Childproofing seemed like a simple concept before I started as an IPC poison information specialist. Fast-forward three years when it was time to childproof my own home. As it turns out, SO MANY of our calls are about kids who somehow manage to get past the usual childproofing methods. Thankfully, it’s uncommon for young children to experience harm from exposure to potentially poisonous household items. But even a very minor exposure might result in a visit to the emergency room (ER) if a particularly harmful substance is involved.

How could I keep my daughter safe without relying on locks or other childproofing products? I really wanted to avoid having to take her to the ER because of a swallowed button battery, the dreaded call from her grandparents that she got into a medication, or literally any situation involving me needing to irrigate her eyes.

What is childproofing, really?

In general, baby/childproofing refers to methods used to keep babies and children out of unsafe areas, or places where potentially harmful items are stored. There are numerous childproofing products available—from cabinet locks to outlet covers—but they all apply the same general strategy: to make the item/area more difficult to access, with the hope that children will move on to something else, or that an adult will intervene before any exposure occurs.

Why do these methods and products fail?

• First, we tend to overestimate how effective these methods are, probably because we use the term “childproof” to describe what is actually just “child-resistant.”
• Second, we often underestimate children’s abilities. Kids are excellent observers. Watching grown-ups and older siblings is how they learn to navigate the world. If they watch someone open the door on their baby gate, unlatch the cabinet locks or open child-resistant containers with enough regularity, they will eventually figure out how to do it themselves.
• One of the most common things I hear from parents is, “I don’t know how they were even able to open it, it has a childproof cap.” Remember: Nothing is childproof.

How do you avoid what seems inevitable?

Rather than trying to keep your child out of everything, assume your child will get into everything they can reach or climb to, and try to eliminate or reduce the risk of what they might find. Here are tips to reduce the risk of poisoning among children:

Use lower/easily accessible cabinets, shelves and drawers to store items that they can safely touch without direct supervision. In the kitchen, this could include things like pots and pans, plastic bags and food storage containers, dishtowels, and food items (snacks, juice boxes, canned goods).

• If storage is limited (like in my tiny Chicago apartment), use these areas for “minimally toxic” items. Although neither are edible, I would much rather my child find a bottle of lotion under the bathroom sink than toilet bowl cleaner. More information about the potential toxicity of common household items can be found on IPC’s website using our My Child Ate… resource.

All medicine (especially flavored medicine), cleaning products and household chemicals should be out of SIGHT and REACH. I try to avoid letting my daughter even watch me get these items out of the cabinet. If they can’t see it and don’t know where it is, they will be much less tempted to help themselves.

Reinforce safe habits by involving them in age-appropriate household tasks and play/activities when possible.

• Rather than letting them help with the detergent, start by having them load smaller/non-breakable items into the dishwasher or put clothes into the washer and dryer.
• Opt for taste-safe sensory activities: Use whipped cream instead of shaving cream, graham cracker crumbs instead of sand, etc.
• Use simple phrases they can repeat back like “only for grown-ups” or “not for eating” to talk about things that are unsafe. When my daughter asks for more Tylenol or more toothpaste, I will tell her, “You had just the right amount.”
• Check out IPC’s “Stop! Ask First” program for more on how to teach children about household safety.

Don’t forget to discuss your childproofing methods with anyone else who may be supervising your child. Give new babysitters a quick tour through the kitchen and bathrooms so they know where things are stored and what to expect. Check easily accessible drawers, cabinets and shelves for possible hazards when visiting grandparents or other family members who don’t commonly have small children in their home. IPC’s Caregivers Guide contains helpful poison prevention tips and a checklist of potentially harmful household substances to help get the conversation started.

How is it going so far?

Before using the strategies above with my child, at nine months old she ate cat food. A few weeks later it was cat vomit. In the past few months, she managed to sneak a taste of body lotion, leave-in conditioner, deodorant and raw cookie dough. After weeks of playing with Play-Doh, she finally decided to try eating it. She takes everything out of my kitchen cabinets on a daily basis. BUT, in the nearly two years since she started crawling, we haven’t had any significant poison-related exposures!

IPC is here to help if your child has been exposed to a potentially poisonous household item. Our 1-800-222-1222 helpline is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Calls are free and confidential. To learn more about poison prevention, click here for a free Complimentary Safety Packet (available in English and Spanish) that contains a sticker and magnet with IPC’s helpline number, as well as poison prevention tips for the entire year.