms, emergency actions, and practical steps practitioners can share with families to prevent life-threatening injuries.
Why Button Batteries Are So Dangerous
If a button battery becomes lodged in a child’s throat or oesophagus, it reacts with saliva, creating a chemical reaction that produces a strong alkali. This can burn through tissue, potentially causing life-changing injury or death. The process begins immediately and silently.
Children may:
- Show no initial symptoms
- Appear to have a mild cold, tummy upset, or slight discomfort
- Only develop serious symptoms hours later, once significant damage has occurred
Every suspected ingestion should be treated as a medical emergency.
Emergency Advice for Parents and Carers
If a child is suspected to have swallowed a button battery, practitioners should advise families to:
✔ ACT FAST - go to A&E immediately. Time is critical.
✔ Avoid giving the child food or drink, as this may worsen chemical damage.
✔ Do not induce vomiting.
✔ Trust instincts - if something seems wrong, seek emergency care immediately, even if the child appears well.
These recommendations are provided by the Child Accident Prevention Trust (CAPT), the UK authority on button battery safety.
Signs a Child May Have Swallowed a Button Battery
Symptoms are often subtle or mistaken for common illnesses. Practitioners should advise families to watch out for:
- Coughing, gagging or drooling
- Difficulty swallowing, eating or drinking
- Chest or abdominal pain
- Sudden crying or irritability
- Vomiting blood (later stage)
- Black or tar-like stools (later stage)
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Where Families Encounter Button Batteries
During the festive season, batteries are commonly found in light-up decorations, musical cards, LED candles, toys, and novelty items. Inexpensive toys or decorations may have unsecured battery compartments that are accessible to children.
Prevention Advice for Families
Practitioners can guide families to:
Undertake Home Checks
- Inspect remote controls, toys, and decorations for loose or easily opened battery covers.
- Store spare batteries securely, out of reach of children.
- Dispose of used batteries safely; even depleted batteries remain dangerous.
Ensure Gift Safety
- Check toys and gadgets before giving them to children.
- Avoid inexpensive novelty items with weak or unlabelled battery compartments.
Maintain Supervision
- Be alert when younger children play with older siblings’ toys, which contain small batteries.
Useful Links & Resources
For further information about Button Battery Safety & Emergency Response, please use the following resources:
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The CSCP would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a safe and Happy Christmas.
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