(BPT) - The holidays are such a delicious time of year. Halloween candy can last until Thanksgiving, the whole house smells of baking cookies, and chocolates and other sweet treats can be found around the house. It's also respiratory virus season, when families will typically stock up on medicines to treat those runny noses, coughs and aches. For parents, grandparents, and other caregivers, it’s especially important to realize that kids can confuse medicines, vitamins, and other supplements for candy.
Each year, approximately 35,000 children are brought to hospital emergency rooms after they find and get into medicines that are left within their sight and reach. Many medicines and supplements — including those in gummy form — can look like candy, and it can be difficult for young children (and even adults) to tell the difference.
It's important to teach young children that medicine is not candy and that they should never take medicines on their own. The Up and Away Campaign is a safe medicine storage initiative, led by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in partnership with the Health In Hand Foundation, to help prevent unintentional medication overdoses in young children. It's about always putting medicines, vitamins, and other supplements, including those in gummy form, "up and away," where kids can't reach or see them.
Here are eight important tips from the Up and Away Campaign to help parents, grandparents, and other caregivers keep young children safe:
1. Pick a place your children cannot reach. Find a place in your home that is too high for children to reach or see. Different families will have different places. Walk around your home and find the best place to keep your medicines, vitamins, and other supplements — including those in gummy form — up and away, even between doses.
2. Never leave medicine by a child's bedside. If your child is ill and needs doses every few hours, it might be tempting to leave the medicine in handy reach. Put it up and away instead.
3. Mind your purse or bag. Make sure that medicines carried with you (in purses, bags, pockets, or pill organizers) are also kept out of sight and reach of young children.
4. Never leave loose pills or liquid medicines out on a counter, table or child’s bedside. To a young child, pills can look like candy and liquid medicines can look like sugary drinks, so it’s important to keep them out of children’s reach and sight.
5. Keep medicines in child-resistant containers. Always relock the safety cap on a medicine bottle. If the medicine has a locking cap that turns, twist it until you can’t twist anymore or hear the “click.” If you must put medicines in other containers, such as pill organizers, check to see if they have child-resistant features. Many do not and can be easily opened by young children.
6. Teach your children about medicine safety. It’s important to teach your children what medicine is and why you or another trusted caregiver must be the one to give it to them. Never tell children medicine is candy, even if they don’t like to take their medicine.
7. Remind guests and babysitters to keep purses, bags or coats that have medicines in them up and away and out of sight when they’re in your home. If you bring medicines with you to a home with young children, don’t be shy about asking for a place to put your medicines that is out of reach and sight of curious young kids.
8. Be prepared for an emergency. Call Poison Help at 800.222.1222 right away if you think your child might have gotten into a medicine, vitamin, or other supplement (including those in gummy form), even if you are not completely sure. Before you need it, make a contact for Poison Help in your phone so it's ready in an emergency.
For more information, resources and help, visit https://upandaway.org/en/.
