It’s the time of the year when people everywhere haul out their nutcrackers and inflatable Santas, adorn their Christmas trees with lights and ornaments, and — as the song goes — deck the halls.
However, one pediatrician advised parents against pulling out one particular holiday decoration this year.
The pediatrician warned parents of small children to avoid using metal stocking holders in their homes this Christmas.
We all know that lights are a choking hazard, and too much gingerbread house frosting may hurt their tummies. However, many parents do not even consider the danger that the stocking holders on the chimney mantel pose.
Dr. Em, a pediatrician, mother, and content creator, explained that small children can easily be injured if they were to tug on a stocking and the whole thing comes crashing down.
“The parents use those heavy holders for the stockings, and what do babies do when they see stockings?” she asked in a video. They tug on them!
“All you are doing is creating a hazard. Children grab the stocking because they can’t see up top … and they try to pull the stocking down,” she continued. “What happens is that the stocking holder comes down almost always on their face.”
The pediatrician has already seen several stocking-related injuries this year.
Dr. Em reported seeing children with “really nasty marks” due to this decoration. Some even required stitches.
To avoid this outcome, she advised parents of young kids — particularly those with 3 to 5-year-old children — to forgo the bulky stocking holders and opt for lightweight command hooks instead.
She included a photo of her own stocking set up as the parent of a toddler. She herself used command hooks so that if her son attempted to pull a stocking down, he would not be in any danger.
Christmas decorations are surprisingly dangerous.
According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, there are, on average, “about 160 Christmas decorating-related injuries each day during the holiday season,” and in 2022, about 14,800 people were treated in the ER for decor-related injuries.
About 10% of holiday decorating injuries are children under the age of four, according to USAFacts analysis.
Dulin | Shutterstock
While it’s difficult to determine how many of these injuries are due to metal stocking holders, NBC News wrote that in 2008 there were at least 20 reported injuries to young children from this decoration.
A 2-year-old boy was left with a deep puncture wound between his eyes, and a 4-year-old girl had a toe crushed after a stocking holder fell onto her.
So, if you are a parent of small children and are hoping to avoid any ER visits this holiday season, make sure you display your decorations wisely.
Hang your stocking with lightweight hooks that pose no danger to your children — I assure you, Santa can still fill them to the brim.
Megan Quinn is a writer at YourTango who covers entertainment and news, self, love, and relationships.
