SAN ANTONIO — The holiday season is full of fun and celebration, but it is also a time when injuries around the home become more common—not just for adults but children as well.
When you're buying gifts for children this holiday season, you want to make sure to consider the age appropriateness of the toy, because small parts can easily become choking hazards when they are in the wrong hands.
"Most toys will say on the box or on the container the age it is appropriate for. You know, '3-plus' or '5-plus,'" said Mandy Fultz, Safe Kids project coordinator for University Health System. "It's not only developmental for that child, but if there are small parts and pieces we don't want kids under the age of 3, and sometimes it'll even say 5 and up, to have access to those small pieces."
Button batteries can be a problem too.
"Those toys that have button batteries and making sure the compartment the battery goes in is screwed closed to where children don't have access," Fultz said.
If swallowed, those batteries can eat away as the lining of organs in the digestive system.
"If they were to put one part of the magnet and swallow it and then swallow the other part, they could potentially find each other within the child's digestive system and pinch," Fultz said.
That could mean a visit to the ER.
Another big reason for holiday emergency room visits are head injuries.
"If you're thinking of purchasing your child any type of wheeled sport such as a bicycle, a scooter, skates," Fultz said, "we want to make sure that you are also purchasing a helmet."
Think about safety when buying those gifts, so your kids don't have to wear that gown.