Niamh Shackleton
A catastrophic injury and death lawyer has revealed the three kids' toys people shouldn't buy for their young ones.
Any kind of unexpected death is undeniably devastating, but the death of a child is even more gut-wrenching, which is why many parents will do just about anything to keep their kids safe.
One person who will have to deal with this heartbreaking situation a lot is Philadelphia-based attorney Tom Bosworth.
With his harrowing experiences in mind, Tom shared some advice about the kinds of toys you shouldn't give your kids.
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First on Tom's list was toys with button batteries, as he explained in a TikTok video: "You can find them in a whole host of kids toys even though that it's not always obviously when you buy the toy that they're in there.
"The reason that button batteries are so dangerous is that they can be easily swallowed. When they're swallowed then often get lodged in the oesophagus or the trachea of the child."
The chemical composition of these batteries can then 'erode or burn through the airway', Tom continued. Over 3,500 people of all ages in the US swallow button batteries each year, says the National Capital Poison Center.
Another thing Tom advises people steer clear of is incline sleepers.
While this item is designed for babies, he warned that the rockers can be dangerous for young babies who do not yet have the neck strength to hold their heads up.
A newborn's head might tilt forward while in the incline sleeper, and the baby won't be able to move their head back up. This can lead to their airway closing off and them potentially dying from asphyxiation.
Backed by what Tom said, the American Academy of Paediatrics (AAP) recommends that young babies sleep on their backs on a flat surface.
"The rate of sleep-related infant death declined significantly in the 1990s after the AAP and others recommended that babies be placed on their backs to sleep," states the AAP's website.
The last thing on Tom's list of kid toys he'd never buy is water beads. They're often purchased for sensory play, but like button batteries, these small beads are a choking hazard for children.
"When put in water [...], these teeny little beads blow up," warned Tom. "There have been so many instances of kids swallowing just a couple of water beads and dying or having their airway blocked off because those beads are expanding in their oesophagus."
According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), nearly 7,000 water bead-related ingestion injuries were treated in emergency departments in America between 2018 and 2022.