Did you know that the jewelry industry is worth more than 300 billion dollars and is only estimated to grow in the future? This might not be too surprising to you since it’s well known that most people love wearing jewelry. However, wearing jewelry is usually associated with adulthood, but does this always have to be the case?
Kids can also enjoy the beauty of jewelry, but at what age should children start to wear jewelry?
If you’re curious about this question, you’ve clicked on the right article. Here, you’ll be able to know more about the benefits of letting children wear jewelry as well as a few safety precautions you should take.
To start off, let’s take a closer look at why kids might love to wear jewelry and other kid’s accessories.
Why Kids Might Want to Wear Jewelry
The concept of children wearing jewelry is not new. In fact, since the age of antiquity, it seems that children and even newborns have been given different types of jewelry to wear from bracelets and earrings to rings and necklaces. However, the beliefs of jewelry in ancient times are a little different compared to our beliefs today.
For example, people in the past often used certain types of jewelry to ward away evil spirits from their children. Today, jewelry is mainly used for cosmetic purposes. More than that, kids today may love the idea of wearing kids’ jewelry for various reasons.
For example, a little girl might idolize a pop star or an actress who often wears jewelry. This is often a big motivator for children to want to wear jewelry. Another motivator is that adult women often wear jewelry and so the child might want to act more grownup by wearing jewelry as well.
Jewelry is also a great way to let your children express themselves. This is true whether your children make their own jewelry or whether you buy jewelry for them. However, when it comes to younger children such as in the case of jewelry for toddlers, you might have to take certain safety precautions.
How to Keep Your Children Safe as They Wear Jewelry
When it comes to jewelry for babies and toddlers, your child will likely not think much of the jewelry at first other than it being something entertaining to look at and play with. However, you need to take into account the behavior of children in general before you give them jewelry. After all, young children love to bite and eat things that they’re not supposed to.
For this reason, jewelry for young children could easily become a choking hazard if you’re not careful with the type of jewelry you choose for your child. Many pieces of jewelry have little pieces of metal, glass, or more expensive materials that could chip off if your little one decides to start biting on it for an extended period of time. When this happens, your child is at great risk of swallowing a piece of jewelry and possibly choking on it.
Some jewelry might even be made with harmful materials. For example, some older pieces of jewelry might be made with lead.
If a child were to consume lead from a piece of jewelry, especially if it is a large amount of lead, this might be a serious medical problem. This is because of how lead is toxic to humans and can cause delays in development, irritability, and in severe cases, seizures and death.
Young children may also risk choking themselves with necklaces. You might not think a necklace on a child is dangerous, but a child of four years or younger could easily twist and turn, especially in their sleep, and accidentally wrap the necklace around their neck, restricting their ability to breathe.
Despite these possible risks, you should not give up the idea of giving your child jewelry. Here’s what to consider for kids’ jewelry.
How to Choose the Right Jewelry for Your Child
When it comes to buying jewelry for your child, durability is important as well as making sure that the jewelry in question is made of safe materials. Durability will make sure that your child will not be able to break or crush their jewelry in a way that would allow them to swallow parts of it. This is especially true for pieces of jewelry that may be made of several parts such as necklaces or some kids’ rings.
Besides durability, you should also take care to choose a metal that will not irritate your child’s skin or might be toxic if swallowed on accident. Besides lead, cadmium and nickel are metals often used in jewelry that can cause irritation on the skin, especially the skin of children which is more sensitive. Instead, try to look for jewelry that is of high-quality gold or sterling silver.
Gold of 10k or above is hypoallergenic, as is silver. However, if you get lower-quality gold or silver, the metal will often be mixed with nickel.
Besides safety, you should also consider the size of the jewelry. Children are always growing and they grow fast. Because of this, try not to buy jewelry that is too tight-fitting as your child will grow out of it before you know it. You should also be practical.
After all, children often lose things. Because of this, try to avoid buying anything too expensive in case it might get lost.
Jewelry and Children
By the end of this article, you should know all about why kids might want to wear jewelry. You also know what to consider when getting jewelry for your children so they can stay safe. With this information, your child can enjoy the beauty of jewelry to the maximum.
To learn more, check out the style section on our website.
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