ONE day my friend Leslie was over for a visit.
I had two toddlers and she had one. The three kids were playing. Leslie had left her purse open on the floor and I asked her to close and move it. My kids loved to try new things and when I say try, I mean taste. Everything went into their mouths. Leslie was floored because her child never put things in his mouth so she had never had to protect against him ingesting something poisonous. A few weeks ago, BC Children's Hospital and the BC Centre for Disease Control provided tips to prevent children from being poisoned.
It's never wise to assume your child will not pick up something and give it a taste. And there are some kids whose taste buds develop slowly so even a foul taste will not deter them. Kathleen Wong, a mother of three, was frantic when her two-year-old daughter, Kiana, swallowed diabetic medication, which the little girl mistakenly thought was candy, during a visit to grandpa and grandma's house.
"I'm usually very careful about child-proofing our home, but we were visiting my parents, and Kiana had quietly pulled a chair over to the counter and had her grandfather's pills in her hands. I could see that she had taken a bite out of a pill."
Kathleen immediately contacted the BC Drug and Poison Information Centre, who determined the medication could seriously harm her young daughter and asked her to take Kiana to BC Children's Hospital emergency department.
"It was a really frightening experience as a parent," continues Kathleen. "I didn't know it at the time, but it could have been fatal for Kiana."
The BC Children's Hospital and the BC Drug and Poison Information Centre are a good resource when you are concerned about your child.
It's a good idea to have the phone number for the centre close at hand so that if you have a concern you can call immediately.
The number for the Poison Control Centre's 24-hour hotline is 604-682.5050 or 1-800-567-8911.
You can also get a free phone sticker or magnet with the hotline number. Call 604-707-2789, extension 3, or e-mail [email protected] and make your request.
As soon as your child is mobile you will need to childproof your home, and poison prevention needs to be a large part of that exercise.
Place safety latches on all drawers or cabinets containing harmful products which include all medications and cleaning products. So take a hard look at your medicine cabinet, the cupboard under your sink, and an often forgotten place is the garage or workroom, which carry all sorts of dangerous products. Also, look at your garden supplies for things like fertilizers or rat poisons.
Use products that have child-resistant safety caps. However, be mindful that child-resistant caps are not 100 per cent childproof.
Never call medicine "candy." When you need to give your child medicine, explain that they can only have it when their parent or doctor says so.
When you are using cleaning products, be particularly vigilant. Unlike taking medicine, which is unusual, cleaning can be an ongoing activity and it's easy to forget to put everything away carefully when you are finished.
Keep products in their original containers. Make sure they are clearly labelled, so you know what your child may have ingested.
Learn to identify poisonous household plants. Keep plants off the floor and away from crawling or walking children. When you are visiting friends and relatives ask permission to temporarily childproof their home. If your kids spend a lot of time with their grandparents, work with them to make their home as safe as yours. Otherwise, keep and eye on your kids and close doors to rooms that have dangerous products. With the right sort of forethought you can make your home a safe place for your kids.
Kathy Lynn is a professional speaker and author of Who's In Charge Anyway? and But Nobody Told Me I'd Ever Have to Leave Home. If you want to read more, sign up for her informational newsletter at www.parentingtoday.ca.
