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Ask HN: Fake AA batteries, or drain acid from current ones

21 points by bryanrasmussen ↗ HN
I have an autistic child that loves to lick and chew on AA batteries, this is of course very dangerous so we have to keep them away from him but that of course makes him upset. I think the easiest way would be if

1. I find some copper about the right size and shape and use that. especially if I can make it look like a battery.

2. Buy a fake battery somewhere, do they exist, where do I buy them.

3. take a normal AA battery and remove all caustic materials from inside without destroying battery in any way.

Any suggestions.

35 comments

[ 6.4 ms ] story [ 71.5 ms ] thread
h2odragon
Cut sections of wood dowel to the right length: then they can be cooked / soaked in flavored water. Recall "cinnamon toothpicks?" Like that but bigger and we have an array of awesome artificial flavors now.

If its the finish texture and the weight that's appealing, perhaps you could find a flashlight or "stash case" jewelry item that could serve the purpose. Somewhere, someone has a "drug safe" that look very much like an AA battery but the top unscrews and its a hollow chamber inside.

If you think its the flavor of copper; then they sell copper pipe in a variety of sizes; you can cut lengths of that and have no worries. I can't think of a battery that actually shows copper on the outside tho.

bryanrasmussen
I think it's the flavor of copper, he seems to prefer Duracell for what it's worth.
h2odragon
but theres no actual copper on the surface of the battery
bryanrasmussen
ok, I suppose then it is the metallic tang one gets from the battery.
s5300
Would a fully discharged rechargeable battery be safe?
rootsudo
swallow hazard, and behavior.
jskrablin
3D print some? Should be relatively easy to design and cheap enough to print...
ethagknight
Would applying a bitterant to both fake and real AA batteries help?

I don’t have experience working with people on the autistic spectrum but seems like the first priority would be to strongly discourage a habit that could seriously poison / burn the child’s stomach?

lm28469
I'd agree with that, I'm no autistic kid expert but at some point every kid will be upset about something. Being upset is part of life, learning to deal with it also is. I wouldn't use anything that look like a battery to reinforce his habit, it might be alright for a while but he'll get his hands on a real one at some point and if he hasn't learned that it's a no go he'll chew on it / might swallow it
bryanrasmussen
I think the bitterant is a pretty good idea, have any suggestions? Unfortunately he is very autistic, and instead of being sensory inputs avoiding he is very much into heavy sensory stimulation.

I remember once he ate some of my extremely spicy thai food, he hated it, was crying and rubbing his tongue. Walked around the room, walked back and tried to eat some more.

berberous
I have no experience with them but people biting their nails is a common enough problem that I know there are bitter tasting products out there designed to be applied to your nails to stop the behavior, so consider googling for those.
anonomousename
Would not recommend using this on real batteries, but if you end up finding fake ones - spraying compressed air upside down (so it comes out as a liquid) and coating an object in it will make it very bitter, as compressed air commonly has bitterant in it to prevent huffing it. I used it myself to prevent myself from biting my nails.
AuryGlenz
I bought some in a spray can years back because our (young) rescue dog was chewing on cables and I didn’t want her to chew on a power cable.

If you touch something with bitterant on it and then eat food with your hands, it’ll taste bitter. Washing your hands doesn’t help much. Just thought I’d warn you - maybe the brand I bought was too good.

ethagknight
I think I’d start with getting some “chew stopping” spray from a pet store. Not ideal to use a pet product, but way way better than eating a battery.

My suggestion with real and fake batteries was to train with a fake bitter battery (leave some lying around), and then thoroughly dousing any batteries in use around your house, inside remote controls, etc.

kjhughes
Addressing the issue by faking the look of an AA battery is probably not ideal for your child. Have you consulted with your team of professional providers? They likely can suggest a better approach, possibly involving a plan to transition to an alternative, substitute behavior rather than substitute batteries.
kizer
Maybe see if he likes sour candies? Or bitter things like grapefruit? You could make grapefruit candies. I think the best thing to do would be to find a substitute because continuing with "battery fakes" isn't a long-term solution.
mkoryak
I often try to come up with "solutions" when dealing with my kids behavior problems. Like: if they aren't listening and want to stay up late, maybe I should get smart bulbs that I can turn off with my phone.

But I know that this is not actually a solution to the right problem.

Your question has that same "smell". You need to find a way to discourage this behavior, not a workaround for it.

83
Batteries dont typically have exposed copper, but if thats the route you want to go just buy some 1/2 inch copper rod off ebay, its like $12 for 6 inches. Super soft metal, you can work it by hand with a hacksaw and file/sander.

I wonder if your child can taste that subtle electric effect from the battery (ever lick a 9v?)

8ytecoder
I definitely did that “touch the tip of the battery thing” as a kid. There was a “pleasant” metallic taste to it. If that’s what’s attracting your kid you may have to recreate that.
charles_f
I hate to give this kind of advice cause I don't know how hard you might have it :(

But I don't think you want to train your child that it's ok to chew batteries, the moment you don't look he'll turn to the real stuff with no distinction.

