Many medications are brightly colored, coated and small enough to look like candy to a young child. Understanding which medicines pose the greatest risk—and how to store them safely—can help prevent a frightening trip to the emergency room and keep your family safe.
Indiana Poison Center reported that over half of its calls involve children. Many times, the poisoning is due to over-the-counter or prescription medicines. The most common medicines children take are over-the-counter pain medicines such as acetaminophen; however, vitamins can also be a danger due to the iron in them.
Preschoolers can easily mistake common drugs for treats. “We call them lookalikes—medicines that resemble candy,” says James B. Mowry, PharmD, manager of poison control at Indiana University Health. “Most young children can’t tell products apart by reading labels. They look at shapes and colors.” In fact, Dr. Mowry says about 50 percent of all calls to Indiana’s poison center concern kids ages 6 and under, and many involve accidental ingestion of lookalike drugs.
Medicine that looks like candy
How to prevent poisoning in children
Reduce your child’s risk of drug poisoning by avoiding these common mistakes.
Keep medicine out of reach
Access is the No. 1 way to prevent exposure. Doing whatever you can to prevent access is very important. However, keeping medicines on a high shelf is not enough. The most common way children get into medicine is when it is left in a bag that falls when it was out of reach. A significant percentage also occurs when the child gets into a pill minder or organizer from a parent, sibling, or other relative, which is usually securely stored or lockable.
Dispose of your old medicine
There are many ways to correctly dispose of medication. Your pharmacist can tell you how to correctly dispose of old, unused medicine. Riley also has a take back box where individuals can dispose of unused prescription medicines in their outpatient lobby. The United States Drug Enforcement Administration, DEA, has twice a year medication take-back days, and some police stations will also accept medications for destruction. At any of these sites, any medications, not just controlled substances, can be dropped off.
Don't assume safety containers are secure
Child-resistant doesn’t mean child-proof. “The industry standard is that a child cannot get into a medicine container within 10 minutes,” Dr. Mowry explains. “The flip side is that adults need to get into the container within five minutes. With enough time, even young children can defeat a safety cap.” He says parents sometimes leave kids alone with a medicine bottle due to an unexpected distraction—say, the phone rings or the kitchen timer beeps. “That might be all the time your child needs,” Dr. Mowry warns. His advice: Never ever leave medicine out, even in a closed container.
Don't let down your guard on vacation
Whether you’re jetting away for a holiday or hosting overnight guests, travel containers can pose risks to young kids. “Most portable pill minders and medicine boxes are not child-resistant,” Dr. Mowry points out. And many are made of clear plastic, leaving lookalike meds visible. On family trips, opt for opaque containers with child-resistant features, or safeguard meds in a bag with lockable compartments. For guests staying in your home, offer a lockable drawer or an out-of-reach shelf for medications.
Don't relying on warning stickers
Once recommended for households with young children, adhesive warning labels with pictures like Mr. Yuk or a stop sign are now considered poor deterrents. “We’ve found that the stickers create a situation where parents have to label everything that’s poisonous; otherwise a child can think that anything lacking a sticker is safe to ingest,” Dr. Mowry explains. And even if you could label all dangerous substances in your home, studies have shown that curious kids are often attracted to the bright stickers, he notes. Better to store harmful substances out of sight and out of reach altogether.
What to do if you suspect poisoning
If you suspect a child has ingested medicine or other poison, the first thing you should do is call the Indiana Poison Center at 800.222.1222. The hotline is staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. If the child is unconscious or not breathing, call 9-1-1 immediately.
The Poison Center has experts who deal with this on a daily basis, and they have protocols based on which medicine was taken and how much the child weighs, for example. Many times, the child can be treated at home, with the advice from the poison control center.
If the Poison Center directs you to take your child to the ER, they will communicate with the ER and let them know what to expect and to provide any information that may help your child.
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