Spotting and keeping Household Poisons Away from Infants

Many times, infants come in contact with the common chemicals, cleansers and medicines used for various household purposes. Proper poison-proofing of the house is necessary to prevent household poisons from causing harm to your little one.

Babies grow up rapidly and start exploring the things kept in the cupboards and drawers of the house, out of curiosity. If parents conduct a thorough inspection of the house they will realize, that many household items can prove to be hazardous for their child. Therefore, it is important that parents distinguish between what is safe for their child and what is not. Unsafe items must be kept far away from the reach of the child.

Common Household Poisons

The products listed below contain high levels of poison and are dangerous for your baby. It’s important to keep them locked away in closets to prevent your baby from accidentally handling and ingesting them:

• Cleansing products for cleaning kitchen utensils, toilet cleansers, fabric bleach, surface disinfectant, Washing detergents etc
• Prescription drugs and medicines
• Small household plants
• Button batteries and coins
• Pesticides and insecticides
• Kerosene and petrol
• Air fresheners

Below is the list of some common products that are not extremely dangerous, but contain some poisonous materials that can cause severe reactions in babies, if ingested:

• Cosmetics
• Baby care products like soaps, creams, lotions, powders, etc
• Glues
• Paints

Prevention from Household Poisoning

Accidental ingestion of poison can be quite traumatic for the baby, most of the times, requiring a hospital stay. Hence it is wise to take adequate precautions and prevent them from happening. Follow the steps below :

• Even before the baby is born, you can keep away the poisonous chemicals or cleaners at a safe place. You’ll hardly get any time to do this once the baby is home.

• Medicines, cleansers, chemicals should be stored in child proof lockers and cupboards, on high shelves

• When the products are being used, keep them away from the reach of the infant and store them away in their place as soon as their use is over.

• After using the product, close the bottle tightly and replace the product from where it was taken.

• Unwanted and expired medicines and drugs should be removed from the house from time to time.

• Household poisons for insects, rats and pests and high-potency cleansing chemicals like acids. should not be transferred to any other container used for storing food or water. It should be kept in the same container in which it was bought, to prevent confusion between eatables and the poison.

• If the child requires any medicine, the label should be read carefully to know about the dosage and if it is suitable for the child. Always check the expiry date of any products and medicines being used for children.

• Batteries and coins should be kept out of reach of the kids. Babies, while playing with the batteries or coins might accidentally swallow them, causing their airways to be blocked.

• A medicine should never be referred to as a ‘candy’ or ‘chocolate’. This may result in a situation where your baby may take the medicine by himself, in your absence.

• Purses and bags of guests should be stored in a place where the babies cannot reach, to prevent accidents in case your baby decides to explore them and fishes out potentially harmful things like coins, keys, medicines etc. kept in the purse.

• Pesticides and rat poisons should be stored separately. These are very hazardous for the kid.

• Alcoholic drinks should not be left open. After a party, put away the left-over alcohol immediately.

Keeping these points in mind would make your house a much safer place for the little one to explore and satisfy his curiosity.