Kids are always happy with their toys. The right and safe toys can provide your child with so many benefits like encouragement to play, stimulation of their senses, support in developing skills, and more. However, some toys are harmful to kids. Let’s take a look at how to choose safe toys for children. 

How Toys Can Harm Babies 

Toys can harm babies in many ways. For instance, 
-Babies may feel choked while playing with balloons or toys containing strings and wires. 
-The heavy large toys can fall upon small kids
-Electric toys can give them shocks. 
-The sharp-edged toys can cause injury to children
-Babies can swallow small playing objects like magnets, marbles, jewelry, etc. 
-Dirty toys can affect the kids with bacteria. 
-Noisy toys can scare young kids.
-Babies may hurt themselves or other kids with shooting toys.
-Toys built with harmful materials can cause harm to kids’ health.

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While playing with toys, a child may experience serious injury or even death especially when the toy doesn’t suit the child’s age or includes dangerous elements, or is improperly built or used in the wrong way. Although, toy-injuries are usually minor cuts, scrapes, and bruises parents should be careful. 

13 Guidelines to Choose Safe Toys for Babies

Age-Appropriate Toys

Generally, toys are designed according to the age of the baby. Age is mentioned on the cover of the toy. So, keep in mind the age of your baby whenever you wish to buy a toy. Age-appropriate toys are safe for your child and help in the better development of your child.

Size-Appropriate Toys

Size is one of the major points you need to consider while buying a toy for your child. Make sure you select the size of the toy according to your child’s age, height, size, nature, and health status. 
Naturally, babies love to keep their favourite toys close to their bodies, especially their noses and mouths.

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Parents should avoid choosing too small toys for young babies as such toys can cause choking when taken in the mouth. Small objects like flashing decorations or jewelry can be harmful to young children.

On the other hand, too large and heavy toys for your child’s size can be difficult for him or her to handle. There is a risk that during playing the toy may fall on the child and hurt him/her. 

Chewing Resistant

Naturally, children have the curiosity to put everything in their mouths. This habit can cause bad accidents that can be life-threatening too. So, you have to choose chewing-resistant toys for your child so that they won’t swallow them.

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Washable Toys

Children are not careful about their toys and so they throw their toys here and there while playing. When a kid throw his/her toy in a dirty place, and pick it up again, the toy may carry several bacteria. 

Those bacteria may cause bacterial infections as the kids have the habit of putting their toys in their mouths. So, it’s wise to choose toys that are easily washable and you can sanitize from time to time.

Avoid Loud Toys

The main function of toys is to entertain your child. But too loud or screaming toys can hardly give pleasure to your child rather they can irritate them by causing noise pollution. Most importantly, they can harm the listening power of your child. So, don’t buy toys that are too loud for your little one.

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No Strings Or Wires

Don’t buy toys that have long strings, attached ribbons, or frills. If you have found some, remove such kind of material immediately from those toys as your child may wrap it around him/her neck and feel choked. Besides, it may harm the child’s blood circulation by restricting the flow of the blood through his/her veins. 

Avoid Sharp Edged Toys

Sharp-edged toys are very dangerous for small children as they are innocent and don’t know what they are putting in their mouths. Sharp-edged toys may cause them some serious injuries because babies have soft and delicate skin. So, before buying a toy, check its edges by yourself.

Avoid Electric Toys

Babies love their toys. The young kids tend to put the toys in their mouths and hit them on the floor. Sometimes, babies love to sleep with their favorite toys. However, it can be dangerous if a child behaves the same with an electronic toy. 

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Any kind of breakage in electronic toys can shock your precious child and harm him/her in various ways. So, it would be safer to avoid buying an electronic toy for your young child as long as s/he becomes older enough to understand its working mechanism.

Avoid Toxic Toys

Some kinds of toys are made up of cheap plastic materials and/or painted with harmful chemical substances. Such toys are very toxic and harmful for your lovely children. Toxic toys can cause severely dangerous health concerns like lead and mercury toxicity in your baby. 

Therefore, parents should avoid buying cheap harmful toys and always go for high-quality checked toys.

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Avoid Shooting Object 

Don’t buy lavish toys that shoot things. You can buy toys that shoot objects when your little one is big enough to aim and handle the way of the shot. 

While playing, babies may shoot something directly into their own eyes or mouths. Such activities can cause serious eye injuries or choke in children. In the same way, with the shooting toys the young kids can hurt their young siblings too.

Stay Conscious about Balloons

Balloons are also dangerous as uninflated balloons or pieces of burst balloons can form a tight seal in a child's airway and make it impossible to breathe when they put them into the mouth. So, don't allow children younger than 8 to play with balloons.

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Keep Away Small magnets

Small but powerful magnets are used in most toys and your baby can swallow them when they fall out of the toy. If your baby swallows more than one magnet, they can be attracted to each other through intestinal walls. 

If you don’t notice or treat the baby quickly, the magnets can twist and pinch the child’s intestines causing holes, blockages, infection, or something worse. So, keep the magnet aside as soon as you found it falling on the floor. 

Avoid Toy with Button batteries

Button batteries are also very dangerous as they cause severe internal burns and even death if gulped. Make sure you keep all button batteries away from your child. 

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Toys like remote controls, watches, calculators, key fobs, flameless candles, musical greeting cards, etc may contain button batteries. Keep away the toys that contain button batteries from children. 

How to Organize Toys?

Store toys in a safe place when your baby doesn’t play with them. As a parent, you can also teach your children to put their toys in a safe and fixed place. You can use a toy box or bin without a lid so that you can take and put toys easily in that box and bin. 

Such precautions will prevent the children from falling down on the floor and getting hurt due to overstepping on several toys. This step will also keep the toys orgnized and clean rather than lying on here and there. 

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Bottom Line

Toys undoubtedly play a vital role in the physical and brain development of a child. However, it is essential for parents to remember that nothing is more important than the safety of their children. Stay aware and be conscious to avoid buying harmful toys for your baby. Before giving a new or used toy to your kid, especially those aged under 3, check properly for anything that could harm the child. So far, we have shared tips to choose safe toys for children. Hope it helps!