This is in response to things to do with old keys - never give a small child keys to play with! When our second daughter was about 15 months old, I let her play with my keys and she proceeded to stick one in the plug outlet. She received an electrical shock and it also melted the chain, the key, the little skull that was on the chain, as well as singed her little fingers. It also melted a small spot on the floor tile.
By the Grace of God, she was fine, but it was a lesson I'll never forget. Parents, please be careful!
By Carol from La Verne, CA
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That is a very good tip. You were indeed blessed.
Another thing that people don't think about is that little kids tend to run everywhere...You wouldn't give your kids a knife or a pair of scissors to run with. Yet, many people give their kids keys. They can trip and injure themselves; or put them in their mouths, trip and do serious damage to the inside of their mouth...gums, pallette, etc.
Margaret from Denton, Texas
Please think of your child's age before you give them anything!! Children 2 and under should not have anything smaller than your fist.
It's scary what damage tiny children can do with even the safest-seeming items! I clearly remember seeing a news item years ago about a tot who was running with a toothbrush in his mouth. He tripped and it went through the back of his throat. It was only his obedience and his mother's calm in the crisis that saved him from more damage. She had him stretch both hands straight out like he was playing airplane so he wouldn't touch the toothbrush, while they awaited the arrival of the paramedics.
I'm sorry, but anything can be dangerous in the right situation. Yes, a child playing with keys can trip & injure themselves, but on the other hand one of my grandkids was playing with a beach ball, lost his balance & fell face-first onto the ball which bounced him off backwards into the edge of a coffee table where he cut the back of his head! We didn't take all the balls away because they were dangerous. :)
Kids are going to find ways to use things that we may never think of, unfortunately we can't anticipate everything they might do, only try our best to stay a step ahead of them & child-proof as best we can. Putting outlet covers over the outlets would be a better idea, because if it's not the keys, it's going to be something else!
When I was about 8 years old, I took the wires of a telephone & stuck them in an outlet in my bedroom, thinking I was going to have my own phone! I didn't get what I wanted, but I sure burned the outlet!(phones back then were wired into a socket in the wall, they didn't have plugs on the end).
My 2nd child got hold of a pair of tweezers in the bathroom when he was about 3 years old & stuck them in an outlet-it melted the tips,welded them together & burned the outlet!Thank god he was ok! We'd never used the outlet covers for our oldest,there was never a need (& they weren't that common 27 years ago) but you can bet every outlet in our house was blocked after that!
Kids can find metal items on their own and stick into an uncovered outlet. Best thing is to use outlet covers. Kids are so quick and can do things you'd never dream of in just a blick of the eye....even when well attended!
Keys also contain LEAD. Babies and small children put everything in their mouths. There are much safer toys. Don't let your child play with real keys.
Back in 1959 or 1960 they didn't have plug outlet covers, believe me I would have had them through out my house.
I agree that the obvious dangers of keys as pointy metal objects is overstated, as children can hurt themselves with almost anything, and my children loved playing with real keys as babies and toddlers - BUT I checked it out, and was shocked to learn that lead is a very real hazard. Old keys (before 2001) are worse than newer ones, and locksmiths & key makers have far more exposure to lead than babies, but keys do contain some free (unalloyed) lead that rubs off on the user's hands.
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