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Toy Safety Tips

by Barbara Pietronudo

Toy Safety Tips

Our children spend most of their time at home playing with their toys.

Playing with toys is an important aspect of our children's development and growth. With that being said, there are a few things to keep in mind when buying and maintaining their toy collection. As a parent myself I know that keeping our children safe is always one of our main concerns in our children's lives. I have outlined some toy safety tips to keep in mind when it comes to your child's playtime.

When Buying Toys......

Pay attention to the recommended age sticker. Not only should you pay close attention to the recommended age but as different children develop at different paces, it is also wise to take into consideration your child's ability and maturity level. For instance, the sticker may say for ages 3 and up and although it serves as an excellent guideline you know your child better than anybody and you will be able to determine whether you think it is something that will keep your child interested and safe.

Cords with long strings should be avoided They can get tied around the child's neck and cause strangulation

Make sure you discard plastic wrapping and boxes with staples right away. They can get caught in the wind pipe.. This actually happened to my niece. She was about two years old and climbed up on a drawer and got a hold of some staples and swallowed them. Thank God for the neighbor who dislodged them from her throat!

If you have a young child, make sure the toy doesn't have small parts that can be swallowed.

When choosing a battery operated toy. Be sure the battery compartment closes securely. It's best if it requires tools to open it such as a screwdriver.

A few more things to remember:

When passing down toys from older siblings check to make sure it's working properly and there aren't any loose parts that your young child can pull off and swallow.

Talk to your older children about keeping their toys away from their younger brothers or sisters.

Check your child's toys regularly to make sure there are no broken or loose parts that have to be fixed or thrown away. Tip: In our busy lives it's sometimes easy to forget to do these little but important things. It might be a good idea to post yourself a reminder where you can't miss it until a habit is formed that makes doing this automatic. Don't forget to check for splinters in wooden toys. Sometimes that's something not thought about.

This probably is a no brainer but I'll mention it anyway. Encourage your child to keep their toys picked up when their done playing with them. I can't count the times I've tripped over my kids toys. I finally had to address this issue and get pretty firm about it. I had to come up with some pretty creative ways to get them to cooperate on this one but finally got the problem resolved.

The last thing I want to talk about here is making sure none of the toys are on the recall list. Here are two government resources that you can check. Consumer Product Safety Commission and Recalls.gov . You may also want to bookmark this page to be sure and check here regularly as I will be posting more articles concerning your child's safety on a variety of subjects.

If you have any questions or suggestions on articles you would like to see posted here feel free to send me an e-mail. I am always interested in hearing your feedback.

Toy Safety Tips

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