# Older sibling toys and baby choking hazards



## annekka (Nov 19, 2001)

So DS is 8 years old and a serious Lego addict. He spends nearly all his playtime building with Legos, and he has so many pieces at this point that they've totally taken over his room. That's more or less ok with me as long as they don't spill out into the rest of the house. But our problem is that he just can't seem to keep them contained. I'm constantly stepping on the sharp little things (I'm sure many of you can sympathize!) and I'm really terrified that once the baby starts crawling she will find them and pop them in her mouth -- some of them are just the perfect size for choking.

Any thoughts on how to deal with this? I tell him it's okay to play with his fully built models in the living room as long as he only builds with the loose parts in his room. But the parts falls off, or he forgets and starts "modding" in the living room and leaves parts behind. I hate to tell him that the Legos can't leave his room at all since his room really isn't that big and then we'd never see him. But I can't have his sister choking to death either. Do you segregate your house into "baby" and "older kid" areas? Or is there a way to actually train an 8 year old into being careful with his toys? Thanks for any thoughts/ideas.


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## Justmee (Jun 6, 2005)

My friend always had a rule the lego stayed on the table (she let them play at the dining room table) or in their room. If she found it on the floor where babies could get it she collected it. The kids got really good at keeping stuff in their room or cleaning it up right away. Is there another room you could gate off from the baby and let him play? Or could you give him the dining room table for lego? Good luck!! I was about to bring out the lego for my girls but then I realized they are still happy with duplo which are non chockey so why mess with good enough. I can sympathize.


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## TefferTWH (May 13, 2008)

My SIL had the rule that her older son's Lego stayed ONLY in his room. Any Legos that ventured out got confiscated and not returned, but the baby was NOT allowed to play with anything in his room. That gave the older child some uninterrupted space and protected the baby from Legos.

My son is really into Thomas, and most of those pieces are larger, but I already know that we are going to have some serious meltdowns when baby sister wrecks his layouts. I think one of the first things Daddy and I are going to do when baby comes home is to help him build an elaborate layout on his table and staple it down so it can't get taken apart. Choking problem and argument solved (until she steals a beloved train).


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## DahliaRW (Apr 16, 2005)

I have all the chokable items in boxes that I keep on shelves in the laundry room. My oder son has to ask for them if he wants them (I'll offer them when ds#2 is sleeping as well) and he knows if his brother is up they have to be played with in the living room or on the table.


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## bscal (Feb 13, 2006)

We have the same problem with my oldest DD and her Barbies (I know, but they were mine and the clothes weren't trashy in the early 80's!). I finally had to implement the rule that if I found a Barbie toy on the floor in our living room, which is pretty baby proofed, then I took the toy for 1 week. I hate to be mean mommy but I cannot risk a younger sib choking. I go through the room daily before my little one gets up from nap... and DD has gotten pretty good about helping to make sure her toys get put away.

I also explained that if little brother or little sister swallowed one of those little Barbie shoes then that toy would go into his/her tummy, through the intestines and then come out in the diaper in poop. I further explained that I would have to chuck that Barbie shoe in the garbage b/c I was not washing a nasty poopy shoe off. This point really hit home when little sis ate a sequin (it fell off an art project) at 18 mos and we saw it sparkle when we changed her diaper.

My DD is now pretty good about keeping little toys either in her room or in the playroom. We clean up the playroom when it's about time for little brother to get up from naptime and she's used to it. I think it just has to be a part of the routine, kwim?

HTH,
Beth


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## ChetMC (Aug 27, 2005)

I totally agree with the other posters about containing toys with small parts, and about educating older kids regarding why the Lego and the Barbie shoes needs to be kept away from the baby.

To make you feel better though, babies and small children don't actually choke on toys and small non-food items very often. If a two year old puts a piece of Lego in their mouth they are most likely going to roll it around and then spit it out.

A lot of the incidents of choking in small kids relate to food, specifically food in unsafe situations... the child can't properly chew and move the food around in their mouth like with apple peel, ice or nuts, or they are running with food in their mouth and fall, etc. And even with food, seniors are actually far more likely to choke on food than small children. Most cases of choking are in the very old not the very young.


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## whalemilk (Jul 11, 2008)

You must be reading my mind, I almost posted a thread about this last night! Except my older one is 2 and I'm afraid it will be harder to get her to listen to reason. The only thing she has that's really hazardous to the small one is her crayons, but she LOVES her crayons and it's going to be a serious battle to get them to stay in her room.


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## DahliaRW (Apr 16, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *whalemilk* 
You must be reading my mind, I almost posted a thread about this last night! Except my older one is 2 and I'm afraid it will be harder to get her to listen to reason. The only thing she has that's really hazardous to the small one is her crayons, but she LOVES her crayons and it's going to be a serious battle to get them to stay in her room.

Why not get the twist up type crayons. They can't be bitten off as easly and the tip is pretty small if they do (not too much of a choking hazard).


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## elmh23 (Jul 1, 2004)

A friend of mine has a huge work area for her older kids Legos and craft supplies. They are not allowed to bring them out in the rest of the house. They have a gate up so that the baby can't crawl in on her own.

We did kind of the same thing even though we have way less space than she does. All of dd's art stuff is put up out of reach and can only be played with at the kitchen table. Her princess doll is up out of reach and can be brought down when she's having quiet time in her room with out baby brother.


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## kayleesmom (Dec 16, 2004)

taking notes


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## beaner&tiegs (Aug 3, 2003)

We have the same issues with playmobile.....but I had to come to the realization that it was a losing battle. I can't count on the playmobile not being outside the bedroom, so I have to always be watchful anyways, and once my little guy was mobile he just wanted to be where his sisters were anyways, and playing what they were playing. There's also issues of resentment from the older siblings that they can't do what they love because of the baby, and resentment from the baby/toddler that they can't be involved. So I just let my baby play with the playmobile. Perhaps this would have been different if he was inclined to put it in his mouth, but he's not so that hasn't been a huge issue (I'm sure a bunch of it has been flushed down the toilet, but that's a whole separate issue!) My advice would be to keep a constant eye on the youngest while she's down and mobile, and if there's times that you can't watch her, strap her to your back or wait until nap time. Multi-aged kids can be exhausting, but I think it's a false sense of security to think that you can make the house safe enough with other kids there, if that makes sense?!


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## whalemilk (Jul 11, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *DahliaRW* 
Why not get the twist up type crayons. They can't be bitten off as easly and the tip is pretty small if they do (not too much of a choking hazard).

She had those when she was younger but for her birthday a friend got her one of those 150 count boxes of real crayons and she has become pretty serious about drawing. It's absolutely her favorite thing to do and the house is covered with paper and crayons all the time. She would be very upset if I made her go back to the three color options, heh. So we'll work out something else I guess.


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## annekka (Nov 19, 2001)

Thanks for all the tips -- I think I'll work with DS on getting better about cleaning up but I can't see making him keep all his Legos in his room or another play area. Our house just isn't big enough to cordon off different areas for each kid. I like the idea of taking the Lego pieces away that I find loose in the house and then he can earn them back by keeping the house Lego-free.

Despite the possible choking hazard (and I'm probably worried about it out of proportion to the risk but hey that's my mom's prerogative







) Legos are such great toys. I love seeing his creativity and sharing his creations. I wouldn't want to do anything to discourage him from building with Legos, he'd just end up playing more video games


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