Children’s jewelry can quickly go from a trendy accessory or toy to a safety hazard. Parents and guardians need to know what to watch for when allowing children to wear jewelry. A seemingly innocent toy or harmless necklace can quickly become dangerous with the risk of strangulation or choking. That is not to mention toxins or allergies. It is a good idea to play it safe when letting your child wear jewelry.
"Children’s jewelry can quickly go from a trendy accessory or toy to a safety hazard. Parents and guardians need to know what to watch for when allowing children to wear jewelry."
Choking and Swallowing Hazards with Jewelry
It is best to follow some precautions when allowing children to wear jewelry. This includes necklaces, bracelets, earrings and even hair accessories. Not leaving your young child unattended is even more important when they are wearing jewelry. It is also advised to remove jewelry before they sleep, swim, or even play. You want to help avoid a child putting the jewelry in their mouth and possibly choking. You also want to help avoid a necklace getting caught on something like furniture or playground equipment and strangling the child. Among infants under one year of age, suffocation is the leading cause of unintentional injury-related death.1
Be wary of jewelry with sharp edges or batteries
Besides choking or getting strangled, it is also important for caregivers to be aware of sharp edges and even batteries. Some accessories are designed to light-up or play sounds. Make sure the batteries are secure. Swallowing a button battery can be very dangerous. Button batteries are round, flat, small batteries often used in small devices. If you suspect the child has swallowed a button battery, take the child immediately to the emergency room.2 Batteries and battery fluid pose serious risks, including choking, internal bleeding, and chemical burns.3
Keep allergies in mind with children’s jewelry
Adults should also be aware of the materials the jewelry is made of. Consider metal allergies, especially to nickel, and the toxicity of accessories with lead or cadmium.4 Children might ingest metals by swallowing objects or even just putting it in their mouth.5
Jewelry can still be considered safe when age appropriate, closely monitored and responsibly purchased so that you know the contents of the jewelry. One way to test to see if a piece of jewelry is a choking hazard is to see if it will drop through a toilet paper roll. Anything that can pass through the roll can easily become lodged in a child’s throat or windpipe.3
Resources
- Stanfordchildrens.org, Accident Statistics, Accessed 2025
- Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, A swallowed button battery is an emergency, 2024
- Kidshealth.org, Choosing safe toys for babies, Accessed 2025
- Minnesota Department of Health, Lead and Cadmium in Children’s Jewelry, Accessed 2025
- CDC.org, About childhood lead poisoning prevention, 2025
Categories: Child Safety Ages 4-11, Infant/Toddler Safety, Safety Tips, Tweens/Teen Safety