Perth parents warned to avoid these popular toys that could end up on a Christmas wish list

E-scooters, trampolines and toys with button batteries and magnets might seem like great Christmas gifts, but parents should be wary of buying them this Christmas.

Consumer Protection WA commissioner Trish Blake and Perth Children’s Hospital emergency department co-head Dennis Chow warned the toys could pose a serious safety risk or even be fatal, especially if bought from unregulated websites.

Button batteries

Ms Blake said toys and other products containing button batteries were one of the agency’s greatest concerns.

“Despite there being a lot of notice and prohibitions on selling products with button batteries that don’t have secure battery compartments, we’re still unfortunately seeing a lot of non-compliant products,” she said.

“These button batteries can be really dangerous if a young child swallows them to the point where they can be fatal, and we just don’t want to see that happening to any child at any time, but especially over Christmas.”

She urged parents to do a drop test on products with button batteries before giving them to their children.

“Before they wrap it up, particularly if it’s got a button battery in it, we want them to do a drop test so just from waist height onto a floor, just to make sure that the button battery compartment doesn’t easily pop open,” Ms Blake said.

“Also just do a physical check of it as well to make sure it is very secure and check the product all over to make sure that there’s no loose parts that might become choking hazards later on.”

Dr Chow added: “It only takes a few hours of a battery being stuck to cause significant burns to the oesophagus”.

E-rideables

Ms Blake warned e-rideables, including e-scooters and e-bikes, weren’t toys and were illegal for children under 16 to ride in the State.

If parents were buying them for older teens, she urged that they be required to wear proper safety gear, including a helmet and protective padding. This should be bought with the potentially dangerous product.

Dr Chow said teenagers getting e-rideables or any product like a skateboard or bike should be wearing safety gear to avoid everything from grazes to fractures.

“Unfortunately, I don’t think parents realise there are speed restrictions for teenagers on e-rideables and sometimes parents do buy ones that go faster than what’s recommended,” he said.

In WA, e-rideables must stick to 10km/h on footpaths and 25km/h on shared/bike paths.

Battery safety was also an important consideration, as lithium batteries often start fires when plugged into an off-market charger.

“If you’re buying a secondhand e-rideable and it doesn’t come with the original charger make sure you go back to the manufacturer site to buy an authorised charger from them,” Ms Blake said.

High-powered magnets

Magnets can be just as dangerous as button batteries for young children, as they can cause internal damage if swallowed.

“If kids swallow those, they can cause issues when they clamp onto different parts of the bowel or the intestines, and that can cause issues because they won’t pass them out,” Dr Chow said.

“High-powered magnets are often sold as toys but they’re actually a prohibited product, and again, the danger is in them being swallowed,” Ms Blake said.

“If a child swallows a number of those high powered magnets, they join together inside the child’s body, and it can cause serious harm to their oesophagus or to their intestines, and they could have years of surgery from those.”

Trampolines

Trampolines can be great products to give to children as it gets them active and outside but they need to have a safety net to avoid serious injuries.

“We want parents to make sure that if they’re buying a trampoline, they get one with the proper safety nets around them, and that they’re installed securely,” Ms Blake said.

Parents who gift their children a trampoline should established clear rules, such as them always being monitored when on it and only one child being on it at a time.

Water-absorbent orbs

The popular sensory toy can expand up to 100 times their size, which Dr Chow warned was dangerous if swallowed by kids.

“The little spheres that swell up with liquid can potentially cause issues as well if kids swallow a lot of them as they swell up in the stomach or intestine, which can cause obstructions,” he said.

Toy guns

Dr Chow said he had seen children come into emergency due to projectiles from toy guns hitting their eye.

“Anything that can shoot or propel projectiles, kids should be careful with, especially around the eyes as we do see occasional eye injuries due to these,” he said.

Consumer Protection WA said parents could avoid safety issues by buying toys from Australian retailers and at bricks and mortar stores.

“Often we find that some of those overseas traders are not as vigorous on their compliance with product safety standards, as a lot of the Australian businesses are, so we would definitely encourage people to shop local,” Ms Blake said.

She also said West Australians could avoid scammers over the Boxing Day sales period by not clicking on any online links, sent via social media, text and emails.

“I want anyone who’s shopping online to practice the pause and make sure the site they’re visiting is the legitimate site of the store,” Ms Blake said.

“Scammers are absolutely loving this time of year when we’re all out to spend lots of money, and that’s when they can trick us with a lot of fake websites.”