Vintage Toys

[Anonymous]

All these toy recalls have me wondering about the safety of some older toys Seth plays with. Right now, he has some metal and wooden cars that our neighbor gave him that date back probably to the late 70s that her kids had and MIL keeps talking about giving Seth some of DH’s old toys that have been in the attic for gosh knows how long… What do ya’ll think?

[Anonymous]

I may be wrong, but I think the lead paint is only dangerous if children put the toys into their mouths. Does Seth still put toys into his mouth. Myles rarely does so I don’t worry too much about it. The other problem with vintage toys is that they may contain smalle pieces that can break off and choke or be swallowed by a child. So if he puts things into his mouth a lot you may want to examine those toys closely.

[Anonymous]

I agree with Christine. If he isn’t putting things in his mouth then you should be fine. That is why most of the toys are being recalled b/c the kids are putting them in their mouths.

[Anonymous]

I personally don’t trust kids NOT to put toys in their mouths. Sarah is well beyond that age, but every now and again, she’ll do something that she thinks is funny and stick something in her mouth that shouldn’t go there.

My mil also thinks that it’s neat to save toys that my husband used to play with (that are well over 30 years old) and give them to the girls to play with. They don’t look too bad, but I’m always concerned about the safety standards. They’ve come out with a lot more legislation these days to protect kids in terms of toys and packaging and what can and can’t go into toys, etc.

I personally wouldn’t take the chance. Even if the cars weren’t made with lead paint, they might be so old that parts can detach from them. Maybe there are magnets in the wheels or other things that if ingested could be harmful to Seth. I wouldn’t necessarily throw the cars away, but maybe put them on a shelf in his room for display- something neat to look at, but not to play with.

As for the old toys from the attic, I told my mil to throw them away or to put them out of reach of my children. I told my husband to make it clear that I don’t want them playing with those things, and if she wants them to have those toys, then I’d be more than happy to buy the same up to date version from the toy store and leave it at her house for when the kids come to play. DH thankfully is in agreement with me, so I told him that he’d better back me up!

[Anonymous]

Thanks, he isn’t putting things in his mouth these days so the cars sound like they are probably ok. I may put them up until he is a little older though. He does like playing with them on his road rug but it is not

like he doesn’t have others he could play with.

Lori, you sound so much like me. I CRINGE everytime MIL mentions getting the old toys out from the attic. So far, I’ve managed to stall her saying he is still too little for them. I don’t know how I will handle it when they do appear. I can’t imagine why she even saved all of that stuff to begin with!!

[Anonymous]

Mom2Seth wrote:

Lori, you sound so much like me.

…. Gosh. I hope that you’re not as neurotic as I am, Tiffany!… It can be very exhausting!

[Author]

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