Childhood Poisoning: What You Need to Know

To prevent an accidental poisoning in your home, it's important to be vigilantly proactive:

• Always have the phone number for the Poison Control Center readily available. The universal number for Poison Control is (800) 222-1222. Make a label with this phone number for each telephone in your house.
• Post this article in a prominent place so that family members, babysitters, and other in-home childcare givers and visitors know what to do in an emergency.
• Keep all poisons and anything you remotely suspect of being potentially poisonous out of children's reach.

Be sure that your home is adequately childproofed or babyproofed. Confused as to where to start? Try these ideas to get you on the road to a safer home environment:

• Put childproof locks on cabinets, even those too high for a curious toddler to reach. Children can sometimes figure out how to open these locks.
• Keep the following items under lock and key: pesticides, household cleaning products, drain cleaners, medications (throw out-of-date medicines away), wax, alcohol, paint, paint thinner, and adult vitamins.
• Buy products with childproof caps and make sure you close them tightly.
• Never store any tempting looking but harmful product near food.
• Never induce vomiting in your child by any method unless so directed by a medical professional. The AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics) recommends that syrup of ipecac no longer be used at home by parents or caregivers, and that parents should not keep this in their homes.