Are Your Children Safe with Their Toys?

You glance over at your young child and see hercontain loose attachments or cars that have wheels
happily on the floor playing with her toys. Knowingthat move automatically could also be tragic. Your
she is safe, you go ahead and start preparing dinner.child's hair could become entangled in the moving
Between rinsing the vegetables and putting water onparts, causing laceration, scalp injuries or even
to boil, a tragedy could occur. Your child could bestrangulation. Choking can occur with toys that have
seriously or even fatally injured by her favorite toys.small parts or pieces, balls or removable parts.
This is something no parent should ever have toSo what do you do? Buy toys and really hope that
face, but it happens every day. Is your child safenothing terrible happens? What if you're a child care
with their toys?provider or you're purchasing toys for a waiting room
In today's toy and child care marketplace, productat a doctor's office? You absolutely cannot afford to
recalls happen all the time. Even with reputabletake the chance of someone else's child being injured
companies and after what would appear to beby one of the toys that you've provided for them to
exhaustive development and testing.play with. It sure seems like most of the toys you
Unfortunately, sometimes a recall happens only afterbuy could be dangerous. But not all of them are.
a child or multiple children have been hurt. Recently,Primary Risks from Toys
the Thomas the Tank Engine toys were recalled. The* Strangulation
recall included various Thomas and Friends toys* Choking
because the paint finish on the trains contained lead.* Electric Shock or Burn
There were about 1.5 MILLION of these toys sold* Lead Poisoning
nationwide from January 2005 through 2007. The* Cuts and Scrapes
same reason prompted a recall of the Soldier BearSome ideas for child toy safety at home
Action figures sold between August 2006 through* Buy only toys from reputable manufacturers
2007.* Use 'Common Sense' in toy selection
Central to the recall of the 'Thomas' Products and* Buy toys appropriate for the child's age
Fisher-Price was the danger of 'Lead Poisoning' which* Inspect toys carefully for potential dangers
occurs predominantly in children who are well known* Expect the 'Unexpected': Look at toys with critical
to sample things by putting them in their mouths.viewpoint
Lead poisoning can damage internal organs including* Do not leave small children unattended for any
the kidneys, nervous system and brain. This islength of time
particularly dangerous because in children from age* Packaging material is NOT a toy! Remove it from a
infant to seven years, their little bodies are stillchild's presence!
developing, and lead poisoning can leave PERMANENT* Use Safety Gear where available for the type of
IMPAIRMENT. Your child can suffer from a lower I.Q.toy. (helmets, pads,etc)
and physical disabilities. All of this from her favorite* Checkout toy reviews and recall notices. The
toy that you thought was safe. With the knowledgeinternet makes this easy to do.
of this today among manufacturers, this scenarioNothing can take the place of 'common sense' here.
should never have to happen.You have to get 'outside yourself' as a adult and see
Unfortunately, there is more. Children could becomethe toy from the child's point of view. In other
blinded, scarred, or disfigured if any of their toyswords, you can NEVER assume what a child will or
have a rigid edge or surface. If your child picks up awon't do with a toy.
toy like this and goes running around like children doLet's be careful out there!
all the time, this could be disastrous. Toys that