Safety experts reveal the 11 household items you should NEVER have if you have children – including one almost every child is obsessed with
- Safety experts revealed seemingly harmless objects that are dangerous for kids
- They include bean bags, baby walkers, toy boxes, and even pillows and quilts
- Other offenders are projectile toys and most styles of trampolines
The seemingly harmless household objects that pose a potentially fatal danger to children have been revealed – including one item almost every kid is obsessed with.
Safety experts from Australian consumer advocacy group CHOICE issued a warning against 11 products that could injure your little one while being unnecessary for their development, meaning there’s no need to have them lying around the house.
They include bean bags, baby walkers and toy boxes, along with cot frills, quilts and pillows.
The experts said bunk beds, a fixture craved by children around the world, also present a major risk due to falls or kids jumping from the top as they play.
Bunk beds, a fixture craved by children around the world, also present a major risk due to falls or kids jumping from the top as they play (stock image)
Most styles of trampolines were also deemed to risky to justify investing in, due to the plethora of sprains, breaks and other injuries children could easily sustain while using them.
A recent CHOICE review of 10 popular trampolines found only one matched up to safety standards.
That model, the $1,999 Springfree R79, scored 90 percent for performance, ease of use and reliability.
Experts also warned against buying projectile toys such as pellet guns, suction darts and rocket launchers, which can cause choking and injury in young children.
In 2004, 17 children in Western Australia alone required hospital treatment following injury from projectile toys.
But some of the products are less obviously dangerous.
1. Baby walkers
2. Baby bath aids
3. Bean bags
4. Toy boxes
5. Cot frills, bumpers, pillows or quilts
6. Projectile toys
7. Jolly jumpers
8. Any toy, part of a toy or object small enough to fit into a film canister
9. Most trampolines
10. Bunk beds
11. Child-specific products
Source: CHOICE Australia
They may seem harmless, but cot frills, doonas, pillows and quilts can all put newborns at risk of suffocation.
Studies into Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) suggest the safest cot for a baby has a firm mattress, a securely fitted sheet and blanket – and nothing else.
Bean bags were also cited as a major choking risk, thanks to the tiny polystyrene beads that can block babies’ airways if inhaled.
Products that contain these beads – including soft toys, pet beds and swimming aids – should always be stored out of reach of children.
Cot frills, quilts and pillows (left) along with projectile toys (right) were also listed as dangerous hazards
Experts warned parents not to invest in baby walkers, citing a series of studies in the 1980s and 1990s which uncovered serious risks to children who used them.
An Australia-wide safety standard brought into law in February 2013 now regulates design, construction, performance, and labelling requirements for baby walkers.
CHOICE experts also advised against ‘child-specific’ products such as moisturisers, shampoos, sunscreen and body wash, deeming them ‘simply unnecessary’.
They said the only difference between adult and baby versions is a higher price tag on the latter.
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