Tips for Child-Proofing Your Home

Making Your Home Baby-Proof

Everyday household products like makeup, cleaning supplies, and pain medications are the leading causes for unintentional pediatric poison exposure. In light of Poison Prevention Month, learn how you can help to prevent exposures from occurring in your home.

Lock Lower Cabinets & Drawers

One of the first steps in child-proofing your home is adding safety latches to lower cabinets and drawers to prevent accidental poisonings and other injuries that may occur. Although cleaning products and other hazardous materials may have hard-to-open packaging, the added precaution of keeping them locked away can help to minimize the risk of exposure.

Keep Medications in Higher-Up Storage

Another simple way to prevent accidental exposure to hazardous materials is to keep medications in hard-to-reach places like higher cabinets that are out-of-reach to small children. If you have a medicine cabinet in your bathroom or you keep your medications in the kitchen cabinets, be sure to keep them on the highest shelves.

Keep Hazardous Products in Labeled Containers

Many people purchase large quantities of cleaning supplies like bleach, detergent, and other harsh chemicals, pouring smaller amounts into more convenient containers. Remember to label them accurately to ensure that you know what they are to prevent accidents. For example, if you pour your dishwashing detergent into an old shampoo bottle out of convenience, label it clearly to make sure it isn’t mistaken for shampoo.

Throw Away Expired Medication

Many of us have a habit of keeping medications in our cabinets long after they have expired. Whether they are old prescriptions, over-the-counter medications, or even supplements — they should be discarded to prevent accidental ingestion. To properly dispose of them, mix them with coffee grounds and throw them out.

Keep Poison Control’s Number Handy

Even when practicing safety measures, there is still the potential for an emergency situation to arise. Be sure to keep the number for poison control near every telephone in your home and add it as a contact in your cell phone.

• If you think your child has been poisoned and they are still conscious, call the nationwide poison control center at : 1-800-222-1222.
• If you think your child has been poisoned and they are unconscious or not breathing, call 9-1-1 immediately.

CCH is open, safe and ready to see you.

With almost 80 physicians, physician assistants and nurse practitioners in nearly 20 specialties, CCH is committed to your wellbeing right here at home. If you have been putting off a visit to your doctor for a regular checkup, contact them; they can help weigh your personal healthcare risk and avoid further delayed diagnoses.

Visit www.cchwyo.org/findadoc to find your provider or clinic.

For medical emergencies, call 911. If you are in crisis and need to talk to a counselor, please call 307-688-5555.