December is Safe Toys and Gifts Month

            December has been declared as Safe Toys and Gifts Awareness Month, in a joint effort to encourage everyone to pay more attention to safety issues regarding gifts, especially for infants and children under the age of three. The month is not arbitrary, December being the most active period for shopping (including toys). From Thanks Giving Day up until New Years Eve, stores are stormed by parents searching for toys and other presents for their children.

According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, hospital emergency rooms across the country report annually hundreds of thousands of toy-related injuries. From those, almost three quarters involve people with an age under 15 years. Children 4 years old and younger account for almost half of all toy-related injuries and almost all deaths. The numbers are overwhelming considering that almost all cases could have been avoided.

Although in recent years we witnessed a change to the better of the system regulating toy safety, you can never be too careful when it comes to the lives of our young ones. Low quality imports are being denied access to the market and testing by independent third party laboratories is mandatory. Also, every toy set should have a full set of instructions, clearly specifying the age interval for which is suited and enumerating all safety precautions. These instructions should be carefully read and understood by parents before leaving the toys I the hands if children.

There are certain recommendations every adult should know before venturing to buy a gift. Common sense dictates that the toy should not have sharp edges or points and should not have flying parts. The construction technique and material used should be solid enough to prevent breaking or disassembly. Small detachable pieces or parts falling off are responsible for most of the cases that required medical attention. Young children love to put things in their little mouths and this is usually followed by swallowing and choking. Believe it or not, even balloons can pose risk to children health and life. Deflated or broken balloons can cause choking or suffocation. Once gifts are open, any plastic wrapping or other package used for containing the toys should be discarded. Ropes and cords should also be kept away from children reach.

Toys brought for young kids should be carefully inspected by parents and taken out of their box. There are even small parts testers to determine if parts present a choking hazard.

We all love sports and we enjoy seeing kids playing. Safety should always come first and any gift of sports equipment should therefore include protective gear. Do not even think of letting a child on the streets without giving him a helmet. It doesn’t matter if his riding his bike, scooter, skateboard or tricycle. Protection gear should also be sized to fir in order to efficiently prevent injuries.

Chemicals used to build or finish toys form a subject which is usually neglected by parents when shopping for toys. Exposure to lead has been proven to inflict poisoning to the human body, so old toys (from times when lead was yet to be proven harmful) should be handled with caution.

With technology becoming more and more present in our everyday lives, children make first contact with it a younger and younger age. Together with that comes the risk posed by electricity. We are talking hear mainly about chargers, which can overheat and cause burns if used improperly. Remember that kids don’t share the same fear and commons sense you do and are very eager to experiment new ways of playing.

With all the information available at just one click away, it’s easier now for parents to learn about what health hazards are related to the toys they buy. Nevertheless, this could never substitute the lack of surveillance some children play in. However safe toys are, accidents still happen around the house and if no adult is around things can turn out to be unfortunate. No expensive toy can ever replace parent’s attention and care. Enough time should be also dedicated learning young ones how to benefit as much as possible from their toys.