How common are toy-related injuries?

Parents go to great lengths to ensure the safety of their children. Safety is a significant factor when purchasing toys for kids, but how common are toy-related injuries?

According to the National SAFE KIDS Campaign and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, more than 215,000 children are treated for toy-related injuries in emergency rooms across the United States every year. Ninety-seven percent of those children do not require hospitalization, but instances in which children suffer injuries while playing with their toys can be dangerous and frightening.

Which types of toys cause the most injuries? Stanford Children’s Health notes that riding toys like tricycles and nonpowered scooters are responsible for the most toy-related injuries. Nonpowered scooters may not be seen as dangerous, especially when compared to their motorized brethren. Indeed, the American Academy of Pediatrics does not warn against such scooters for young children, while it does recommend that parents do not allow children under 16 to operate or ride on motorized e-scooters. However, the AAP warns parents that all scooters pose a similar risk of head injury compared with bikes, which underscores the need for children to wear helmets when riding scooters, even nonpowered ones. That’s important to note, as a 2017 study from Safe Kids Worldwide® found that only 57 percent of parents would make their child or adolescent wear a helmet while riding a scooter.

Riding toys are not the only types of toy that can cause injuries. Parents should heed warnings about hazards related to choking, drowning and suffocation when buying toys for their children. For example, avoid giving children under age three toys with small pieces, as Stanford Children’s Health notes that kids three and under like to put things in their mouth. Small toy pieces can increase the risk of choking in children three and under because their upper airways are smaller than the upper airways of older kids.

A combination of proper supervision, some simple safety measures and choosing ageappropriate toys can greatly reduce kids’ risk for toy-related injuries.