not to let dd (age 3) have things like marbles and carrier bags in her room?

[afraidnotscared]

She is pretty sensible but obviously has her unpredictable silly moments. I only let her play with small toys that she could choke on where I can keep an eye on her and she's not allowed them in her room to play with at bedtime. A friend of hers (same age) has plastic bags, coins and all kinds in her room. AIBU overprotective and unreasonable?

No magnets in my DC's rooms either. I keep them downstairs and they can only play with the magnetic stuff if asked for and supervised.

No, I wouldn't. BUt I am paranoid because my 3 year old has a 1 year old sister who likes to go toddling off into her room to play and she most definitely would get into trouble with those things little git

I've chopped the cord off the blinds as well.

I don't think that's an overprotective thing though?

I watched a family get interviewed on this morning an important news show once and there was a horrific story about a little girl who slipped and got strangled by a blind cord. It can very serious and they were raising awareness.

Sorry, I haven't chopped the cord off the blinds. There would be nothing them keeping them together if I'd done that. I chopped the end bit off, that holds the cords together.

BluddyMoFo - I think you have really misinterpreted this thread. The OP is worried about carrier bags and marbles. She wants to know if this is a reasonable worry because:

1. She feels anxiety impairs her judgement.
2. She knows someone in RL (her friend) who doesn't worry about this stuff.

The issue is over the carrier bags and the marbles. The issue actually has little to do with her friend.

DD has blackout curtains for that very reason. We've only got a blind in the kitchen and I always make sure the cord is wound up - even though dd would have to climb the sink to get to it!

I don't think you are being unreasonable at all. It's not worth the risk. Many children have absolutely no idea of danger at all. (Mine is the little sod who aged 6 has already leant fully out of his bedroom window twice this holiday).

magnets? i need to know the worry here i think.

i worry most about pencils as my mum knows someone whos child was running around with the pointy end in their mouth and then tripped and fell onto it :(

in fact, pencils is my paranoia

is my? are my? not sure that sentence was proper english

I read that if you swallow 2 small magnets that attract they can stick together through the thin bowel lining and cause all kinds of bother - I think that was it. I read it and mentally crossed magnets of my toy buying list until dd is 35 anyway.

yeah magnets can join together inside you.

my friend's little boy nearly hung himself on a blind cord. bloody scary

article on magnets

veryconfused - you need one of these - we have them on all windows due to ds2's climbing abilities.

fwiw I still don't let dd (7) have carrier bags and marbles in her room (partly due to ds2 and partly because she still puts things in her mouth on occasion. Anyone any ideas how to stop her?!

Thanks Portofino - always good to know what more experienced parents are doing :)

What are you meant to do with the blind cords?

Well SheCutOffTheirTails. You can either cut the cord so it no longer makes a loop and is just 2 long pieces (don't cut it too short though you need enough left to roll up and down or if you have a beaded cord you can get things called cord-breakers for a few pence. Basically you chop the cord and clip it back together with the cord breaker so that when any pressure is exerted on it it just snaps. Or you can screw a cleat to the wall and wind the cord up high around it out of reach.

YANBU - we all have different boundaries and senses of risk about these things.

My best friend lets her 4 yo play unsupervised in his bedroom with lengths of rope and bungy (sp?) cords (stretchy cords with hooks at each end). I think she's crazy to allow it, she thinks I am paranoid and over protective.

Cripes. Lengths of rope? I'm not convinced that's about 'different boundaries'. I think that's completely insane.

Now see I might be a bit more relaxed about that cos I figure what's more dangerous about a 'bungee rope' than say a pair of tights or something?

Well, I think you are maybe being a tiny bit overcautious: 3 year olds don't generally stick small things into their mouth to explore them like babies do.

Having said that, I am sure I paid more attention to that kind of thing with DS1 than with DS2 and less again with DS3 and DS4 (17 months) might be living on a steady diet of tiny Lego pieces, for all I know, as frigging Lego seems to be breeding and trying to take over our house!

I think roller blind stings are a totally different kettle of fish and must be cut/kept short/out of reach of DCs.

Plastic bags - my lot have never shown much interest in them; don't have them in their rooms, because they have no use for them.

Magnets: in 20 years of doing medicine of which 10 years where spent in A+E I have seen many, many magnets in all sorts of kids' orifices (mainly noses and ears, you'll be glad to hear) and of course they swallow them, but have never seen or heard about the sticking-together-problem.

The only fatal choking incident I was ever involved with was a 6 year old who choked on a Werther's Original sweet: they are the perfect shape and size to obstruct a small airway. They have been banned in our house since, and I am usually a stong believer in benign neglect and allowing children to learn by making mistakes. Not that one!

Small button batteries: if swallowed need to be retrieved as they can corrode and leak btw.

OP, small children have a very good gag/cough reflex and it is amazing what they do get away with, not how much happens to them .
You could keep all the marbles in the world away from her and she could still eat/choke on a pebble. IMO teching about dangers is much more productive (I always thought the King burning all the spinning wheels in Sleeping Beauty - well, the Disney version - was sadly deluded: he'd've better taught his PFB where the pointy bit on the spindly was, so she could avoid in ).

Anyway, I agree with whoever said, we all make parenting decisions and judgement and do the best we can for our kids. Anxiety can be a bugger to live with.

I can't believe the negative comments being posted and for bluddy to suggest this is a trivial concern for the OP and not worth posting about, how is that your call? I hope you get a kinder response should you ever ask for MN help. From other posters, thanks for the info on magnets, I had never heard of that at all. I wouldn't leave my children unattended with carrier bags or marbles

Ah well my problem with the bungee rope is when two 4 yr olds pull on opposite ends, one lets go and the hook goes snapping back at speed into the other's eye / face.

And any rope / cord isn't the best idea, presented to a child as a plaything surely? Would you give your child a pair of tights to play with? (assuming 4yo girls' thick tights would be a bit short and non-stretchy to do the same sort of damage as adult ones)

What about skipping ropes??

PacificDogwood - you speak sense I know that logically. And I know that dd plays with marbles at nursery. I just figure that if she chokes on something when I'm there I'd at least have the chance to try and retrieve it through back slaps or whatever. She does get taught not to put things in her mouth too. Perhaps I need to have some more children to relax me haha.