When we buy medicines, there is a risk of accidental poisoning especially when it comes to young children. Children love to explore and play with just about everything. As a result, as parents, we need to make sure that we not only take care when using products with child-resistant packaging to make sure children don’t see them as sweets but that we also ensure that products are stored safely out of harm’s way. In this post, we look at The importance of child-resistant packaging for medicines.
(#Sponsored post)
The Importance of Child-Resistant Packaging for Medicines
What is Child-Resistant Packaging?
Honestly, it’s a lifesaver. Kids will get into just about anything if you let them. This packaging reduces the risk of children getting hold of and consuming products that could be harmful to their health. Child-resistant pharmaceutical packaging is designed in a way that children will find it difficult to open whereas adults are still able to access the contents. It’s genius!!! I must admit I find some packaging fiddly and hard to get into, but thankfully the husband tends to be around to help with those. Then again, I’m a big kid myself!!!
It’s a legal requirement for medicines to be packaged in child-resistant containers. Pharmaceutical manufacture is subject to very high standards which is of course very important. They must ensure that various over the counter medications, supplements, vitamins, etc are designed in a form that a child will be unable to open but an adult will.
Types of Child-Resistant Packaging for Medicines
There are a range of different child-resistant packaging available. The main ones include:
Re-closable bottles, which include push-down and turn caps or squeeze and turn caps
Both types are extremely hard for children to open and you’ll find many children’s medicines will come with these types of caps. My children could never open them which was of course a great relief. The part we found hilarious is that sometime I couldn’t either. With medicines that are fruit flavoured etc, children don’t always differentiate between a medicine and something that tastes nice. The caps have a mechanism that means that the threads of the inside of the lid and bottle top rim need to align in order to be opened.
Non-re-sealable blister packs that use a peel and push method
These are more often found containing adult medicines. It’s the most commonly used form of packaging. These need a fair amount of force far higher than little fingers can handle to open. Many of these now have a multi-layer backing so children are likely to struggle to open these and soon lose interest. Let’s not forget from when we ask a child to do something, they have a very low attention span!!!!
Tearable sachets
You’ll find that Neurofen have a sachet version of their children’s medicine which is super handy to have, simple to use, and fits easily into a handbag. These sachets are reinforced to make sure that young children will be unable to tear them.
Pin It!
What Can We Do?
We can do our part to add that extra bit of protection and make sure children do not manage to get hold of medicines. Here are a few suggestions:
Make sure medicines are kept out of children’s reach.
To add further protection, it can help to keep medicines in a container that is hard for children to open.
Make sure all caps are closed properly after use.
Keep medicines in their original packaging – after all, they are designed for children’s safety.
Teach children that medicine is only for when they are ill.
Never pretend medicine is a form of sweet.
Avoid leaving tablets lying around. Colourful tablets can easily be mistaken for sweets by young children.
Avoid taking medicines in front of children. They often want to copy their parents and so it’s safer for them not to see you doing this.
Conclusion
The Importance of Child-Resistant Packaging for Medicines is high on every parent’s list. Packaging is constantly being improved to ensure children’s safety but as parents, there are things we can also do to help ensure our children stay safe. If we are careful when taking/administering medicines then there should be no risk to small children.
When thinking about The Importance of Child-Resistant Packaging for Medicines, what do/would you do to make sure children stay safe?
Enjoyed this Post?
Subscribe to Melanie’s Fab Finds RSS feed to see my latest posts. Posts will include recipes, reviews, etc. and as a result, you will hear about my new posts and competitions first!
Watch our fab product reviews on YouTube x
Discover more from Melanie's Fab Finds
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
An interesting post. Thank you. I must confess that there are sometimes bottles and packaging that I simply cannot open. Some jars of preserves are just as difficult as medicines from either the vet or the doctor. Of course it is essential to keep children safe but a little more thought about who else may find it difficult to open would be helpful.
Oh, man. Kids are so good at getting into everything, ESPECIALLY if it’s dangerous. Child-resistant packaging is so important.
Yes this is so important. I always kept medicines up and away from my kids, but sometimes people can forget. So it’s best to have child resistant packaging just in case.
Oh, it does sounds like a lifesaver! I think its always better to take that extra step to protect them
It can take seconds for an everyday item to become dangerous to children; especially medication that isn’t in a proper child proof container. This post can’t stress that enough and anyone should be observant to those when having a child in their homes. Even if it’s only for a short while.
This is absolutely useful informative sharing, just got to learn it from my reading here. Cheers Siennylovesdrawing
All our medicine I believe is childproof, but we also keep all our medicine in child-proof locked cabinets to be extra safe.
I always have my medicine tucked high away as well as look for child-resistant packaging. I’d rather be too careful than anything else.
I agree, it’s best to be cautious.
I have a hard time getting my kids meds opened up which I appreciate! You can never be too safe.
It is so important the medication is child proof. I even struggle myself to get the lid off of a Calpol bottle sometimes! Great info in this post.
This is a really great and very informative post! I absolutely agree with this, it is so important to be cautious about this things When we have kids.
Well done for raising awareness on such an important issue. This is a real danger to our kids when our daughter was small I hid everything out of reach. You can never be too careful.
Great post, I agree it is a great idea to have the proper packaging for medications not only for children but pets as well.
I never thought of this but you’re absolutely right, child-resistant packaging is very important for kids’ safety…
I couldn’t agree more that child resistant packaging is a life saver! Especially once they get more adventurous and heights aren’t as big a deterrent!!
100% I could not agree with you more, as with anything it is always best to think safety first and be cautious x
This is a topic that all parents need to know about. Kids will get into jars.
I always try to keep medications out of the reach of little hands. This would just be another barrier to make sure they can’t get into it.
Medicines have always been kept in the top cabinets. It’s always good to take extra precaution these days.
This is so crucial for keeping kids safe and protected. You definitely have to take the propet precautions when you have children around for sure.
The child resistant packaging for medicines , and I can add also for cleaning detergents is a must. I also put them in the highest place! 🙂
Yes, cleaning products do have child-resistant packaging which is very important.
I think it is so important to make sure they it is tucked away from little hands.
It really is. We keep ours way out of their reach.
It’s so so important as children do many things without fully understanding the risks and having too much medicine is one of them, especially when the medicine tastes nice
Laura x
I completely agree. The packaging makes a big difference.
When my son was little, I made sure all our medicines were out of his reach. We should be responsible parents when it comes to those things.
I agree although not all do that which is why they should be hard for children to open as that is an extra way of protecting them.
To be honest, I feel the child-resistant packagings are not only good for kids, but for the aged people also! My granny once had a wrong medicine by mistake 🙁 She was weak and had a poor eyesight! Thankfully, nothing happened to her, as that medicine was for a baby. I love the sachets versions ❤️
The sachets are great for kids and easy to keep in a handbag too.
kids are very curious, so those child proof bottles are important.
They really are a life saver.
I think this is great, but I also some medications look like sweets as they are brightly coloured. Safety packaging is great but also making all medication bland and uninteresting to children would help too.
They really do. We need to teach children they are not safe for them to take without a parents supervision.
Really important, kids are curious and some medicine is very colourful and can easily be mistaken for sweets.