What You Need to Know about Medication Safety

Many parents think that child-resistant bottles of medication are childproof.  They are NOT.  The best way to protect your child from getting into medication is to store it properly.  Keep medication out of sight and out of reach of children,preferably in a locked cabinet.  Keep purses and bags, even those of guests in your home, out of reach of children.  Approximately 60,000 children are brought to the emergency room each year because they got into medicine that was left within reach.  Put the Poison Control Center's number in your cell phone and post it in your home (1-800-222-1222).

photo credit: https://www.checkupnewsroom.com/accidental-overdose-of-a-child---mistaking-pills-for-candy/

"Children are curious by nature, and it makes sense that they would be even more curious when it comes to medication. Many medications look and taste like candy. While it’s important to encourage our kids to explore and discover new things, when it comes to medication, we want to be careful to keep them safe. Here are a few tips to show you how.

Hard Facts about Medication Safety

Medications are the leading cause of child poisoning. In 2013, over 59,000 children were seen in emergency room for medicine poisoning. That’s one child every nine minutes. Almost all of these visits are because the child got into medicines during a moment alone."

The above excerpt can be found in it's entirety at www.safekids.org/medicinesafety.  Be sure to click the above link to learn more about Top Tips for Keeping Your Kids safe around Medication. 

While you may think that the child resistant caps on your medicine are keeping your children safe, you'd be surprised to see just how quickly they are able to "crack" the code to opening those bottle.  Check out the following videos to see just how easy it can be.