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Home > Blogs > Adventures in Motherhood > Archives > 2009 > May > 15 > Entry
How ‘child-proof’ are your pill bottles?
My 10-year-old daughter and I came up with an excellent science fair project this year. We (yes, we: Parents were encouraged to lend a hand) posed the question: ‘Is it really child-proof?’
After getting permission from the parents of my preschooler’s classmates, we used five 3-year-olds and a 5-year-old sibling as guinea pigs and tested various and sundry medicine bottles and child-safety devices. We used Scooby-Doo fruit snacks as incentives.
Although my daughter conjectured that if given enough time the kids would be able to figure the puzzles out, we were surprised to find that only a few of the devices failed. More often than not, the kids quickly became frustrated and gave up, which should be reassuring news to parents — especially those of us with prescription bottles in the house or around grandparents’ homes.
I’ve always been adamant about teaching my children at a very young age that if a stray pill is found on the ground it is not candy, even though it may look like it. “Pills can make you sick!” — I’ve stressed that more times than I can count. Who among us hasn’t dropped an aspirin — or worse — on the floor and watched it roll under the edge of the counter? It’s dangerous stuff, folks, and kids need to hear about it.
Anywho, here’s a quick overview of the results:
— PASS: Medicine bottle lids that push-down-and-turn or line-up-arrows-and-push-up.
— PASS: Safety devices including doorknob covers and double-door cabinet locks.
— FAIL: Medicine bottle lids that have you push-down-tab-and-turn.
— EPIC FAIL: Pronged electric outlet covers. (Every kid but one was able to pry these little buggers out!)
Please be safe and teach your tots that medicine can be hazardous to your health!
Permalink | Comments (2) | Post your comment | Categories: Helpful tips, Product review
Comments
By lbaker@coxohio.com
May 18, 2009 6:53 PM | Link to this
jkj: I TOTALLY agree that children should be taught what’s safe to touch and what’s not. We never moved any of our knickknacks out of reach, we just taught our kids what was appropriate to play with and what was off limits (one of our firstborn’s first words was ‘decoration’ — that was our code meaning it wasn’t a toy and he wasn’t to touch if we were visiting another home). I’m a firm believer in the power of ‘no’!
By jkj
May 16, 2009 6:58 PM | Link to this
I believe it’s better to house-proof your child than child-proof your house. Children can be taught the word “no”. It won’t hurt them a bit.