Carrie Kirby of the blog Wise Bread shares some advice on responding to toy recalls with a little more rationality and less panic in How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Recall. The recent rash of toy recalls sucks, absolutely, but with a little knowledge and patience you can minimize your children’s risks without depriving them of their favorite playthings.

When you hear about a recall in the media, the first thing you should do is check out a detailed source. The newspaper or TV news usually doesn’t provide enough information for you to know what to do. A great place to start is www.recalls.gov, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission site on this topic. Alternatively, you can almost always find a detailed release on the site of the toy manufacturer, such as this page set up by Mattel. Compare the photo and description of the recalled product to what you have. Some manufacturers provide helpful yes/no “wizards” to help you determine if your toy is part of the recall. Often the release provides certain serial numbers, found on the packaging or the product itself, or a date range.

Read the whole thing for more. One thing I’d add is thatyour pediatrician can run an easy test to check for heightened lead levels during your children’s next check-up. Or you can contact your local health department (they’re usually organized by county) and ask about lead testing — lots of health agencies offer them for free. If you’re staying on top of things, chances are your kids aren’t in any danger, but it doesn’t hurt to be sure. I wouldn’t schedule a special visit to your doctor’s office or anything, just ask next time the kids are in.

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