To think a 5 yr old is ok to have a sparkler?

[PopcornFiend]

Dd2 will turn 1 very close to bonfire night. I thought it would be nice to start a little birthday tradition of having some sparklers in the garden (not fireworks) followed by hot choc & birthday cake.

Dd1 is 5, DH thinks it's totally unsafe for her to have a sparkler. I think she's v sensible. Aibu and reckless? Are they v dangerous? Obviously dd2 (the baby) won't have one!

[mrsfuzzy]

no way ! glow sticks would be better provided they are supervised. i don't think wearing gloves with sparklers is a good idea either, if in the [unlikely event] that a spark hits the glove that might cause more damage as the fabric could burn and i know from experience burning clothes cause a lot more damage as they burn onto the skin.

[MiddleAgeMiddleEngland]

Ours were using them at that age. They've always been very sensible, and we'd explained how to keep it away from everyone/everything and to put it in the bucket of water as soon as it went out.

DD1 stood absolutely rigid with her first one, mesmerised but not even waving it about a tiny bit. She's never been one to take risks.

[RhinestoneCowgirl]

We have firework party every year with some friends and our assorted children. Happy to let the DC have sparklers, there are lots of adults around to supervise and we have a little safety chat beforehand. We teach them to push the spent sparklers into the flower bed so no risk of picking up a hot one. Also holding out at arms length.

[JockMonsieur]

agree that most dc benefit from early guidance on how to deal with risky stuff safely (sharp knives, matches etc)

dc2 was five on bonfire night last year and definitely had sparklers.

thick gloves, strict instructions, watch like a hawk, stop if you've any concerns whatsoever that she can't/won't follow instructions.

[Minniemagoo]

What about some glo sticks for DD and let the adults do the sparklers!

[PacificOcean]

I gave my DC sparklers from age 3, wearing gloves and closely supervised.

But if your DH feels strongly about this I wouldn't overrule him. Not an argument worth having!

[blankmind]

Supervised sparkling for a 5 year old is absolutely fine.

Just wondering if the little candle sparklers you can get for cakes might be safer??.
I seriously burnt my thumb on one of those, was holding it off the cake, lit it with a lighter and it whooshed like a fireball around my thumb and under my thumbnail. I'd definitely not give one to a child. A sparkler has a reasonably long handle, these don't.

[nosyupnorth]

I'm not normally one to lean on the side of caution but in this case I do think five is a little young. You know your DD best, but even a sensible child could be startled by the sound of fireworks going off and slip or loose their grip and at 5 your DD's fine motor skills are still very much developing - I'd say keep her to glow sticks and watching the grownups with sparklers for another year or two.

[beela]

What hecan'tbeserious and squeegle said.

I think it is better to teach them how to safely do things that might be slightly dangerous, rather than stop them from doing them altogether.

[WhateverWillBe]

Mine had them from much younger...I think even as a 7/10 month old, ds's 'held' a sparkler (with mine or dh's hand controlling it obviously!).

Probably from age 2 ish they were allowed to hold one alone, carefully supervised.

You won't get a consensus on this though op, clearly.

[a8mint]

Yes just make sure she is wearing gloves and sticks it onto a bucket of water straight after and make sure nobody stands in ftont near enough she could burn them
Mt DC had them simce they were about 2 with close supervision, and helping lighting lfireworks at family displays at 5 & 6 again under close supervision .as long as you know they are sensible and capable of following instructions then it is a good thing.

[Squeegle]

Meanwhile back in the real world, millions of children aged 5 and under have been enjoying holding sparklers for many years! Yes, to close supervision- of course! And yes- occasional accidents do happen- by that is why we take care and supervise closely, and assess whether we think our child is mature enough to hold one. We can't take away every bit of magic because of perceived risks, which are very low if we behave properly. After all the probability of a car accident is reasonably high but most of us agree the odds are reduced significantly if we take the right precautions - drive carefully, with a good car, on good roads etc, and we are willing to put our children in the car and live with the risk.

[Muddlingthroughtoo]

I let my 5 year old have one, I kneel down behind him while he holds it out in front of him. A chat about safety before and a bucket of sand to put it in after. I remember all of us neighbourhood kids having sparklers when I was young, not a burn between us.

[user1471552005]

What if you use those silicon oven gloves and hold it with her?

jellybelli this is bad advice. Silicone oven gloves melt at around 350 degrees, and are fine for domestic oven situations, sparklers burn at 1500 degrees.

You may as well be wearing plastic gloves

[Spring2016]

I like the glow product idea mentioned, sounds safer. I had no idea all these glow products existed. www.glow-mania.co.uk

[Unacceptable]

My DC get upset with me as I'm very anti-sparkler.

Never have been able to get my head around warning children about the dangers of fireworks and then encouraging them to hold one and wave it around.

[ClinkyMonkey]

When I saw your title, I thought, Uh? A diamond ring for a 5 year old? I must be up too late!

My eldest has been holding sparklers with close supervision from about 5 years old, but he's a cautious, sensible sort. My youngest is a loose cannon though and I wouldn't let him near a sparkler. I suppose what I'm saying is that it depends very much on the child.

[Feminazi]

Absolutely not. Children are unpredictable at that age.

[Floss881]

Just wondering if the little candle sparklers you can get for cakes might be safer??... Don't know, I'm no fire safety expert!

[Lasaraleen]

At that age I only let mine hold them with my hand over the top of theirs.

[Sparklesilverglitter]

I think with gloves and supervised it's fine. My friend held her ds hand with the sparkle at new year and had a bucket of water near by for putting it out

[HeCantBeSerious]

Both of ours had them from about 3 with extremely close supervision. Ditto toasting marshmallows over the fire pit etc.

[Enidblyton1]

I think absolutely fine if she is properly supervised.
But she would probably love glow sticks just as much - you can have lots of fun sticking them together to make necklaces etc.

[Notso]

I let mine have sparklers. Heavily supervised obviously.