Doctors issue ‘do not buy’ safety warning for popular Christmas gifts for kids – after kids eat toys triggers wave of fatal intestinal blockages

Hospital doctors have warned parents not to buy water beads for young children this Christmas due to the ‘devastating’ risk of fatal bowel obstruction if swallowed.

The colorful little balls, which are a few millimeters in size and are also called jelly balls or water crystals, are thought to have sensory benefits for toddlers.

But when ingested, they expand to 400 times their original size within three days and can get stuck in the intestines – which can be fatal.

Now the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) has issued a new warning about the beads, highlighting a spate of deaths they have been linked to in the US.

“As an emergency room physician, I have seen parents hold their child’s hand and watch over them while they lay on an emergency department bed and needed urgent care because they had ingested one of these objects,” says Dr. Salwa Malik. vice-chairman of the RCEM.

‘As a parent, I can imagine how terribly terrifying and traumatic that would be to experience – for a mother, father, grandmother, grandfather, aunt, uncle, brother, sister and of course the child herself.

‘Having seen first-hand the effects, which can be devastating and harmful, we are asking people to please think twice about the dangers they pose when choosing and giving presents this season.’

It follows a safety alert from the UK’s Office for Product Safety and Standards in September, which warned that water beads could ’cause gastrointestinal blockages requiring surgery’ and ‘suffocation or suffocation’, and keep out of the reach of children under five years must be held.

They should only be used by older children under the close supervision of an adult,” the warning added.

In August, doctors at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Ohio, US, published a study showing that the toys have been responsible for more than 8,000 visits to US emergency departments since 2007.

Visits increased rapidly between 2021 and 2022 – by more than 130 percent, the researchers found.

More than half of the cases involved children under the age of five, and all young children suffered the consequences of swallowing the beads.

However, placing beads in the ear, nose and eye was also noted by researchers as a cause of injuries.

Dr. Malik added: “These items can be found under your tree or in a stocking during the holidays, hidden in gifts that are intended to bring joy to a child or vulnerable person, but which, if swallowed, could result in serious illness and the need for emergency medical treatment.

Kennedy Mitchell underwent five operations after accidentally swallowing a water bead. A Change.org petition to ban the children’s toys has attracted more than 40,650 signatures

Kennedy can now go home from the hospital after spending most of the last month undergoing tests and surgeries following a blockage in her intestines that nearly killed her.

In March last year, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and toy company Buffalo Games recalled more than 50,000 ‘Chuckle & Roar Ultimate Water Beads Activity Kits’ sold at Target supermarket after one baby was injured and another died.

The injured child, Kennedy Mitchell of Maine, was hospitalized after swallowing one of the beads. She suffered a life-threatening intestinal blockage, which cut off the blood supply to part of her intestines.

Initial surgery was performed to remove the water bead, but the damage to Kennedy’s intestines had already been done.

The ten-month-old baby went into septic shock and had to be put on a ventilator. A second operation checked for additional obstacles, but none were found.

Two more surgeries were needed to remove the extra fluid in her intestines and reduce the pressure on her organs.

The child was able to return home soon afterwards.

In February last year, parents in California filed a lawsuit against toy manufacturer Orbeez after at least one child died as a result of eating one.