This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company. All opinions are 100% mine.
Learn more about Items That Can Poison Your Child
#MakeSafeHappen #IC ad #upandaway
If you suspect your child ingested something poisonous, call the Poison Help line at
1-800-222-1222
There is just about nothing I won’t do to protect my kids. They are still in the proper car seats, they still have to hold my hands in parking lots and I watch them like a hawk in the kitchen around the stove and sharp knives. As moms we know that the more we do to prevent accidents with our kids, the better everyone will be in the end. While I can not prevent everything, I am very active about what I can prevent. Like poisoning from household cleaners, laundry pods, nail polish remover and even batteries. With National Poison Week upon us, it is a great time to go through each room to make sure our little ones don’t get exposed to harmless items we may see as harmless! Along with Nationwide and the Make Safe Happen program, I want to help all moms and dads make sure that their kids are not one of the nearly 9 million children who are in ER’s every year from household accidents or one of the 9,000 who dies as a result of the accident!
Download the Make Safe Happen App now too!
We all think we know what Toxic Poisons are but even I still have household cleaners like dish washing tabs and glass cleaner under my sink. I have cabinet locks on the doors but, as my kids have aged and figured it out, they don’t do much to deter them. We get so used to having things within reach that we forget little ones can reach them too. So the other day, doing my sweep of my house in case my friends who have very little ones come over with their kids, I moved those pods up high and am now storing them with my laundry pods.
While we are on the laundry pod topic, let me just reiterate how dangerous these items are to little ones. I know a lot of us, including me, like to leave them on a shelf right next to the washing machine. But when a toddler sees the pretty pods, they think candy. These pods are now up high and in a cabinet in my house. Even my almost 10 year old can not reach them. It surprises me that more than half of all parents (52%) do not safeguard laundry packets from children’s reach (Source: Nationwide survey). It is such an easy accident to prevent and yet 1,009 kids 5 and younger were exposed to single‐load laundry packets from Jan. 1, 2016, to Jan. 31, 2016. Exposure means ingested, inhaled, absorbed by the skin or eyes, etc. Not all exposures are poisonings or overdoses (Source: AAPCC) but all are dangerous and scary!
Make sure your child is not one of the million that parents call the Poison Hotline on that are 5 and under. The basic rule on household items is that if you think it could be poisonous, put the item up and away. Also take the time to read all product labels to make sure you know which of your household products are poisonous for your children. This includes:
- Cosmetics and personal care items (like nail polish remover, jewelry cleaner, mouthwash)
- Medicine and vitamins
- Laundry detergents and cleaning solutions (like bleach, carpet cleaner, furniture polish)
- Alcohol
- Plants
- Car fluids
- Bug and weed killers, fertilizers and plant food
- Lighter fluid, kerosene, and torch fuel
- Batteries
I bet if we all take a look around our home we will see that some of these items may be in reach to our little ones. All it takes is a little effort to prevent a household accident from poisoning for a child.
What tips do you have that can help families keep their kids safe from poisoning?
Leave A Comment