Poison prevention for parents: 10 tips to keep kids safe

Here’s a scary statistic: In 2021, a poisoning exposure was reported to a poison control center every 15 seconds. That’s nearly 2.1 million calls, the National Capital Poison Center says. Of those, 41% involved children younger than 6.

Help protect kids from unintentional poisonings by following these 10 tips from the Texas Poison Center Network:

1. Keep household cleaning products and chemicals, as well as medications, up and away where kids can’t reach them. Use child-resistant locks on cabinets where these items are stored.
2. Make sure you close child-resistant packaging completely.
3. Never call medicine “candy,” and try to avoid taking your own medicine in view of your kids.
4. Don’t leave the room or turn your back on a child if a harmful product is nearby. “Most poisonings occur when the product is in use,” the TPCN warns.
5. Store poisonous substances in the containers they came in.
6. Don’t store poisonous substances in the same cabinet where you keep food items. “Many poisonous products look alike and come in containers very similar to drinks or food,” the TPCN says. “An example of this is apple juice and pine cleaner.”
7. Teach your kids not to eat mushrooms, berries, leaves or plants they find outside.
8. Do you have houseplants? Do some research to make sure they aren’t poisonous to children. The center suggests labeling the plants for easy identification in an emergency.
9. Keep kids off grass that’s recently been treated with a pesticide.
10. Save the phone number for your local poison control center – (800) 222-1222 – in your cellphone, and keep it in a visible spot near any household landlines.

National Poison Prevention Week is March 17-23. Go to poisoncenters.org/nppw-2024 to learn more.