Poisoning of Kids with Household Items in Daycares, Babysitters and at Home May Be Declining but Still Needs Improving

Poisoning of kids from household items is something that unfortuantaly happens far too often and can happen in only a few seconds. In fact, most parents and caregivers who describe incidents in which a child ingests a poisonous household item say that it "happened in the blink of an eye" or that they were only "out of the room for a few seconds". Many times these statements are true and a few seconds is all that it takes for a child to get ahold of a poisonous household item.

A recent nationwide study showed that the overall number of emergency room visits have decreased since the last study was done in 1990 but do not think too quickly that this means less children are ingesting household items that are poisonous.  According to the Poison Control Center the amount of calls they receive about children swallowing poisonous household products has increased. So whether the overall number of children getting ahold of poisonous products and ingesting them has decreased or increased is difficult to determine.

It is important not only to make sure that your house is child-proof but also to make sure other areas your child may be playing in are child proof. Child poisonings can occur anywhere but for children age 1 - 3 poisonings normally occur when the child is at daycare or at a babysitters house if it does not occur in your own house. So when choosing where to leave your child while you work, go out on dates or for any other reason make sure to thoroughly investigate the area your child will be staying in. You never want to assume that just because they are a daycare or a child care center that they are safe there still may be negligence lurking even places that handle children on a daily basis.

For more tips on what to look for at Staten Island daycares and chld care centers read our Staten Island Daycare Safety Tips.