Naughty or Nice: Holiday Toy Safety

You don't have to look too far to find ads for the holiday season--it seems to begin earlier each year. And so does the pressure to find just the right toys for your kids. The latest, greatest trends, the impossible-to-find item, the sleep-on-line-all-night must have and everything in between. But the headlines these days are all about lead paint, recalls, and the dangers lurking around every corner. So what to do?

At Safety4Kids we've decided to try and help. We are not a toy safety lab and we do not conduct independent research about toys. We, in fact, are beginning to produce our own line of safe media products. But how, then, do you as a concerned parent, still make the holidays fun and fabulous for your kids?

This is the first in a series of posts about holiday toy safety. We're going to use our connections to get you some important information, and we're going to be your one-stop-shopping for that information. We'll put our links and materials in an easily down-loadable format and we'll update the information as we get it.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is always a good place to start. And while it's always a little scary to read these documents, it's probably a good idea to at least glance at this site and find the information about the products that interest your kids. If electric toys are what the little ones are clamoring for, read the specific information related to that topic. It can really prove helpful in the long run.

Mattel has been in the news a lot lately, and you'd be wise to view the information they've voluntarily posted regarding their recalls. It can help you make informed decisions and also might help you do a little "cleaning out" of the toys already in your home.

Our partners at Parenting magazine offer a positive approach, recommending the "Toys of the Year" which are "mom-tested". This is always a great list, and we encourage you to take a look.

Which leads us to our own mom testing! And dad testing. And care-giver testing. In order to provide you with not only the official information, which is more statistical in nature, we'd also like to find out what you think! After all, parents are the best judges of what works and doesn't work for their kids. And oftentimes parents have an inside track on safety information, having experienced what works firsthand through trial and error.

So please post a comment and let us know about your own experience with toy safety. Maybe it's a toy your kids love that you feel is safe. Maybe it's a concern you have about a toy and we can help find out more about it for you. We'll be asking our clinicians to weigh-in as well.

So an early happy holidays from all of us at Safety4Kids and "SeeMore's Playhouse". Let's make this holiday season joyous and SAFE!

(c) Daniel Gale. Image from BigStockPhoto.com