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