Ours is leaking and chewing everything he finds, including bus railings and the likes. A year ago we started giving him those necklaces with rubber pieces that we tell him are ok to chew. That didn't fix the issue entirely, but noticeably improved things, and now he's asking for these every morning.

DrinkDrinkDrink
Good lord!

This is behaviour you need to stop, not encourage!

Frankly, the child's autism has no bearing on the matter. You would not encourage any young child to play with empty packets of drugs or dangerous machinery (even if you have made it safe).

Coat the batteries with a bittering agent. Problem solved.

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evan_
My first thought is that you might want to make some rubber or silicon duplicate batteries to spare his teeth. You can mix in metallic pigments to replicate the color.

There are tutorials on YouTube for prop replica making.

CobaltFire
Though I agree with the overall drive of the comments here (the child needs to be taught that batteries aren’t safe to chew) the lack of empathy for the parent of an autistic child who is has been pushed so far as to ask for this help is astounding.

As a parent of an autistic child who fights similar battles I feel for this person. I can’t put words in peoples mouths, so here’s my own interpretation:

This person more than likely knows this isn’t the right answer but is at their wits end and looking for the least damaging option. Rather than berating them for something they likely know is bad please realize this is the tip of an iceberg and they are quite possibly in damage control mode. Some of the comments here (like the chewable necklace) are great. Others (the many who are berating the parent for even considering this) missed the larger issue at play.

OP: We deal with similar things and we’ve found wooden toys to be the best alternative. Our son used to love the silicone chew toys but now wants something better so we seek out US/EU made and well regarded (from a chemical perspective) wooden toys so that if he does chew it doesn’t hurt him. There are some things that are just a forever fight to keep away from him. Specifically for batteries he doesn’t touch them now because he associates them with being needed for his Leap Pad so that’s a higher priority for him, so creating a higher need like that is a possible way as well.

bryanrasmussen
thanks, we're looking to get chewable necklace also but I worry he has a particular attraction for batteries. Part of the battery problem is he wants to put them in line with some magnets. So if the batteries aren't there but the magnets are he goes looking for batteries, no batteries found = meltdown, no special magnets found he likes putting in line = meltdown. So I think probably the bitterant and fake batteries is the best solution for short term results now, and talk his therapists to try to figure out a way to get him to stop interest in batteries long term.

Where the lack of empathy is concerned, obviously people just don't understand how difficult something can be on an extreme end of the spectrum, and that's why we often get the uninformed suggestions that some sort of discipline will help solve the problem. Which I can't be too upset about it, as I labored under similar misconceptions until I had direct experience.

CobaltFire
We deal with the exact same issue regarding meltdowns when certain things aren't available.

I may suggest one thing we did to start removing certain things so the lack of the target item is less critical:

Find more things your child likes to line up. We have PlusPlus [0], LEGO, Tegu [1], and wooden train track [2] available. Once you have a variety of options removing one of them is less likely to cause a meltdown if they've started using the others. This dilution of the importance of something they are attached to has been amazingly helpful.

Note that for TEGU and PlusPlus they can occasionally be found (typically after Christmas) in the discount stores (TJ Maxx, Marshalls, etc.) for huge discounts if you are in the USA. Otherwise shop around.

[0]: https://tegu.com/

[1]: https://plus-plus.com/

[2]: https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/lillabo-50-piece-track-set-1032...

gjsman-1000
Take the batteries, get a safe, lock them up, and then put security screws or McDonalds toy triangle-head screws onto any device with removable batteries. For remotes, use superglue, and dissolve it with acetone every time you need to change them out. (Superglue the cover, not the batteries themselves.)

Make sure there is no way for your child to gain access to batteries of any kind. If upset, teaching boundaries is important or it will move on to running with scissors. Get something else safe to chew on.

naoqj
What he probably likes is the tingling sensation on his tongue. Hard to mimic.
gjsman-1000
Agreed. In which case, the parent just needs to say, “No, we do not chew on batteries, they are dangerous.” And lock them up tightly and doing whatever necessary to ensure the child has absolutely no access to them.

Sure - the child will be upset, but that’s part of parenting. It will be running with scissors next week. This parent might as well come back with questions on how to rubberize the scissors rather than prevent the behavior. Putting your foot down is just necessary.

jaclaz
There are thingies called "battery placeholder", you will be able to find them easily[0], but I strongly doubt they are "safe" to lick/chew, probably safer than real batteries, still not advised for this purpose.

They are used in some cases to lower the total voltage of batteries in series, when one or two are replaced with higher voltage rechargeable ones, they are simply a straight connector.

[0] example:

https://www.sears.com/hisonde-5w9bpp9-4-pack-aa-battery-plac...

berberous
Swallowing a battery can cause devastating internal injuries including death. I would try to find a way to strongly discourage the behavior and not encourage it for that reason.
rasz
no acid - alkaline is base. As for the main question: What if he liked handguns instead of batteries? Talk to child psychologists, not HN.