Poison and Children

By Ben Waterworth

Although we know that we should keep poison items away from our children at all times, unfortunately sometimes there is no preventing our children from getting access to poisonous material that can seriously harm them or potentially even kill them. Over 850 children are admitted to hospital as a direct cause of poisoning in Queensland alone and it’s with statistics like this that it is more important than ever to ensure that all poisons are correctly locked away and that your children can’t access them. This article hopes to provide you with some advice to follow when it comes to poison prevention in your home around your children.
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Types of poisons
The top 5 types of poisoning in the home occurred from the following products:

90% of all poisonings occur in the home so you should always make sure the above products are locked away and secure so that your children in no way can access them.

Why do these effect children?
As your child develops they will become extremely curious about many things and they will easily gain new abilities that will allow them to walk, climb and reach for new things that they have an interest in. They will also begin to constantly place objects in their mouth as they get a taste for certain items to see what they really are. This is obviously a danger if your child grabs something that is poisonous and places it straight in their mouth as this could lead to their death if not correctly observed.

When will child poisoning happen?
It can happen at any time, there is never a specific time when it will happen. The most common time is when you turn your back and your child gets a little adventurous and before you know it your child has found something that they weren’t meant too and places it straight into their mouth. It might happen too when visitors come over and have medication with them in their handbag or backpack that your child will discover when having a snoop. It’s always important therefore to always closely monitor your child at all possible times!

How can I prevent my child from becoming poisoned?
By following a few simple steps you can easily prevent your child from becoming poisoned:

If the worst happens
The best advice in an emergency is to calmly contact the poisons information centre with whatever your child swallowed handy so they can give you all the relevant advice as to what to do