What will happen to my 6 yr old niece, she swallowed an AAA battery a few days ago and only told us last night. We are still not sure if it even is true or not, she is complaining of a little pain in her tummy but that is all. Her mother is gone into the hospital with her now for an X ray.
Swallowing a battery might be quite a risky thing. The outer shell of the battery may get eaten up by the gastric acids and the corrosive contents of the battery may get released leading to complications. The tummy ache might or might not be indicative of something ongoing in this respect. Her mother has done the right thing by taking her for an x-ray. Based on the findings in the x-ray and the location of the battery (if it is found to have been ingested), the doctor would be able to tell if you can wait for it to be safely passed out with stool or if some emergency procedure needs to be done for its removal.