Pay attention to prevent choking hazards at the holidays, says Safe Kids Kansas

When you’re buying Christmas gifts, especially for little ones, you need to pay attention to the age restrictions on the gifts, particularly for children 3 and under.

“It doesn’t say that because they think that your child isn’t smart enough to figure out how to play with it in some way,” said Cherie Sage with Safe Kids Kansas. “It means that toy poses a choking hazard. You really need to pay attention to those and follow those. Also, be conscientious about the fact that, if you have several kids that are different ages, you may have one that is playing with toys or receiving toys for the holidays, that’s not appropriate for another child to play with.”

You probably have a great choking hazard checker in your house already.

“The simplest thing to do is to use one of your toilet paper rolls after you’re done using it,” said Sage. “We save it for a lot of arts and crafts for kids, too. Keep one of those and then if something fits inside that tube, then it poses a choking hazard.”

Button batteries, like those in watches or greeting cards with sound or some small toys, are particularly dangerous.

“If you have a battery compartment, typically, if its something that’s meant for young children, it will have one of those tiny little screws that you need the tiny little screwdriver for,” said Sage. “Don’t skip that step. Put that back on and put that screw in, to keep that out of hands of kids.”

For more information on how to pick safe holiday toys, go to safekidskansas.org.