Parents a who put necklaces on babies are being warned of the risks of young children wearing jewellery, after Kim Kardashian tweeted a picture showing baby North West wearing a pearl necklace in bed.

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"Reading books before bedtime!" Kim tweeted alongside the selfie, which shows the toddler snuggled up with her mum with a string of pearls around her neck.

But whilst it may look cute Alison Edwards, a senior lecturer in Midwifery at Birmingham City University, has said, “Kim is being so irresponsible as a parent and treating her child like an accessory baby”.

She added, “Babies have suffered injury and even fatalities due to inappropriate exposure to harmful items that they’ve been wearing or dressed in. I’ve known of babies who have lost fingers after getting them entwined in threads from their clothes and there is clearly a high possibility of this happening with a pearl necklace.

“Not only that, a child could swallow and choke on elements of jewellery items. Kim needs reminding that young babies aren’t born with a gag reflex so her daughter wouldn’t cough if she swallowed something harmful. Why else do we have health warning on toys?”

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Earlier this month, parents were warned about the dangers of amber teething necklaces after a toddler almost died in Australia.

Ashleigh Ferguson was waking her 15-month-old daughter Ellie from a nap when she noticed the toddler had twisted the necklace, used to soothe the effects of teething, between her arm and neck. “It was wrapped around her arm and neck with a twist in between and my stomach just dropped with a sickening feeling that something like this could even happen," the mum told The Telegraph.

Luckily Ellie escaped with only imprints left on her neck – but had the pressure on her neck had been in a different place, she could have been strangled.

The necklaces are available on Amazon and claim offer relief from teething pain. They carry a warning to only be worn under supervision. Following the choking scare, Ashleigh posted a warning on her Facebook page that has since gone viral with over 60,000 shares.

"The necklace can pose two potential hazards; from strangulation and choking,” a warning from The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s Product Safety read in 2011.

Would you put a necklace on your baby? Or any other jewellery? Let us know in the comments below.

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