A Festive Safety Reminder
Happy Holidays! There are 17 days left until cookies, carrots, and milk are left out in anticipation of Santa’s yearly visit.
I don’t know about you all, but the morning when we open gifts it gets crazy: wrapping paper flying everywhere, moments of ooh’s and ah’s, and gifts being tried out and powered up.
And when little ones are involved, we need to be extra careful not to get too distracted ourselves. Especially where batteries are concerned. Lithium coin batteries in particular (nickel-sized used in some toys, decor and common devices around the home) can be dangerous to small kids if accidentally swallowed.
As a Child Safety Advocate the Holiday season is extra special to me as I also honour the gift of my children’s lives, especially after Amélie's near fatal lithium coin battery ingestion in 2020. I’ve made it one of my life’s missions to continually raise awareness about lithium coin battery safety.
As we enter the season of not only gift-giving, but extended family gatherings, decor galore and everything in between, I would like to emphasize the importance of being aware of the devices in our homes that use lithium coin batteries and keeping them safely out of reach from small children. If swallowed, these batteries can become lodged in a child’s esophagus and cause internal burns within only a couple of hours.
Using lithium coin batteries designed to help discourage swallowing are also worthwhile. I appreciate the work that Duracell is doing to try and help keep children safe. Specifically, Duracell has applied child safety features to their 2032, 2025 and 2016 Lithium Coin batteries by applying a bitter coating to help discourage swallowing and a child safety package to each of these three popular battery products. Consider these batteries when you are stocking up for holiday needs. You can find them on Amazon.ca, London Drugs, and my go-to, Costco.
Duracell Lithium Coin Battery with Bitter Coating
Since some of the very items and things that make the holidays magical can pose a hidden danger to little ones, I would also like to recommend a few more tips on how to celebrate this holiday season safely:
Closely supervise your child if they are helping you decorate, especially when handling lighting, ornaments, and breakable objects.
Be mindful of those fun musical greeting cards that many keep as décor – they run on lithium coin batteries.
If setting up lighting for ambiance such as pre-lit garland, string lights, LED flameless candles, tea lights or votives, which tend to be powered by lithium coin batteries, secure the battery compartments and set them out of reach.
If you plan to use a real tree, always ensure the tree stand is filled with water to ensure the tree does not dry out and pose an increased fire hazard. If the tree is artificial ensure it’s made from fire-retardant material and that the stand is flat on the ground.
When hosting large gatherings, have guests store their car key fobs in a safe area out of reach of young children.
Make sure when buying battery-operated toys and games for small children they are age-appropriate and the batteries cannot be easily removed.
Check out #HolidaySafely for more tips and good info. Always remember I advocate to educate! Wishing you all a safe, cheerful, and all that is merry and bright about this season!
