We all know that accidental poisoning is the fourth largest cause of accidental deaths in children below the age of five, and that parents need to be more aware and vigilant to prevent such unnecessary tragedies.
Remember; your baby gets exposed to drugs, chemicals, smoke, dust, and other forms of pollution that with proper care and caution, could have been avoided. Within your own home, your baby can get exposed to poisons in the garage, kitchen, and common storage areas.
The trick to easy prevention of accidental poisoning of your baby is to look at things from his perspective. This will help you find potential hazards within your own home, and learn what could possibly be dangerous and even fatal for your precious child.
Here are some tips that will start you poison proofing your home against the inquisitiveness of your baby:
- Are all the potential poisons within your home kept well out of reach and locked up against your baby’s eyes and curious fingers? Most of our kitchens usually contain at least a few of these things: ammonia for bleach, disinfectants, soap, cleaners, detergents, furniture polish, stain removers, drain cleaners, pesticides, toilet bowl cleaners, rust cleaners and so on. Make sure that all of these items are safely hidden away from your child, and that he cannot break open the locks to get at them. Never ever make the common mistake of believing that your child will not be able to get at something; if he has the will, he will find a way! There is no such thing as ‘childproof’ at this stage, and he will need constant adult supervision to prevent him from getting into mischief.
- Make sure that you have stored everything in their original containers, or at the very least, that you have labeled everything properly. This will help prevent your child, or even you, from ingesting some potentially poisonous and hazardous substance that was kept in some other container.
- Make sure that your medicine cabinet is in no way at all accessible to your small child. Pills that come in all sorts of shapes and colors can be extremely attractive to a young child, and he may put them in his mouth. Here too, make sure that all your pills are stored in labeled or in their original containers; this will help you identify the substance that was ingested.
- When your child is visiting his grandparents, make sure that their home too is safe and secure from your child’s curious eyes. Several accidental poisoning cases take place in the child’s grandparent’s homes.
A little bit of awareness and a lot of caution will go a long way to ensure your child’s safety from accidental poisoning.
