“You’ll shoot your eye out, kid,” says a mall Santa to the main character of “A Christmas Story” after he asks for a rifle.
Getting new toys is one of the best parts about the holiday season for kids – but things stop being fun once someone gets hurt. Last month, the Consumer Product Safety Commission released a report that found 209,500 toy-related injuries were treated at U.S. emergency departments last year. It also said there were 11 toy-related deaths in children age 14 or younger.
Dr. Meghan Elizabeth Beach Martin, a pediatric emergency specialist at Johns Hopkins All Childrens Hospital - Emergency Medicine in St. Petersburg, Fla., shared an Instagram video last week where she listed the top five toys that she believes pose the greatest risk for injury.
“I hope you have a wonderful holiday and do not need to pay me a visit,” she said.
Here’s Dr. Martin’s top five list:
1. Anything with a button battery: “They can literally kill kids, and they do every year,” since the compartments are often closed with little cheap screws.
2. Water beads: These are old as sensory toys, but kids can ingest them when they are small and the beads can then expand and cause a bowel obstruction. Dr. Martin said “don’t mess with these with little kids,” or pets.
3. Electric scooters: “It’s ‘Bad News Bears’,” the doctor warned. Kids go “way too fast on them” and can mess up their faces, heads and limbs.
4. Hoverboards: “We see so many hoverboard injuries right after Christmas,” she said, adding that the devices “can literally light your house on fire.”
5. Trampolines: “I detest trampolines,” said Dr. Martin. She said insurance companies hate them too, and that injuries can happen even on trampolines with a net.
According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, out of the 11 child deaths reported last year related to toys, two were related to choking on bouncy balls and three involved other types of balls. Others involved a motor vehicle collision with an unpowered scooter, a powered riding toy, a stuffed animal, a balloon, a tricycle, and toy magnets.
This week, Dr. Martin posted another video to Instagram with an additional three toys to be wary of.
1. Heelys: She said her 8-year-old asked for the wheeled sneakers and is not going to get them. Any items that put wheels on your feet pose a risk, Dr. Martin explained.
2. ATVs and golf carts: “There’s a lot of rollovers and kids falling out,” said Dr. Martin.
3. Small magnets: “These can be dangerous when small kids ingest them, especially when ingested separately – because, when they get into the body, they will find the path of least resistance to come together. And, it doesn’t matter if it is moving through a bowel wall stomach wall, other important body parts, creating holes. Your body doesn’t like holes in those places, honestly,” she said.
In a follow up video, Dr. Martin said these toys can still be fun, as long as they are used responsibly.