The Toilet Paper Tube Rule

Once your baby is able to move around and pick up things, you need to start worrying about your kid picking up things and choking on them. Some things are painfully obvious in their danger that I won"t insult you by listing them. But there are quite a few objects that ride the fence between a playful object and a trip to the emergency room.Here"s a neat trick to quickly figure out those fence riders. It is known as the Toilet Paper Tube Rule. Here"s how it works. Take a leftover Charmin tube and try to fit the object inside it.  It will fall into 3 scenarios:

1. If it fits inside, it ain"t safe.
2. If it doesn"t fit inside, it MAY be safe.*
3. If it fits inside but after turning it around, it doesn"t fit inside, it MAY be safe*

Now for some Q&A.

What about stick like objects? It falls through the tube one way and doesn"t fit through the other way. Well, if it is a chopstick, your kid is not going to choke on it. But use common sense—they may not choke on it but they may poke their eye out with it.

What about foam blocks? Even though it may be big enough, if your kid is in the teething stage, they can bite off a piece and choke on it.

What about string like objects? Your kid might not block their airway by swallowing them, but unless that string is attached to a big plastic toy that even you can"t fit in your mouth, I don"t recommend it. Besides, how cheap ass is that?—giving your kid a piece of string to play with.

Good luck Noodads.

*Remember, I"m just passing along the info. If your kid chokes on something that you jammed in a TP tube don"t blame us. Noodad ain"t responsible.