Toddler injury risk from baby bottles
15 May 2012
Toddlers are injured by their bottles, training cups and dummies at surprisingly high rates, a study shows. In the US, one child is treated in a hospital emergency department every 4 hours for injuries related to these everyday products.
Over 45,000 cases of this kind of injury were found among children younger than 3 years when data from the US National Electronic Injury Surveillance System covering two decades was analysed.
Baby bottles accounted for 66 per cent of injuries, followed by dummies at 20 per cent and sippy cups at 14 per cent.
Most injuries were cuts or bruises to the mouth or face, mainly due to falls while walking or running with a baby bottle in their mouth.
“We found that approximately two-thirds of injuries occurred at age one year, when children have transitioned to unsteady walking and are prone to running,” the authors said.
“Having children sit down while drinking from baby bottles or sippy cups can help reduce the occurrences of these injuries,” the authors said.
Previous research on this subject has largely focused on case reports of injuries relating to asphyxiation from dummies or burns from 'warmed' bottles.
The authors noted that only 4.4 per cent of injuries were related to 'product failure' such as dummies coming apart or being inherently dangerous.
The US Consumer Product Safety Commission had withdrawn 16 million dummies from sale since 1991 due to sharp edges and a million sippy cups, but no bottles, due to risks such as cuts or choking.
Last Reviewed: 15 May 2012
- Keim SA, Fletcher EN, TePoel MRW, McKenzie LB. Injuries associated with bottles, pacifiers, and sippy cups in the United States, 1991–2010. Paediatrics 2012; online 14 May.
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