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🛡️ Child safety · 0 – 6 years

🍬 Preventing Choking and Swallowing Hazards

Most choking incidents happen before the age of 6. Any item or piece of food smaller than a ping-pong ball is an ingestion or choking hazard.

Dad hack

  • The toilet paper roll test: if an object fits completely inside the cardboard tube, it's too small and needs to be stashed way up high.

Essential Reflexes

  1. 1. Small objects & risky foods

    Never leave coins, marbles, hard sweets, button batteries, pen caps, hair clips, whole grapes, olives, or peanuts within grabby-hand reach.

  2. 2. Active supervision

    Keep a close, undivided eye on them during meals and playtime. Silence is golden, unless you have a toddler—then it's suspicious.

  3. 3. Bags & cords

    Put plastic bags, blind cords, belts, and scarves well out of reach (strangulation and suffocation risk).

  4. 4. Safe sleep

    Put baby down on their back, alone in their cot, in a well-fitted baby sleeping bag, with no pillows, duvets, or mountain of soft toys (key for preventing SIDS).

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This guide doesn't replace medical advice. When in doubt, call your doctor or your local emergency number.