As a parent, I do my best to keep my kids safe, happy, and out of trouble. As an injury researcher, other parents often ask me what they should do to keep their children safe. There are many things both in and out of the house that can be an injury risk to young children. Here are five items you may have in your home that seem safe but can possibly be dangerous.
Hand Sanitizer
Hand sanitizer helps prevent sickness and we encourage our kids to use it to clean their hands. Many hand sanitizers are scented with fruit or sweet smells, which can be confusing to a child. Children may try to drink it or put their hand in their mouth. The alcohol in hand sanitizers is often about 60% ethyl alcohol – stronger than the concentration in most hard liquor. Swallowing even a couple squirts can cause alcohol poisoning in a young child.
Be sure to watch children while they use hand sanitizer and make sure they know not to taste it. Then store the container up, away, and out of sight.
Laundry and dishwasher detergent packets
Most detergent packet ads focus on their convenience. What the commercials don’t say is that these packets contain a more concentrated and toxic detergent. Kids can’t, or likely won’t, read warning labels and these products are often have packaging that looks like snack containers. Detergent packets can look like candy, toys, or teething rings to a young child. If a child bites down on a packet, they can swallow a whole load’s worth of detergent in a split second. Even if it is just squeezed, concentrated detergent can squirt onto hands, face, or into your child’s eyes and mouth.
Parents and caregivers of children younger than six years should use liquid or powder laundry and dishwasher detergent rather than packets (and still keep these locked up). If you use packets, treat them like any other poison and store them up, away, and out of sight – in a locked cabinet is best.
Medication
Most people know it isn’t safe for kids to take medicine that isn’t theirs, but medicine might be hiding in your house. Maybe it’s a bottle of pain relievers in your purse, or a friend or family member staying with you who keeps a toiletry bag in a suitcase on the floor. If you have pets, you may keep medicine in a low cabinet with their food.
Child-resistant does not mean child-proof. Children are curious and want to explore. Keep all medications – prescription and over-the-counter – stored up, away, and out of sight. This includes medication for people and pets. When visitors come over, make sure purses, jackets or suitcases (which may contain medicine) are out of children’s reach. Hang them on a hook or put them in a locked room or high location.
Button batteries
Button batteries are small, shiny, and used in everything from greeting cards to calculators. If a child swallows a button battery it can burn him from the inside and could be deadly. They often get stuck in the throat or GI tract and caustic chemicals leak out, eat through the stomach/intestines, and can cause infection.
If you think your child may have swallowed a button battery, take them to the closest emergency department right away: don’t wait for symptoms. If your child is older than 12 months, you can give two teaspoons of honey every 10 minutes up to 6 times to minimize tissue damage on your way to the hospital. Because these often look like coins in person and on an x-ray, make sure to tell the person admitting you, the nurse, and the doctor if you know or suspect it’s a button battery.
Nicotine Products
E-cigarettes, liquid nicotine, and nicotine pouches are typically stored in places easily accessible to children – a purse, pocket, car, or table. Many nicotine products are flavored and sold in colorful packaging that may be attractive to a young child. If a child swallows liquid nicotine they can get really sick. Even getting it on skin or hands can be dangerous.
The safest choice is to keep all nicotine products out of the home. If you choose to have them in your home, you can lower the risk by following these steps:
Store nicotine products safely. Store them up, away from food, and out of sight—preferably in a locked cabinet, drawer or box. While storing them in purses or backpacks is not recommended when young children live in or visit your home, if you are going to keep them in these places, make sure to store the purse/backpack up, away, and out of sight. Ask that caregivers around your child do the same in their homes.
It is helpful to not use these products in front of your children, especially if packaged to look like treats.
Save the national Poison Help Line number (1-800-222-1222) in your phone and post it in a visible place. The Poison Help Line provides free, confidential advice from experts, 24 hours per day, seven days per week. You can call before your child develops symptoms.
Share this information with caregivers and other people frequently around your children.
You can prevent child poisonings in your home by going through each room on a child’s level. You don’t have to lock every single cabinet. Consolidate household cleaning products, other poisons, and medications to one cabinet in each room so one place is secure and locked. Be sure to return items to this place after each use: by storing these dangerous medicines, cleaners, and other products safely you are gaining peace of mind.
Lara B. McKenzie, PhD, is a principal investigator in the Center for Injury Research and Policy at the Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital and a professor in the Department of Pediatrics, College of Medicine and the Division of Epidemiology, College of Public Health at The Ohio State University.
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