Nurse shares her simple hack to check if a toy is a choking risk for your kid

You're not alone if you've ever looked at your kid playing with something and thought to yourself, "Hang on, could you choke on that?" 

There are plenty of toys that might seem to be too small, or the perfect size to swallow, but how do you figure out what's a risk? Turns out there's a really easy way to do it. 

Charlotte Young, one of the two paediatric intensive care nurses who runs & Breathe first aid, shared a handy video on their Instagram to figure out if something is a choking risk. 

Watch the video above.

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You don't need anything fancy, either – your hand is the ideal way to test for size. 

The first thing you need to ask yourself is, "Can it fit between your thumb and index finger in a circle?"

The second thing, "Is the item shorter than your index finger?" 

In the caption, Young explained how this method of testing toys works. 

"Anything less than 3.1cm in diameter and 5.7cm long is a choking and swallowing risk for a child under three," she wrote. 

"Most people's thumb and index finger make a 3cm diameter circle. And most peoples index finger from the knuckle to the tip are around 6cm." 

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It's a really quick and simple way to be able to constantly check things when you need to.

If you're worried about the size of your hands, Young suggested measuring to see if you have bigger or smaller hands, which would impact being able to measure correctly.

"Such a great tip! Thank you," replied one follower.

Another commented, "Oohh that's such an easy way to do it!! Great tip."

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When it comes to choking risks in the home, of course toys are up there, along with foods like grapes, but there are also some unexpected household items you need to be wary of.

This included the clips used to close off loaves of bread, coins, magnets, button batteries, bottle caps, LEGO pieces, Barbie dolls and accessories, jewellery, large dog food pellets, bitten dummies and bottle teats, bobby pins and hair clips, bolts and screws, plastic power point covers, bouncy balls, balloons and even leaves and rocks from the garden.

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