According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, approximately 3 million people – many under the age of 5 – swallow or have contact with a poisonous substance each year. Most poisonings happen when parents or caregivers are home but not paying attention. The most dangerous potential poisons are medicines, cleaning products, pesticides, furniture polish, gasoline, liquid nicotine, antifreeze, windshield wiper fluid, kerosene, and lamp oil.
Be especially vigilant when there is a change in routine. Holidays, visits to and from grandparents’ homes, and other special events may bring a greater risk of poisoning if the usual safeguards are deficient or not in place.
Home Safety High 5 – A Safety Checklist
- Use approved safety gates at the tops and bottoms of stairs and attaches them to the wall if possible.
- Place liquid laundry packets up and out of children’s reach and sight.
- Cut food for toddlers into tiny pieces. Children under 5 should not eat small, round or hard foods.
- Check to make sure toys don’t have any small parts or other choking hazards within reach of small children
- Use brackets, braces, mounts or wall straps to secure unstable or top-heavy furniture or TVs to prevent tip-overs.
6 SPOTS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED WHILE CHILDPROOFING
To help parents remember important steps to keep their kids safe, Safe Kids and Tide developed a new interactive graphic focusing on a range of risks in the home. This 360-degree graphic takes you inside a toddler’s home to show some of the issues parents may have missed when trying to make their home safer for young children, including proper storage of laundry packets.
This post was put together by Safe Kids Georgia Intern, Maria Britez
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