I am starting this petition in hopes that plastic tag fasteners from children's clothing will be eliminated and substituted for a different type of material like yarn to connect the price & branding tags to clothing.  We need to be more mindful of our children's safety.

I remember before my son was born coming home from my baby shower excited to open and organize his gifts.  My little boy was so loved already - we were showered in baby clothes, baby toys, books and diapers.  I spent about 2 hours cutting off plastic tags and unpackaging all of his new baby essentials that filled his nursery.  There were so many plastic tag fasteners where every time I turned the clothing, I would find another tag.  Pieces were falling to the ground and since they are clear, they were hard to find.  After washing my son's new clothes, I would find small pieces of plastic left in the dryer or still attached to the clothing.  I couldn't believe how much time I spent removing the price tags yet there were still small pieces left that I must have missed.

Fast forward to this past Christmas Eve.  We were opening up Christmas gifts with our son, nieces and nephew at my mother in law's house.  My son wasn't old enough to open his own gifts like his older cousins so we were helping him while his cousins were unraveling their Barbie dolls, clothes, toys and games.  Plastic, wrapping paper, bows were flying everywhere.  The adults were following the kids every move to make sure we were cleaning up after their excitement.  

I was sitting right next to my 1 year old son and must have turned my head away from him for a split second.  I turn back around and see my son coughing then gasping for air then turning purple/blue then eyes shutting then not breathing.  My worst nightmare was happening before my eyes.  I was screaming while hitting his back - he went limp.  I screamed to my husband, he put his finger down my son's throat, then my sister in law started doing the Heimlich.  I'm not sure if it was my husband's finger or the Heimlich that did the trick but he was breathing again!  It was a miracle.  After we all calmed down and had my son drink some water, I called Poison Control who said to take him to the Emergency Room because we weren't sure what he choked on and how far down this object was lodged in his throat.  My husband gathered small pieces on the ground from the kids unwrapping presents - small plastic fasteners were found everywhere in the light carpet.  Although they were small, we were pretty convinced he had picked one of these pieces up and like babies do, put a piece or two, in his mouth.

Luckily, the Emergency Room did not find anything after x-rays and said if it was a small plastic tag fastener, that wouldn't show up in an x-ray.  The doctor made sure he was eating and drinking as normal and said the plastic would probably show up in a bowel movement a few days later.  He was right - a few days later we found a very small plastic tag, smack dab in the middle of his diaper.

I am incredibly grateful my son is here with us today after losing consciousness from swallowing a piece of plastic.  I hope we can eliminate this way of fastening price tags to clothing or make the plastic tags a bright color that would stand out when left on the floor.  This will help put parent's minds at ease when they purchase or receive a new item for their baby.

You can read more about our Christmas Eve incident on my blog post: http://narcolepticmom.com/2018/12/29/my-worst-nightmare-almost-came-true/