Protecting your toddler from a medication mishap

We love our little ones! But how do we keep them safe when they start toddling around, especially if we have medicine in the home. Heaven knows that babies love putting things in their mouths. And some medications look awfully close to candy.

Each year, more than 60,000 young children nationwide are treated in emergency rooms after getting into medicine while their parents or caregivers aren’t looking. Scary, right? As much as we would like to watch them all the time, the truth is that babies will be babies.

If you have young children in your home, here are some important safety tips from the National Safety Council that can help you prevent a potentially tragic accident:

• Store medicines out of reach and sight of young children. A top shelf in the cabinet is great idea, especially if the cabinet has a closed face. Having a glass face on your cabinet can lead to curiosity that could put your child at risk.
• Put medicines and vitamins away EVERY time you use them. Don’t rely on ‘childproof’ caps to keep your children safe. Toddlers can been creative. A cap can fail.
• With children who are old enough to understand, explain what medicine is, and why they should never try to take any on their own. Do not tell a child that medicine is candy in an effort to get them to take it.
• Is grandma coming to visit? Ask her, grandpa and any other visitors to keep medicines out of reach and sight of children while they are in your home.

We value you and your family. We want to do everything we can to help protect your family from accidents that could easily be avoided.