Each day in the United States, approximately 100 young children are brought to hospital emergency rooms after they find and get into medicines that are left within their sight and reach.
Many medicines and supplements – including those in gummy form – look like candy (Figure 1), and it can be difficult for young children (and even adults) to tell the difference (Figure 2, see below). It is important to teach young children that medicine is not candy and that they should never take medicines on their own. Parents, grandparents, and other caregivers should always keep all medicines, vitamins, and other supplements(including those in gummy form) Up and Away and out of children’s sight and reach.
Here's what you can do: Here are some important tips to help parents, grandparents, and other caregivers keep young children safe:
Store medicines in a safe location that is too high for young children to see or reach.
Never leave medicines or supplements out on a kitchen counter or at a sick child’s bedside, even if you must give the medicine again in a few hours.
Always relock the safety cap on a medicine bottle. If it has a locking cap that turns, twist it until you can’t twist anymore or until you hear the “click.”
Tell children what medicine is and why you or another trusted caregiver must be the one to give it to them.
Never tell children medicine is candy, even if they don’t like to take their medicine.
Remind babysitters, houseguests, and visitors to keep purses, bags, or coats that have medicines in them up and away and out of sight when they’re in your home.
Call Poison Help at 800.222.1222 right away if you think your child might have gotten into a medicine, vitamin, or other supplement (including those in gummy form) even if you are not completely sure.
The New Jersey Poison Information and Education System issued an alert about poisonings occurring when torch lamp oil (Tiki lamp oil) was mistaken for apple juice. In several unrelated incidents, individuals became critically ill, and one person died, after accidentally ingesting the oil. Lamp oils are particularly hazardous.
Medications for children are frequently ordered by the "dropperful". There are several problems with these orders. First there is too much room for misinterpretation of what might constitute a dropperful. One individual might consider it to be a dropper filled to the upper calibration mark.
The Poison Prevention Act was passed in 1970 to help reduce the number of accidental childhood poisonings. The Act required manufacturers of medicines and household products to develop a package that would make it more difficult for a child, age 5 and younger, to open. Since then, many over-the-counter (OTC) and prescription medicines are sold with a child-resistant cap. However, these caps do not fully prevent a child from opening the medicine – they are NOT childproof. Tragic cases of young children dying or becoming seriously ill after taking medicine from vials or bottles they were able to open occurs even with the use of child-resistant caps. Some examples of recent stories found in the media are listed below.