*This poison prevention post is sponsored by Know Your OTCs but as always, all opinions are my own. Thank you supporting the brands that support Sincerely Onyi*
Did you know March 17-23rd is National Poison Prevention Week? Accidents happen daily, that is no secret. CHPA Educational Foundation’s Up & Away campaign is determined to educate parents to stay prepared and alert. But taking these actions below can help significantly in preventing accidental poisoning of children. When you take these steps, it can help reduce your risk in your child getting ahold of something they shouldn’t.
Did you know that almost every minute of every day there is a call to a poison control center because a young child got into a medicine? That is way too many close calls! From the household cleaners and chemicals, you use to grandma’s pills on the end table. According to Safe Kids, Children under 5 are at the greatest risk for unintentional medication poisonings. Thirty-eight percent of child poisoning involves a grandparent’s medication We need to be super vigilant as protectors when it comes to keeping potential poison out of reach for your child.
What To Do If You Suspect A Poisoning of Child
If you suspect an accidental poisoning make sure to call 911 right away. If your child is alert and aware, you can instead call your Poison Control Center hotline to talk to someone that will guide you the next steps. 1-800-222-1222. Save this number to your phone, it could save a life.
The following video brought me to tears because I realized how close we could have been to the same situation.
Ways to Prevent Accidental Poisoning of Children In Home
Put Up and Away Cleaners, Chemicals, And Medications
Make sure any product that can be harmful to a child is locked up and put up out of reach. Medicines, pesticides, household cleaners, all are needed to be placed where your child can’t reach them.
- Can your child access where the items are?
- If they push a chair to the cabinet can they reach the medicine or cleaners inside?
- Is there a child-proof lock?
Bring Awareness To Your Children
Even at a very young age, try to talk to your child about the dangers of cleaners and medicine. Creating a sense of caution may help create your child understand that boundaries are needed. That if they see the item sitting out not to touch it and why. This is something you want to repeat over and over again through the years, so they understand that cleaners and someone else’s medicines can make them very sick.
Original Containers
Frequently, families buy a bulk of a cleaner, and then toss it in a plastic container that has no label. The problem with this is if your child were to ingest the contents, you don’t have the information on the bottle to share with poison control. What if they ingested one type of cleaner, but you assumed it was another.
That can be dangerous if they are not treated properly for a specific type of cleaner or chemical. If you want to buy in bulk, I suggest buying a smaller regular bottle that you use to refill. So all the information for that specific cleaner is right at your fingertips.
Lids and Sealed Tight
It may be convenient to just leave your medication lying on the kitchen counter. So many people do it. I know this from experience but you don’t want to realize your children can reach the counter for the first time after they grab your medication and ingest it. When you go to put up medicine or even cleaner, make sure you get the lid or seal tightly closed. If your child comes around later and picks up your bottle of pills, they can’t easily open it.
Just know that even childproof locks are not 100% safe.
Put Meds Up And Away
Don’t let careless mistakes risk the life of your little one by forgetting to put away potential dangers such as current medicines or even laundry soap after you start that load of laundry. That is how accidents happen. Some medicines look fragrant cleaners can smell enticing and look fun to children. Make sure that after you run that load of laundry or clean off the counters, the spray gets put up. Remind family and friends to put away medications when you visit.
Be confident in the decisions you make. Set aside time this week to double check that medicines and chemicals are stored safely up, away and out of sight and reach of kids. Prevention is the most important measure when it comes to keeping little ones safe. Check out Up & Away for more tips.
How do you take measures for poison control in your home?
