Tips on Toy Safety for Toddlers

Kids love their toys and could in most cases, cry and throw tantrums when parents do not get them their desired toys. It becomes worse when you take them to toyshops; they want to get the whole lot. While toys are good for stimulating children’s mental and physical development, they could also be dangerous and in some cases, a cause of death. We should, therefore, put the safety of our kids first in selecting toys for them. These are some tips on toy safety:

•  Chose age appropriate toys; always check the recommended age bracket by the product maker
• Don’t buy toys with sharp ends and edges
• Make sure you don’t buy toys with lose ends and small components as kids  would likely pull them apart and may swallow them; this could easily choke them
• Buy toys that are easily washable; in this case, you can always wash them repeatedly as children love putting toys in their mouth
• Avoid toy balls, latex balloons and magnets as they could easily lead to choking
• Look out for toys that may contain lead; this is a source of poisoning in kids
• Don’t buy electrically operated toys for kinds under the age of 11. It is better to get them battery operated ones.
• Dispose all batteries used in toys’ operations yourself to avoid poisoning
• Keep older children’s toys out of reach of the younger kids
• Don’t buy toys with long loose strings, ropes, or cords as they could easily entangle your kid leading to strangulation
• Apart from the general rule that buying toy guns may introduce violence to kids, it is also dangerous especially where the guns shoots darts, even if they are plastic; it could lead to injuries
• Above all, supervise the usage of even the most simple and children friendly toys