Help Your Kids Stay Safe This Summer — Keep All Medicines Up and Away
Published June 21, 2023 (revised June 24, 2024)
Kids can get sick if they swallow medicines, vitamins, or other supplements they’re not supposed to – including those that come in gummy form. Help your kids stay healthy this summer by keeping your medicines in a safe place — whether you’re at home or on the go.
Consider these tips to store medicines safely:
With hectic summer schedules, it’s easy to forget about everyday tasks. Don’t forget to put medicines, vitamins, and other supplements away right after you give or take them, every time.
Keep medicines in a place kids can’t see or reach — like in a high cabinet or on a high closet shelf.
Planning a family vacation? Be sure to pack your medicines in child-resistant containers. If you’re staying in a hotel, you can put medicines in the hotel room safe or on a high shelf in the closet.
Be sure to keep your vitamins and other supplements —including those in gummy form —up and away and out of sight and reach too!
If you think your child may have swallowed a medicine, vitamin, or other supplement, get help right away — even if you’re not sure. Call Poison Help at 800-222-1222 or go to PoisonHelp.org.
Make Sure You Get the Right Mix… Ask Questions if Your Medicine Is a Powder
Some medicines, including many prescribed for children, come in a powder form. Water must be added to the powder so the medicine can be easily measured and taken. The ratio of water to powder must be precise, so that the prescribed amount of the final liquid mixture provides the correct dose of medicine per milliliter (mL). It is best for the pharmacist to add water right before the medicine is picked up. Once mixed, the medicine often needs to be refrigerated to stay potent. But if the pharmacist forgets to add the water, or if the wrong amount of water is added at home, a serious dosing error can occur.
Once a Day Is Not the Way if Once a Week Is Enough
The story: Methotrexate is a cancer medicine. More recently, doctors have used it to treat other conditions like rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis. It works well for these other conditions if you take the medicine just once or twice a week, and in smaller doses. But if you take it every day by accident, you could be harmed. Sadly, some people have even died.
