Prevent Accidental Medication Overdoses in Kids — Keep Your Medicines Up and Away
Published March 21, 2023 (current as of December 31, 2024)
As a parent or caregiver, you may wish you could be everywhere at once — but we all know that’s impossible. When kids get into something they’re not supposed to, like medicines, vitamins, or supplements, there’s a good chance you’ll be in another room or distracted and unable to stop them. That’s why it’s so important to keep medicines out of the sight and reach of young children — and to put medicines away right after you use them, every time.
Here's what you can do:
✔Put medicines and vitamins up and away – out of reach and out of sight
Children are curious and put all sorts of things in their mouths. Even if you turn your back for less than a minute, they can quickly get into things that could hurt them.
Pick a storage place in your home that your child cannot reach or see. Different families will have different places. Walk around your house and decide on the safest place to keep your medicines and vitamins.
✔Put medicines and vitamins away every time
This includes medicines and vitamins you use every day. Never leave them out on a kitchen counter or at a sick child’s bedside, even if you have to give the medicine again in a few hours.
✔Hear the click to make sure the safety cap is locked
Always relock the cap on a medicine bottle. If the bottle has a locking cap that turns, twist it until you hear the click. Remember, even though many medicines have safety caps, children may be able to open them. Every medicine and vitamin must be stored up and away and out of children’s reach and sight.
✔Teach your children about medicine safety
Teach your children what medicine is and why you must be the one to give it to them. Never tell children medicine is candy to get them to take it, even if your child doesn’t like to take his or her medicine.
✔Tell your guests about medicine safety
Ask houseguests and visitors to keep purses, bags, or coats that have medicine in them up and away and out of sight when they are in your home.
✔Be prepared in case of an emergency
Call your poison control center at 800.222.1222 right away if you think your child might have gotten into a medicine or vitamin.
Program the Poison Control number into your home and cell phones so you will have it when you need it.
For more ways to learn how to keep medicines somewhere safe visit: UpAndAway.org.
More Safety Articles
Double Trouble: Wakix and Lasix Sound Alike
Confusion between the medicines Wakix (pitolisant) and Lasix (furosemide) was reported. Wakix is used to treat adults with narcolepsy (sleep disorder) for excessive daytime sleepiness. Lasix is a diuretic (or “water pill”) which increases the flow of urine to rid the body of excess fluid and salt. Using an online secure messaging system, a man was asking his doctor about a change in his dose of “Wakix” and whether he should get blood tests drawn. The man was also taking Lasix, and the dose had been changed several times over the years. The man had made several spelling errors when typing messages to his doctor. The doctor assumed the man had made a spelling error when typing “Wakix” and was instead talking about Lasix. Further questioning revealed the man actually was asking about Wakix.
A doctor prescribed doxepin (Sinequan) 50 mg daily for a young man with depression. This medicine is available in a 50 mg capsule. But the pharmacy where the man had the prescription filled carried only 10 mg and 100 mg capsules. The lower dose (10 mg) is normally used to treat patients with chronic itching. A higher dose (50 mg or more) is the usual dose to treat depression.
After using his albuterol inhaler, an asthmatic man began to cough uncontrollably. Instead of the medicine making it easier for him to breathe, he felt like something was stuck in his breathing passages. An X-ray at a clinic confirmed that there was a coin in his windpipe and a dime that had to be removed through a tube inserted down his throat.
Using a Household Spoon to Give Liquid Medicine Is Inaccurate
It has been almost 50 years (1978) since the American Academy of Pediatrics pointed out that using a household spoon to give liquid medicine is inaccurate. Studies indicate, however, that 3 out of 4 Americans still rely on teaspoons in their kitchen drawers to measure medicine doses.
.png)