The home environment is usually safe for your baby or toddler but your cupboards contain products and medicines that are harmful to children (and adults). Storing medications, cleaning products and cosmetics properly will help avoid the risk of accidentally poisoning your child.

Preventing accidental poisonings in the home

Unintentional poisonings are preventable and manufacturers have gone to great lengths to reduce fatalities by making packaging child-resistant. It’s important to always follow directions given on labels which will give information on correct dosages and storing instructions for products which are toxic.

Many household products will have an orange label on the back of the packaging to identify if its harmful when not used correctly. Some products will display a written warning such as ‘harmful if swallowed’ or ‘irritating to eyes’.

Common household products and substances which can be poisonous include:

- Medicines – the recommended dose may be safe but an overdose can be poisonous
- Cleaning products – e.g. Bleach, Washing powder
- Household chemicals – e.g. Paints, Solvents, Plant Feeder, Slug pellets, Weedkiller
- Toiletries and cosmetics – e.g. Hair dye, Nail varnish (including remover)
- Carbon monoxide gas

Safety in the bathroom

Ideally you should have a medicine cabinet in the bathroom but remember that inquisitive toddlers can climb on the bath, toilet or sink to gain access to what’s inside. Fit tamper-proof bathroom locks on any cabinets, cupboards or drawers in the bathroom to prevent your infant gaining access.

Clippasafe Cabinet Lock

BabyDan Sliding Cabinet Door Clip

Make sure all medications in the cabinet are closed properly as a child-resistant lid is useless if you’ve not fastened it correctly.

Avoid taking medications in front of your child but is they are watching don’t refer to what you’re taking as sweets. A child is likely to mimic what you do and the sour taste of medicine is rarely off-putting to children who tend to swallow most things given the opportunity.

Remember that bleach and cleaning products are used in the toilet so prevent your child gaining access by fitting a toilet lock.

Clippasafe Toilet Lock

Safety in the kitchen

The kitchen has an array of low-level and accessible cupboards for your infant to get into and some will contain toxic cleaning products which can poison your child.

Have a look through your low-level storage for any chemicals such as bleach, oven cleaners, detergents, polish, floor cleaner or drain cleaner. If possible, store these products in high-level cupboards. If this isn’t an option, ensure you’ve fitted kitchen cupboard latches and locks which are tamper-proof.

BabyDan Drawer/Cupboard Lock

Cabinet Magnetic Lock

Certain food extracts can be poisonous so make sure these are out of reach and in a locked cupboard too. Any hazardous substances should be stored in their original containers and you should avoid transferring contents into any type of food or drinks container. It is very easy for adults and children to mistake the actual contents for food or drink if you do this.

Never leave any hazardous cleaning product uncapped when cleaning with a toddler present. Even just leaving the cap off for a minute is all it takes for an infant to ingest the contents.

Other causes of poisoning

Something that many parents overlook is the potential for poisoning from medications brought into the home by visitors. Family or friends who are visiting may be carrying medications in their coat pockets and if the coat is hung over a chair a toddler can easily get hold of a pill bottle. Make sure any coats are hung properly on a coat hook that is high up and out of reach of children.

An alarming number of injuries and deaths are being attributed to carbon monoxide poisoning. This typically occurs from faulty gas boilers or gas fires emitting toxic gases. Ensure any boilers or fires in the home are serviced regularly and fit carbon monoxide detectors in the home. These will give an audible warning when detecting carbon monoxide in the same way as a smoke alarm does for smoke.

First Alert Carbon Monoxide Alarm