With 2007 being something of a record year as far as toy recalls are concerned, you’re probably still worried about the kind of gifts you can choose for your child. And a little caution is definitely not out of line when it comes to toy safety. I don’t believe there is any need for paranoia, but most of the toys that contain loose small magnets may still be on shelves when you go shopping this year.

This summer, Mattel recalled more than 8 million toys because of the presence of little magnets which were prone to coming loose, and posed a very real danger because they could be easily ingested by toddlers and preschoolers.

After Mattel’s high profile recall, the toy industry decided to formulate guidelines for the manufacture of toys that contained loose magnets. The guidelines include having labels on the covers warning parents that the toys contained magnets, and manufacturing safer toys that would eliminate the possibility of magnets coming loose.

The only hitch? These guidelines won’t come into effect till January 2008, which means that these toys will still be on toy store shelves through this holiday season.

If you have both older kids and toddlers at home, you might want to reconsider buying toys with magnets for your older children. Most of the kids who got sick because of ingesting magnets were preschoolers and toddlers, not older children. It’s highly unlikely that you’ll be able to prevent the older ones handing over these toys to the toddler in the house.  In fact, in many cases where toddlers were rushed to the ER after ingesting a loose magnet, the toys in question were handed to them by a sibling. Definitely gives you something to think about.

So, what are you doing to take care of toy safety?