Emergency physician lists top toys sending kids to the hospital and what to skip this season

Holiday toy safety

Safety is always a top priority for parents when it comes to choosing holiday presents for their kids. FOX 13’s Kellie Cowan has tips on what to watch out for when making those purchases.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - As the holiday season begins, experts are reminding parents to prioritize safety when shopping for toys.

Toys to avoid

Dr. Megan Martin, a pediatric emergency medicine physician at John's Hopkins All Children's Hospital, shared her top toys to avoid. She also says many parents and family members may not be up to speed on the hazards some products can pose.

When it comes to holiday shopping, Dr. Martin says certain toys frequently send children to the emergency room.

Why you should care:

Number one, by far, are e-bikes and e-scooters. These devices reach higher speeds, increasing the risk of serious injuries even when a child wears a helmet. They are also often involved in collisions with cars because many children are unfamiliar with road rules.

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"Unfortunately, the e-bikes and e-scooters they're basically like small motorcycles. They're able to go 15 to 30, or more, miles per hour. That's a problem because kids are not wearing the safety gear that generally would be recommended if you were on a motorcycle, like the eye protection and the helmet," explained Dr. Martin. "And the kids that are wearing the helmet still have the risk of extremity injuries and fractures. We've seen liver lacerations, spleen injuries, serious internal injuries from crashing on these."

Here is Dr. Martin’s top five list of toys to avoid.

1. E-bikes and e-scooters
2. Trampolines
3. Hoverboards
4. Toys with button batteries or small magnets
5. Water beads

Dr. Martin says e-bikes, e-scooters, trampolines and hoverboards cause a high number of fall-related injuries. She's also concerned with the number of house fires linked to the batteries in these devices, especially in the case of hoverboards.

Her next big concern when it comes to toys is choking hazards. Toys with button batteries or small magnets a danger, should a baby or small child ingest them. Dr. Martin recommends buying from reputable brands, checking battery and magnet compartments regularly, and supervising play so that broken toys can be removed immediately.

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"As weird as it sounds there are a lot of counterfeit toys and knockoff toys on the market and in those cases the battery compartment is not secured as well because they use cheap screws and flimsier components, so those pose a greater risk for the toy breaking and the battery coming out," explained Dr. Martin.

Water beads, which have surged in popularity through aggressive social media marketing, also pose a significant choking hazard.

Vintage toys

As much as many of us may have loved them, safety experts caution that vintage toys should stay in the past. Older toys do not meet modern safety standards for choking prevention, their battery compartments often open too easily and some were made with hazardous materials, such as lead paint.

Legal but not recommended

Dr. Martin says wheeled baby walkers remain a big concern.

"Kids could get to a spot in the house that's not safe for them, especially around stairs. We do see kids occasionally tumble in those on stairs and that's obviously concerning. And then getting to things, knocking things down, pulling things down onto themselves," said Dr. Martin.

Canada banned wheeled infant walkers two decades ago and the American Academy of Pediatrics says baby walkers should never be used. While it may be cute to see babies zip around, thousands are seriously injured each year. In a four-year Consumer Product Safety Commission review, wheeled baby walkers were linked to an average of 3,000 injuries annually and eight deaths.

Dr. Martin says if families choose to use a seat-style activity center, it should not have wheels.

Another 80s and 90s child trend she says to avoid: doorway jumpers and swings. These infant seats use bungee-like cords to allow a baby to bounce in a doorway and present a fall risk.  While they are available in the United States, thousands have been recalled over the years due to breaking components that lead to serious injuries. Some babies have also been hurt by bouncing too vigorously and hitting the doorway or by older siblings trying to swing them.

Toys on Dr. Martin's nice list

What they're saying:

"I'm a big fan of anything that lets kids be away from screens and use their own imagination. Little kitchens that they can play kitchen with or Play-Doh or slime. I also love things like crayons, markers, and paint sets that are age appropriate for kids just to let them express themselves in play. Let them get a little messy, that's okay. We can give them a bath after. I love things that just take kids away from the electronics and the screens and let then just explore the world around them and be creative."