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.
More Safety Articles
How Medicines in Creams, Ointments, Gels, Sprays, Lotions, and Patches Can Harm You
Creams, ointments, gels, sprays, lotions and patches are medicines that will enter your body by penetrating through the skin and entering the bloodstream. They can cause side effects if you use too much of the medicine.
Catapres-TTS (transdermal therapeutic system) patches contain the medicine clonidine, which is used to treat high blood pressure. The patch is applied to the skin where it slowly releases the medicine into the body over a specific period of time.
Do you or someone you know have a history of bone disease and easily prone to fractured bones? Medication bottles with safety caps are designed to protect children from accidental ingestion, but, on occasion, can contribute to patient harm. An elderly patient with multiple myeloma (a type of bone cancer) suffered a spiral fracture of the right arm while trying to remove the child-resistant cap on her medication bottle. The act of pushing down and twisting broke the weakened bone and caused the fracture.
A kindergarten student was wearing a Daytrana (methylphenidate) patch on his skin when he arrived at school. Daytrana is a medicine used to treat Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), a condition that makes it hard for children to control their behavior and/or pay attention.
