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Children are curious. They touch, taste, open, and explore everything around them. This is how they learn, but it can also put them in danger.

Many poisoning risks are found inside ordinary homes. Cleaning products, medicine, paraffin, pesticides, alcohol, batteries, and even some plants can seriously harm a child if swallowed, breathed in, or touched.

Why Children Are at Risk

Young children do not understand danger in the same way adults do. Bright cleaning bottles may look like a cold drink. Tablets may look like sweets. A child may copy what they see adults doing, such as taking medicine or using household products.

Poisoning can occur very quickly, especially when dangerous items are left on floors, low shelves, bedside tables, handbags, buckets, or kitchen counters.

Common Poisoning Risks at Home

Some of the most common household poisoning dangers include:

• Medicines, including pain tablets, cough mixture, sleeping tablets, and chronic medication.
• Cleaning products such as bleach, drain cleaner, toilet cleaner, and disinfectants.
• Paraffin, petrol, thinners, and other fuels.
• Rat poison, moth balls, insect sprays, and pesticides.
• Alcohol, including beer, spirits, and hand sanitiser.
• Button batteries from toys, remotes, watches, and small devices.
• Laundry pods or washing powders.
• Pool chemicals.
• Cosmetics, perfumes, hair products, and nail products.
• Some garden and house plants.

Medicines Must Be Kept Out of Reach

Medicine is one of the biggest poisoning risks in the home. Never leave tablets or bottles next to a bed, in a handbag, or on a kitchen counter where a child can reach them.

Keep all medicine in a locked cupboard or on a high shelf. This includes vitamins, herbal products, and everyday medicine.

Do not tell children that medicine is “sweets” to encourage them to take it. This can confuse them and make them more likely to eat or drink medicine when adults are not watching.

Be Careful with Chemicals and Paraffin

Cleaning products and fuels should always be kept in their original containers. Never pour paraffin, petrol, bleach, or cleaning chemicals into cooldrink bottles, water bottles, or food containers.

Children may not know the difference and may drink from the container by mistake.

Keep dangerous products locked away or stored high out of reach. After cleaning, put products away immediately rather than leaving them where children can access them.

Button Batteries Are a Serious Danger

Button batteries are small, shiny, and easy for a child to swallow. They are found in many household items, including remote controls, toys, watches, thermometers, and small lights.

If swallowed, a button battery can cause serious internal burns in a short space of time. This should always be treated as an emergency.

Keep battery covers secure, throw away used batteries safely, and store spare batteries out of reach of children.

Signs a Child May Have Been Poisoned

Sometimes, it is obvious that a child has swallowed something harmful. Other times, the signs may not appear straight away.

Look out for:

• Vomiting.
• Unusual sleepiness.
• Trouble breathing.
• Burns or redness around the mouth.
• Drooling more than normal.
• Stomach pain.
• Fits or seizures.
• Dizziness.
• Weakness.
• Sudden changes in behaviour.

What to Do Right Away

If you think a child has been poisoned, stay calm and act quickly.

Remove the harmful substance from the child’s reach. If there is something in the child’s mouth, gently remove it if you can do so safely.

Do not make the child vomit, and do not give milk, water, food, or home remedies unless a healthcare professional tells you to do so.

If possible, keep the bottle, packet, medicine container, or product involved. This can help emergency responders identify what the child was exposed to.

If the child is struggling to breathe, becomes very sleepy, has a seizure, collapses, or is unconscious, call for emergency help immediately.

How the iER App Can Help

In a poisoning emergency, every second matters. The iER App is free to use and connects users to emergency services 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Users can activate an emergency alert directly from their phone. The app uses location sharing to help iER’s 24/7 call centre identify where assistance is needed. With the new Live Tracking feature, a user’s live location is automatically shared once an emergency alert is activated, helping control room agents and response teams provide faster and more accurate assistance.

The Safety Squad feature also helps trusted family members stay connected by allowing them to view live locations. This can provide extra peace of mind when children are with caregivers, visiting family members, or travelling between home and school.

Conclusion

Child poisoning can occur in seconds and often involves everyday items found in the home. Medicines, cleaning products, paraffin, batteries, pesticides, and alcohol should always be stored safely and kept out of reach of children.

Understanding the risks, storing dangerous items properly, and acting quickly in an emergency can help prevent serious harm and may even save a child’s life.