Children and pets have a special talent for accessing items that they aren’t supposed to, and some of these items, like certain health and wellness products, could harm them if ingested. To make your home a safe space for your children and pets, you should take a few proactive steps to ensure your health and wellness products are safe and secure from the grasp of little hands and paws.
1. Place Childproof Locks on Cabinets
Childproofing your medicine cabinet can keep hands and paws away from your products. Most cabinet locks are inexpensive and easy to install. For small children, the lock is a visual reminder to stay away from your wellness products. In addition to safety, a childproof lock can make older children more cognizant and mindful.
2. Ensure Items are Placed in Cabinets That Can’t Be Reached
The medicine cabinet might not be the best storage place in your home. Some young kids can figure out how to break a safety lock. If your child can reach your medicine cabinet with the help of a chair, you need another storage location. Look around your home for high cabinets. Very small children can’t access kitchen cabinets above the refrigerator. Nevertheless, keep your unreachable cabinets secured. Never underestimate a curious small child’s ingenuity.
3. Have Discussions With Kids That These Items are Off-Limits
Your small child might look to you for answers when he sees new products. Answer your child’s questions with simple words. Explain that your wellness products are not candy and are for adults only. While you are sitting next to your children, talk about the ingredients. Tell them that these items are designed to keep adults healthy but could be harmful to children. Emphasize the importance of keeping small children away from wellness products. Discuss the issue without scaring your child. For example, tell your children that adult medicine can make their tummy ache.
4. Put Wellness Items Away Every Time
It is important to secure your wellness products when you do not need them. It can be tempting to leave your products on the coffee table until you feel like leaving the sofa or on the kitchen counter while you go into another room. However, children and pets can do a lot when your attention is elsewhere. Do not be careless. Pause the television for a few minutes. Putting away your products immediately reinforces the safety warning to your children and keeps the items away from them and your pets.
5. Use Lockable or Child-Resistant Storage Containers
Keep your products in a lockable storage container when you leave home with them. Your child might know not to go in your bag without asking you, but children do not always follow the rules. A lockable storage container with a key or a code is a good option. Never leave your wellness products unsecured in your car as children and pets have a knack for finding items that you don’t want them to.
6. Don’t Leave Discarded Wellness Products in the Trash Can
Never throw unused wellness products in your indoor trash can. It is unlikely that your child will rummage through garbage. However, mischievous pets love full trash cans. If you are not home when your pet rummages through your trash, you might come home to find your pet very sick. Make sure that your outdoor trash can is not full when you discard your wellness products. Someone else’s pet can find discarded wellness products on the ground. Keep the empty containers in your locked cabinet until you can safely discard them.
You can implement these safety measures without spending a lot of time or money. Think about the ages of your children when you are childproofing your products.