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Seemingly harmless household items can easily become dangerous poisons
if consumed by the child. Potential poisons include medications, cleaning
products, alcohol, pesticides and cosmetics, amongst others. So take
a closer look around your home, and store potential poisons away.
Here are some tips to help you along!
Medications
- Keep all medications in a locked cabinet to prevent your child
from accidentally consuming them. Even vitamins and minerals,
when taken in excess, can be dangerous to young children.
- Educate your child about medications. Do not coax your children
into taking pills and medicine by telling them that they are sweets.
They may eat other medicine they find lying around, mistaking
them for sweets.
- When administering medicine to sick children, always do so
in a brightly-lit room, to avoid giving the wrong dosage or the
wrong medicine.
- Ensure that medicine is kept in childproof bottles or kept
in their original containers, clearly labelled.
- Follow the instructions on the labels carefully. Dosages are
based on your child's age and weight. If there is a dispenser
that comes with your child's medicine, be sure to use it.
- Dispose of all old medicine.
- Do not doctor hop when your child is ill. Different doctors
may be giving the same medicine. For example, paracetamol poisoning
may occur if the caregiver gives this same medicine from two or three different doctors to the child.
- Although alcohol poisoning is not very commonly seen here in
children, it is important that parents do not leave cans of beer
or wine bottles around, especially after a party. Young children
can consume these and can get alcohol poisoning.
Cleaning Products and Pesticides
- Keep all household cleaners, detergents, aerosol cans and other
poisonous substances in a locked cabinet to prevent your child
from accidentally consuming the chemicals.
- Label poisonous substances with a prominent "Yuck!"
label or a skull and crossbones label. Teach your children to
recognise these labels and that containers bearing these labels
contain poison, not food.
- When using the cleaning products, do not let the bottles out
of your sight. Your child may land his or her hands on the bottles
and consume the poisonous substances while your back is turned.
- Do not leave rat poison, cockroach powders and other pest "baits"
lying around. Opt for alternative methods of pest control, e.g.
sprays. If you have to use pest "baits", place them
in a place where your child cannot reach.
- Keep your child away from areas where you have just sprayed
pesticide. Allow him or her to come back only after the pesticide has
cleared up. Always follow the user instructions that come along
with the pesticide.
Other Potential Poisons
- Cosmetics, hair dye, hairspray, shoe polish, nail polish, nail polish remover, perfume, toiletries, gardening products, car-cleaning agents are also potential poisons. Always store them in a safe and secure place, out of your child’s reach.
- Button-cell batteries are poisonous because of the alkaline
content, and are dangerous because your child can easily swallow
them (or choke on them). Keep them away safely.
- Do not grow plants with poisonous leaves, flowers or fruit at home. Also teach your child never to put leaves, stems, bark, flowers, seeds, nuts or berries from any plant into his or her mouth.
- When you bring your child on visits to family and friends,
always supervise your child to make sure he or she has no access
to potential poisons. You may like to educate family members whom
you and your child visit on a regular basis (e.g. grandparents)
on accidental poisoning prevention.
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