Mortician Shares Her List Of 9 Toys That Are Super Dangerous To Kids Based On Her 7 Years Of Experience

For this article, Bored Panda reached out to the author of the TikToks, Lauren, to learn more about the dangers she discussed in her videos. Lauren said that it’s important to pay attention to the toys your children play with. As she has become hypersensitive to it, she needs to be sure that there are no choking hazards in her home. She mentions that she ensures this for her own sanity and her children’s safety, as her eldest has autism and her youngest is only two.

When asked which items are the most dangerous, she emphasized water beads and jump ropes. She says that the beads are particularly bad, as it only takes one to block intestines, and they're difficult to find for doctors, as they don’t show up on scans. They’re just not worth the risk of having in your home. Kids are sneaky, the beads are hard to see on a carpeted floor, and when one can expand to 100X their size, it only takes one fast movement to cause a lot of pain.

Same with jump ropes, Lauren says. She doesn’t want them anywhere near her home. Kids can become entangled in them and suffocate in any number of ways. “I know they seem like such an innocent toy to keep around,” Lauren adds but says that children using them should be closely supervised. Besides that, they should be stored away safely after use, as accidents can happen in the blink of an eye.

Toys aren't the only safety hazards out there, as adults tend to make mistakes that aren't plain to see sometimes. Lauren believes the biggest subtle danger is texting and driving. She mentions that she’s been to death calls where a person was just changing a song as they were driving, and suddenly they were gone. She hides her phone when driving so that there is no way to distract her when driving, as most other drivers are sorely distracted nowadays. 

To finish the interview, Lauren shares a sensitive thought about her life: “I’ve been around death my whole life. I grew up in a funeral home. The dead don’t scare me. But I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that this job has changed me. In more ways than one. This is just the way I am now, and I’m embracing it. Seeing and caring for the bodies of children over the years has had a lasting effect on me. I’ll do whatever it takes to keep my kids safe.”