Blogging The Washington Post

2007.04.24.nursery.magnets.jpg Do you own a lot of toys with magnets? A recent post on The Washington Post parenting blog highlights some of the problems associated with toys that use magnets.

Here is what really jumped out at us. According to Stacey Garfinkle, who writes this column, "...since March 31, 2006, the CPSC has recalled more than 10 million toys containing magnets that can fall out of products and harm children." Ten million?!

We have always known that rare earth magnets were a problem around children, but until now, we haven't thought that much about the regular magnets found in so many children's toys.

What do you think? Do you buy toys with magnets in them, or is this something you avoid?

Comments (2)

My children have loved the LeapFrog line of alphabet magnets, the regular set, the word whammer and now a matching animal/barn set they received as a gift. The magnets are as big as their hands and about 3/4" thick. The magnet is inside, not just attached to one side, so it's safer than the old style letters. But bigger magnets also mean the entire fridge is covered with them-not a plus, exactly.

We don't buy toys with magnets in them, and we've gotten rid of most of the magnets we had on the fridge, etc. I work in a medical center and I only had to see one case review that described a swallowed magnet ripping through a kid's intestines when it was pulled to metal/another magnet before I was a believer. (It was so horrific I had to stop reading.)