Button Batteries & Magnets at Toddler Height
Spot it
Remotes, kitchen scales, thermometers, key fobs and greeting cards with a coin battery you can open without a screwdriver; loose batteries or spares in a drawer; fridge magnets and magnet sets on the lower half of the fridge or in low drawers.
Fix it
Look at what sits at toddler height in the kitchen: tape or screw shut any battery compartment that opens by hand, keep spare batteries locked up, and move small magnets above reach (CPSC's magnets page: "Magnets go in easier than they come out. Keep small magnets away from children.") If a battery may have been swallowed, go to the emergency room immediately and call the National Battery Ingestion Hotline (800-498-8666) or Poison Help (800-222-1222). The honey first-aid step (children 12 months and older only) is covered, with its medical sign-off and disclaimer, on the nursery battery page linked below. Swallowed magnets also need immediate medical attention, even if the child seems fine; several can look like one object on an X-ray (CPSC magnets page).
Safer swaps
What actually fixes this — the category to look for, not a brand we were paid to name.
Check every kitchen device for a hand-openable battery door; tape it shutHabit
Free, ten minutes
Move fridge magnets and small magnets above toddler reachHabit
No purchase needed
Kitchen scale or timer with a screwed-shut battery compartment
Newer products must meet UL 4200A (Reese's Law)
No shopping list for this hazard — the fix is a habit, not a purchase.
Sources cited
Sources
- From 2011 through 2021 CPSC counted 27 deaths and an estimated 54,300 emergency-room-treated injuries tied to swallowed or inserted button and coin batteries — U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (incl. SaferProducts.gov), 2023 (how we check this source)
Every source we cite is checked against our criteria first — see how we check our sources.
Related checks
- Button Batteries in Nursery Devices — The honey first-aid step for children 12+ months, with its sign-off, lives on the nursery page.
- Button Batteries in Remotes, Key Fobs & Scales — Remotes, key fobs and games controllers in the living room hold the same coin batteries.
- Magnet Sets & Small Strong Magnets — The strong desk-toy magnet sets the 2022 CPSC rule targets are covered on the living-room page.