To think giving deflated balloons to young children is dangerous?

[Sirzy]

Went to a regatta on Sunday and subway had a man dressed as a sandwich (I think it was meant to be?) who was giving out balloons to children. No problem with giving balloons to them but he gave both Ds (2.9) and dn (17 months) a balloon that hadn't been blown up.

These where both grabbed off them as soon as they were given them but I can't help but think its a rather daft thing to do in the first place?

It's a bit odd. And the first thing most toddlers would do is put it in their mouth. (talking about the younger one).

So YANBU.

they probably didn't think about it

If they are young enough for deflated balloons to be a danger, then they aren't going to be unaccompanied and will have a parent or carer to whip them off them once they've had a little look to be blown up later.

Germ - I don't for a second think it's anything other than them not having thought it through, doesn't change the fact it's dangerous.

Silly - by that logic people can give young children anything they want whether it poses a risk or not.

Did you speak to the guy at the time?

Yes. Made a "bit of a daft thing to give to young children" comment which he didn't respond to and then headed off to the next family!

To be fair to the guy he carried on handing them out because its his job, he has been told to hand them out.
why not email the company and tell them your concerns?

But we're not talking about anything, we're talking about a balloon. And what stopped you saying "No thank you" before the balloon even reached your children's hands.

Maybe they think that the parents should be looking after their children.

YANBU, sounds odd. And potentially dangerous for a toddler.

I'd e-mail Subway though - if this man's been told to hand out deflated balloons to children, it's them you should speak to.

I have done storm glass.

I think if you read balloon packets, they say that they should be given to age 8 and up. Younger dc need supervision - I think the risk s tat they start to blow them up and flounder and the entire b alloon can go back into lungs? For v young dc like the op's youngest, I suppose the risk is that they could bite / eat them anyway?

It is certainly dangerous. Not just for toddlers, older children too. If you accidentally inhale a balloon scrap into your windpipe, it is virtually impossible to get it out again because it will just stretch as you cough, backslap and Heimlich, and then settle back down to cutting off your air supply.

The thing is most people don't realise just how dangerous balloons are, and will happily let their kids play at trying to blow the balloon up/chewing it/sucking it/whatever.

I've known balloon modellers that won't give out balloon models to under 3's.

Was it a man or a teenager? I don't think a young man / teen would be worried or wary of the dangers of deflated balloons. It's not like he handed them a wad of fibre glass is it? You were there to take them and blow them up for the children, so what's the problem?

I have heard that deflated/popped balloons can be deadly for the under 3s [if not even the under 8s, I don't know about that]

It was someone from the emergency services. They said the dispatcher's hearts always sink when they get a panic stricken call from a parent whose child has inhaled a balloon/piece of balloon.

They are almost impossible to get out as Boulevard explained.

And these call outs almost always have a tragic outcome

So no, I agree, not a great thing to be giving out to little children.

actually even inflated balloons are a danger for young children, due to risk of inhaling a scrap of the balloon if it pops.

And personally the "if it's a man or a teenager he won't know" argument is a load of nonsense. If you are handing out something to children, you make sure it's safe. It's really not rocket science to do a bit of research on it.

I was told on my Paed 1st Aid that balloons are choking hazards so yanbu.I have been known to pop balloons inside the bin so as avoid pieces going undetected.

I hate those party bags you get with a balloon to blow up and a round(choking hazard) lolly pop.With 3 dc the same age having to confiscate bags X 3 before the drive home wasn't exactly a joy.

I loath balloons(cause chaos,arguments etc as I seem to have the only kids in the land who will go to full scale war over one however many other toys they have) ,my dc get 1 day and a night with them then they get death by fork!!!!

I wouldn't expect a young person who didn't have experience with young children to necessarily know this are dangerous, but as an organisation Subway have a responsibility to think about safety and public liability and if staff are handing out deflated balloons they should be told by the management not to give them to toddlers (or to hand it to the parent rather than the toddler).

Obviously toddlers will be accompanied by parents, but (1) not every parent realises the danger (2) parents won't have their eyes on toddlers every second and it only takes moments for them to chew/inhale a balloon.

Yes, but they were being handed to all children under adult supervision.

He was dressed as a sandwhich and paid to hand balloons out he isn't really paid to think , YANBU though giving children unblown balloons is dangerous imo

I think inflated balloons are actually more dangerous for toddlers, if they put them in their mouths and the balloon pops there is a chance the rubber will fly into their throat, the risk is small but the risk of uninfected balloons is also small.