NORFOLK, Va. — As you're out shopping for holiday gifts this season, it's important to keep the little ones and their safety in mind.
In 2021, an estimated 76,000 children wound up in the emergency room for toy-related injuries, according to the federal Consumer Product Safety Commission. But there are ways to prevent these mishaps.
Companies like Mattel, Fisher Price and Hasbro are all required to put age-appropriate labels on their toys, which let shoppers know how old a child should be to play with that specific item.
The age label for a Baby Alive doll is three years old and up. But for a toy with much smaller pieces like LEGOs, the age label says 6 years plus.
The idea is to prevent kids from putting the toy in their mouths and choking on it.
"For infants or for toddlers they can swallow things very easily. A lot of the times children of that age will stick things in their mouth easily,” said Leslie Harris, a registered nurse in pediatrics at Sentara RMH. “That's just their instinct is to stick it in their mouth. Especially watch for the batteries, the button batteries they might get stuck in their throat."
Harris said the best way to protect your child is to supervise them while they play with their toys. It's also helpful to learn how to do the Heimlich maneuver in case of an emergency.