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Holiday Toy Safety Tips

Calling all last-minute shoppers! If you still have a few holiday gifts to check off your list, make sure to put safety first with these tips from Dr. Leslie King – a pediatrician from Ochsner Health Center for Children – Covington.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), estimates there were 226,100 toy-related ER visits in 2018 in children under 15 years old. If you are purchasing a holiday toy for a young child here are three types of toys to avoid: 

  1. Toys with lots of pieces and parts can potentially become choking hazards, especially for young children. A parent can turn their back for a split second and that child can swallow a small piece and choke. Remember – if a toy or small parts of a toy that break off can fit entirely into a toilet paper tube, then it is a potential choking hazard.

  2. Balloons or toys that have string, ribbon or straps longer than seven inches. These could cause strangulation.

  3. Toys with magnets or small “button batteries.” If a child swallows a battery or a magnet, seek immediate medical attention. The acid can cause fatal internal injuries.

Parents need to be on guard for potential toy hazards, especially around this time of year. Its estimated that 45% of toy related injuries are to the head or face. Here’s three ways to help decide if a toy is safe for your child:

  1. Read and follow the recommended age label on packaging. 

  2. Open the box and inspect the toy before letting your child play with it.
     
  3. If the toy requires safety equipment, make sure to purchase it before allowing your child to play with the toy. For example, make sure you have a helmet for a bike or scooter.

King says, “There can be age gaps in families, so keep in mind what you give to an older child can be extremely harmful to a younger sibling. Supervision is key to keeping everyone safe during the holiday.”

About Ochsner Health System

Ochsner Health is Louisiana’s largest non-profit, academic, healthcare system. Driven by a mission to Serve, Heal, Lead, Educate and Innovate, coordinated clinical and hospital patient care is provided across the region by Ochsner's 40 owned, managed and affiliated hospitals and specialty hospitals, and more than 100 health centers and urgent care centers. Ochsner is the #1 ranked hospital in Louisiana by U.S. News & World Report and is recognized as a “Best Hospital” across two specialty categories caring for patients from all 50 states and more than 70 countries worldwide each year. Ochsner Hospital for Children is the only facility in Louisiana to be recognized as a top 50 children’s hospital by U.S. News & World Report for three consecutive years. Ochsner employs nearly 25,000 employees and over 4,500 employed and affiliated physicians in over 90 medical specialties and subspecialties and conducts more than 700 clinical research studies. Ochsner Health is proud to be a tobacco-free environment. For more information, please visit ochsner.org and follow us on Twitter and Facebook.