7 harmless things that can harm your children

How many of these things does your child get in contact with?

7 harmless things that can harm your children

At face value, these items may appear innocuous, but they can pose serious danger to children, and in fact have already victimised a few. Here are some of them:

1. Kinder egg toys

It’s a toy and a chocolate in one—what more can a child ask for? Manufactured by Italian company Ferrero, it is a chocolate confection containing a small toy. But this popular treat can be lethal to children especially when eaten unsupervised.

A child in France choked on a piece of plastic containing the toy, and although her grandfather was there to help, the girl went into a coma and died following a mechanical asphyxiation.

2. Bounce Houses

Everyone has had an experience with bounce houses at some point in their childhood. They’re fun, and children can spend hours on end playing in them.

But they are also very difficult to clean, and in fact are rarely cleaned, and because children carry dirt and bacteria with them, bounce houses can be a breeding ground for diseases.

Brenda Sanderson’s son has contracted a serious case of staph infection after playing in a bounce house during a birthday. Thankfully his condition improved, but he could have been spared from it altogether had her mom known how filthy these bounce houses were.

3. Trampolines

You’ve seen children and adults alike having a blast on these springy mats; not only does it look fun, it actually does feel fun, going against gravity again and again. But this device is suited only for adults.

Because children’s bones are less dense than adult bones, they don’t require a significant amount of stress before breaking. Bruce Dodd’s son was permanently disabled after playing in a trampoline. Andre Dodd wasn’t doing crazy flips—he was simply jumping, and now he will never walk again.

4. Hair strands

They’re very light and practically invisible to the eyes—how harmful could they possibly be? A lot, apparently. This father from Kansas didn’t know what was making her infant so uncomfortable, until he saw a hair strand cutting off the circulation of his daughter’s toe. Had he been a few days late, his daughter could have lost a toe.

5. Pacifiers

This North Carolina mother experienced the emotional rollercoaster of her life when her infant choked on a pacifier twice, at two different occasions. The nipple was reportedly torn off and was stuck in the infant’s throat.

Pacifiers are as common as bibs and cribs when it comes to raising children, and you’d think that, since they’re made for babies, they are as safe as they could get. Well, think again.

6. Sippy cups

His daughter has been sick for a few weeks now. At first he couldn’t figure out what was wrong with her. That was, until he cleaned one of her sippy cups and found patches of mould accumulating in it.

Parents all over the world have since uploaded photos of their children’s sippy cups and found the same disgusting scene.

7. Grapes

Grapes are superfruits. They’re also super choking hazards—that’s because they’re the perfect size to cut off a child’s airway. Hundreds of reported deaths linked to grape asphyxiation have been reported. That’s why they must be cut into smaller pieces (preferably lengthwise), before they are fed to children.

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