Advice: Medicine Safety

mirpete · May 2011

What do you use to keep your medicines away from kiddos? I know a medicine cabinet above the sink is a common response, and that's what we have, but that's also where we keep "beauty" products (hair spray, razors, etc) that we don't want DS to get into. Not everything fits, so I want to have something else to keep the medicine in specifically.

I freaked today when DH accidentally left out the extra strength Tylenol and DS dumped it on the floor. Luckily I saw it so I know he didn't take any, but 1) I didn't see the bottle and 2) it's supposed to have a child-proof top (if put on correctly). I just want to overcompensate to try and prevent something else happening.

babe2331 · May 2011

My parents used to keep medicines, etc. in a high cabinet in the kitchen (above the fridge) so we couldn't get into it. In our house when a little one arrives, we will keep those items in the medicine cabinet above the sink and beauty products in our sink's vanity or on the back of the door in the linen closet in our bathroom. DH being a security freak will probably put locks on everything as well.

When we got older and could understand better, my parents put the green "Mr. Yuk" stickers in places where we shouldn't be. I was a dorky kid who knew not to touch anythng in those cabinets. Not sure all kids are the same though.

larrysdarling · May 2011

My parents kept it in a metal box with a code lock. My brother climbed up on the counter to get into the cabinets. My mom also kept Ipecac around. If he got the lid off it probably wasn't on tight in the first place. I don't know how a two year old could get that thing off- I can barely unscrew those things!

babe2331 · May 2011

Oh my mom used to keep that stuff in the house too. I don't think she ever had to use it though.

larrysdarling · May 2011

I clearly remember my brother getting into the kids vitamins. My mom wasn't sure if he ate them or how many he ate. So she gave him ipecac and followed him with a bucket. I do think that kids medicine is too appealing to kids- it tastes good, like fruit or candy.

erbur78 · May 2011

Medicines should not be kept in the bathroom, as the temp swings too much. I have read that meds should be kept in a dark, cool linen closet. I think the higher the shelf, the better. Does the Poison Control still do the Mr Yuck campaign? I remember that being drilled into me as a child...even with meds (not just cleaning products).

babe2331 · May 2011

http://www.chp.edu/CHP/mryuk

mirpete · May 2011

Thanks for the responses and not saying I'm totally crazy or overcompensating for asking. LD, my mom had something similar. Oh - and DH totally didn't put the lid on right. I rarely, if ever, actually yell at him but I couldn't help it - that was some serious business. He felt HORRIBLE.

Anyway, this is what I came up with over lunch... I think for now what I'm going to do is buy some shoe box sized rubbermaid containers and label them with different types of meds (allergy, vits, etc) and we'll keep them on the top shelf of the closet adjacent to the master bath. I could probably keep them in the child-proofed vanity under the sink (shower room is separate) but my mom chided me that "if something is as important as that to keep away from a kid, don't rely on ANYthing really being childproof."

larrysdarling · May 2011

Why not just buy a box with a lock? You're probably going to have to do that eventually anyway. All he'd need to do is grab a chair and stand on it to get to the medicine...

mirpete · May 2011

larrysdarling:
Why not just buy a box with a lock? You're probably going to have to do that eventually anyway. All he'd need to do is grab a chair and stand on it to get to the medicine...

I'm looking at boxes online while he's napping and everything looks either too small, or, if it's big enough, would be too cumbersome to take down off the shelf. I have back stock of common meds or vitamins when they're bogo. I have to reach up pretty high just to reach the shelf so he couldn't get to it with a chair, even if he could get a chair up the stairs, to the bedroom, open the closet, and position it in front of the shelf. By the time he can do that, hopefully he'll understand the danger of grown up medicines and/or mr. yuk stickers.

Kernel14 · May 2011

erbur78:
Medicines should not be kept in the bathroom, as the temp swings too much. I have read that meds should be kept in a dark, cool linen closet. I think the higher the shelf, the better. Does the Poison Control still do the Mr Yuck campaign? I remember that being drilled into me as a child...even with meds (not just cleaning products).

I was going to say the same thing. Because of the humidity from showering, your meds shouldn't be in your bathroom.

My sister once took a pill out of my grandmothers purse and ate it and promptly went to the hospital for a stomach pumping. My niece, just a few weeks ago, went into my mom's room and swallowed one of her pills. That also ended with a trip to the hospital. So our meds..will be locked away for sure. And not in the bathroom!

eaglesfan700 · May 2011

We keep ours in a cabinet in the kitchen. It is on the highest shelf, so I can't even reach it without a step stool. There is no way he could reach it on a chair and the step stool is locked in the basement

Advice: Medicine Safety

Re: Advice: Medicine Safety

Choose Another Board

Search Boards