Posted by NHS Choices on January 11, 2017 · Leave a Comment
In this 2-minute video, Katrina Phillips of the Child Accident Prevention Trust talks about what you can do to protect your child from poisoning.
Editor’s Note: Video Highlights
The most common culprit for child poisoning is everyday painkillers - It’s important to put them somewhere where a small child can’t be tempted by the bright colors and where they can’t reach them
- The other common cause of poisoning for young children is household cleaning products
- Note that child safety caps on medicines and cleaning products can slow young children getting them open, but they’re not actually childproof
- Some three and four year-olds can open those caps in seconds, so it’s important not to rely on child safety caps to keep young children safe from poisoning
- There are other things around your home that you wouldn’t suspect could be poisonous to small children but are – including:
- Perfume on your dressing table
- Aromatherapy oils that you might have in your bathroom
- Small amounts of alcohol, like the dregs left in the bottom of a glass
- You need to think about what might be harmful to a small child and put it somewhere where they can’t see it and where they can’t reach it
- Also, get your gas appliances serviced every year – and fit a carbon-monoxide alarm that will sound a warning if levels of the poisonous gas are too high in your home
- Finally, if you think your child has swallowed something poisonous, it’s important to get immediate medical advice and help
