Say What? Metal Water Bottles Getting Stuck to Tongues
It’s a requirement for our kids in preschool to bring a water bottle (and is recommended for our older kids who are in elementary school). Each year, we take the kids to choose a new water bottle, typically with their favorite character on the front and these bottles tend to be metal. I have never thought anything about it. And then of course, the good ol’ interwebs gives you a dose of “WAIT, the product you just purchased is DANGEROUS!”
So what’s the deal with the metal bottles being dangerous?? Well….. according to Today.com – kids are getting their tongues stuck in the metal water bottles! Nope, this isn’t a joke – no early April 1st post here. Kids are sticking their tongue in the bottle as they drink. The narrow opening can create a suction and swelling the tongue. The tongue gets stuck and that just doesn’t sound like a fun trip to the ER.
My kids typically use the bottles with the sippy cap. They are always sticking their tongue to the sippy cap making funny noises, so I can totally see them doing this playing around.
Honestly, most of the time I roll my eyes. Yes, it’s unfortunate that some kids are hurt from products and my sympathy goes out to the child and parents… but there are thousands upon thousands of other kids using the products – so dismiss it, but I found this statement by Dr. Chad Whited, a doctor who removed a bottle to give me pause.
“A lot of parents watching this (are) saying: ‘My kids drink out of these water bottles all the time; nothing has ever happened, and it won’t ever happen to me,’”
“Just like anything, any product that you give a kid, 99.99 percent of the time it’s fine, until something happens to your kid,” Dr. Whited said.
Damn straight. If anything happened to my kid that hurt them, even if it was not a products fault but how they were using it that I could prevent other kids from getting hurt, I would tell the world.
So take this for what it’s worth, but for my kids, I’ll make sure they have a sippy cap or a wide base on the metal water bottle before giving it to them. Kids are kids, and I know if I told my kids not to do this…. we’d be in the ER with a swollen tongue in a water bottle.
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Tales from the Tongue
Kids and parents share about their metal water bottle incidents.
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Exton, PA - Tongue Stuck in Metal Water Bottle
Maura warns us about the tongue getting stuck in a water bottle issue.
Read more on Maura's blog -
Jayla's Tongue After Surgery
Jayla also had her tongue stuck in a metal water bottle. She spent 2 days in ICU after surgery. Her mom told the New York Daily News: “I would tell parents not to even give bottles like that to their children".
Read more: New York Daily News -
Today Show Demonstrates
The Today Show demonstrates how tongues are getting stuck in bottles.
Watch on Today.com -
Mary Kate's Story
Mary Kate tells how her water bottle incident happened.
Watch on 6abc.com
Thoughts? Crazy or Scary? (or both.)
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Molly blogs parenting, geekery and technology at Digital Mom Blog. Follow Molly on Facebook, Pinterest or Twitter.
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