The holidays are often the best time for shopping for toys for all the little ones in your life.

To make sure you have safe and healthy holiday season, Sacred Heart Children’s Hospital has some important tips on how to choose safe and age-appropriate toys.

-- Sign up for the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission’s regular e-mail announcements — go to their Web site at www.cpsc.gov and choose the categories you're interested in, like infant/children's products, sports equipment, household products, etc.

-- Search the site to see if any items have been recalled.

-- Go to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's site at www.cdc.gov for a list — with pictures — of toys, crafts, and children's jewelry recalled for lead concerns (from as far back as the 1970s). Enter "lead recalls" in the search box then click on the first link.

-- Choose toys that aren't too loud. The noise of some rattles, squeak toys, and musical or electronic toys can be as loud as a car horn — even louder if a child holds it directly to the ears — and can contribute to hearing damage.

-- Look for safety-minded language on labels and packaging: age recommendations (to ensure that toys are age- and stage-appropriate);
"flame resistant" or "flame retardant" for toys made of fabric; "washable" for stuffed toys "nontoxic" or "ASTM D-4236" for art materials (which means that they've been evaluated by the American Society for Testing and Materials); "UL" for electric toys, UL, meaning they meet safety standards set by Underwriters Laboratories
CPSC or Snell certification for bike helmets; choking hazards warnings for kids under age 3. (You can also buy a "choke tube" designed to be about the same diameter as a child's windpipe. If an object fits inside the tube, then it's too small for young kids.)

Also, keep in mind that secondhand toys and kids' items (from friends, family, thrift or consignment shops, or community yard sales) may look gently used or even brand new, but they may not meet current safety standards and may be so worn from play that they can break and become hazardous.

For more information on services at Sacred Heart Children’s Hospital, please call (850) 416-1600 or visit www.sacred-heart.org.