A pediatrician’s tips for choosing holiday gifts for young children

It’s the gift giving season and if there are young people on your gift lists, pediatricians urge you to use some caution when going shopping.

Dr. Omar Jaber, a pediatrician with Children’s National in D.C., said the concerns range from choking hazards for infants to tech privacy for older kids.

For infants and younger toddlers, don’t choose toys with smaller parts, which can break off and be swallowed, or even toys in which a body part can get trapped while using. Also, batteries and magnets can be potentially deadly if swallowed.

“God forbid, (they) might even ingest the battery or a magnet, those types of things can be very, very dangerous and life threatening for infants,” Jaber said.

Also, there are concerns about the chemicals in the plastics used to make cheaper toys, such as phthalates, which can be toxic to humans.

For toddlers, Jaber said he reminds parents that during this busy time of the year, children are able to get into more things, which can bring about injuries, such as falling from stools or having items hit them as they try to get to things they shouldn’t.

For parents who will have older and younger kids together during the holidays, Jaber said pay attention to make sure young kids don’t get a hold of toys meant for older children.

“Keep an eye on the older child, because the older child may have good intentions in sharing their toy. So you have to be mindful about separating those toys and making sure those toys are out of reach for the other one,” he said.

He said things that fly can cause injuries for all children, so parents should be mindful of that fact. Jaber said even Nerf guns with soft projectiles pose a risk.

“Where it’s soft, but if it comes in contact with a body part, like an eyeball, you can cause some serious damage,” he said.

Jaber recommends getting toddlers gifts such as Play-Doh, which is nontoxic. Other options could be kitchen sets or toys with wheels, such as the classic toy lawn mower. Books are also a great gift for kids of all ages, he said.

“Those are excellent ways to help build developmental milestones,” Jaber said.

For older kids, he cautions parents to be careful about tech gifts and what information they may collect about their users.

Also, with Apple AirPods and other earbuds being very popular among kids, Jaber said it’s important to make sure kids don’t listen to music at too loud of a volume, because that can lead to hearing loss. He said it’s important to limit the time using earbuds overall, because prolonged use can also lead to skin infections.

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