If you have children, then you’re probably familiar with the phrase “medicine cabinet”. This is a common storage location for medications and other health care products. It’s also a place where kids can easily find these items if they know where to look. This may not seem like a big deal at first, but it’s important to keep medicine out of sight from young children who may mistake them for candy or even toys that can be swallowed or chewed on without harm.
Store medicines out of Sight
To keep medicines safe, store them out of sight and reach of children.
- store medications in a safe place, such as a locked cabinet or drawer that is high enough that kids cannot reach it without a step stool.
- Do not leave medicines where pets could get to them.
- Do not leave medicine bottles in bathrooms or kitchens since they may be knocked over when people are getting ready for work or cooking meals. Also, if your child has access to the bathroom when he/she doesn’t need to be there (such as after bedtime), he/she might take some medicine from the bottle while you’re asleep at night.
Put Medicines Away After Each Use Â
When you’re done using any medicine, take it back to its original storage place—and don’t leave it on the counter or in your medicine cabinet. If you don’t have a childproof cabinet, lock up all medications in a right place where kids won’t be able to get them (even if they are older than two years old).
The kitchen is another high-risk area for young kids who want to get into things. Kids are more likely to try and eat anything that looks interesting or tastes good. When we were younger, my brother and I would sneak into our parent’s bathroom and take aspirin because we thought that other pills tasted better than aspirin! Since then, my parents have had to lock up all medications when they leave the house even if they’re only going out for an hour or less.
Make sure the safety cap is locked Â
The most important part of any drug container is the safety cap. This must be in place at all times, even when you are storing medicines in a cabinet or drawer. The safety cap prevents accidental ingestion and keeps children from opening the bottle, which can lead to accidental poisoning.
Safety caps also help prevent children from getting into medicine bottles, even when they’re empty. If you have any doubts about how your child might interact with the container, it’s best to err on the side of caution and store it out of reach until you’ve gotten rid of whatever remains inside or transferred it into another container that meets your needs better (such as a childproof bottle).
Finally, consider using tablets instead of liquids whenever possible; this makes it easier for parents to manage dosages for their little ones since they only need one pill per dose instead of multiple cups full each day.
Teach Your Children About Medicine Safety Â
There are several ways you can teach your children about the importance of keeping medicines safe. These include:
- Tell them that they shouldn’t touch medicine bottles or containers. Even if the bottle is out in the open, it’s still not okay for them to touch it. If your child gets curious, remind him or her that he or she should never put his or her hands on any medications unless you say so first and give permission for him or her to do so.
- Teach your children not to open medicine containers under any circumstances, even if they’re just looking at what’s inside of them because this could risk contaminating the medication with germs from their hands, which could make someone very sick if consumed accidentally later on down the road when taking it as prescribed by a doctor (or parent) during an illness outbreak within either family home environment).
Tell Guests and Family About Medicine Safety for Children Â
You can also help prevent childhood medication accidents by talking about the importance of keeping medicines out of reach of children. When you have a new or expectant parent over for dinner, emphasize how important it is to keep medications out of the hands and mouths of young children. Ask them to teach their kids about the dangers of taking medicine without a doctor’s permission.
Talking with people who are in your home regularly can help make sure that everyone keeps medications safely stored away from curious little ones. You can even ask guests and family members to sign an agreement stating that they will follow these rules when visiting or staying at your house.
Store medicine in a locked cabinet Â
The best way to prevent kids from gaining access to medicine is to keep it out of sight and out of reach. The most effective way to do this is by storing medicines in a locked cabinet that only adults have access to. The cabinet needs to be secure enough that even if your child were able to get into it, they wouldn’t be able to open the lock.
If your child has been trained how not to touch something without asking first, then you could consider using a childproof lock on the cabinet door as well; however, make sure that any locks you use are difficult enough for kids (or clumsy grownups) but easy enough for adults! You’ll also want an emergency key nearby just in case someone accidentally locks themselves out or gets injured while trying unsuccessfully open the medicine cabinet with a small screwdriver (been there).
Keep candy like medicine away from kids
Candy like medicine can be dangerous to kids, and they can be very difficult to tell apart.
If you leave your children alone with your medicine, they could mistake it for candy and eat it. This is especially true if you have a lot of different kinds of medicine in the house.
It’s important to keep all of your medicine locked up so that your kids don’t have access to it. If you do this, you’ll be able to make sure that your child doesn’t accidentally eat any of your medication when they’re hungry or bored.
Safe Disposal of MedicinesÂ
Disposing of your medicines properly is important. If your medicine is still in its original container, you can dispose of it safely by placing it in the trash. You can also contact your local household hazardous waste facility or pharmacy for more information on the proper disposal of medications and other toxic substances.
Never flush medications down the toilet or throw them away in a drain! The water treatment plants that clean our drinking water have no way to remove or treat many drugs, so they end up back in our drinking supply. These drugs can be harmful to humans, fish, and wildlife alike.
Conclusion
In conclusion, as you can see, there are some simple steps that you can take to keep your medicines away from kids. If you want to be even more vigilant about keeping your medicine away from kids, it’s important that you educate yourself on the appropriate storage conditions and make sure your child doesn’t have access to any medications without supervision.
Also Read: – Child Safety in the Home
