3 Tips for Teaching Your Kids Medicine Safety -

Many families take medicine on a daily basis. This could be something like a multivitamin or medicine that’s taken by parents or children to help them feel better or keep their bodies functioning. But while medicine can be helpful when used correctly, it can also be very harmful if it falls into the wrong hands or is abused. So to help your kids learn how to use medicine properly and take the best care of their own bodies, here are three tips for teaching your kids about medicine safety.

Safely Store All Medicines

Especially when your kids are young, safely storing all medicines should be a top priority for parents or caregivers. Because many medicines can look like a harmless piece of candy to little eyes, kids have been known to innocently take medicines that are bad for them. To keep this from happening in your home, you need to know how to keep your medicines away from your kids. The Centers for Disease Control recommends ensuring that all your medicines have their lids on tight and are child locked. Additionally, you should always keep your medicines up and away from your kids, even if you plan to give that medicine to them soon. This will ensure that they don’t have the chance to get into something they shouldn’t.

Medicine Is Not Candy

Although you may need to do a little tricky maneuvering to get your kids to take their medicine at times, SafeKids.org advises never referring to medicine as candy when speaking to your kids. While this may make administering the medicine easier for you, it will also give your child a false idea of what medicine is and what it’s used for. If your child finds their “candy” when you’re not around, they’ll be much more likely to take it on their own, which can be very dangerous for them. So rather than using this tactic to make it easier to get the medicine down, be clear that medicine is not candy and should be taken seriously.

Properly Dispose of Medicines

When the medicines you have around at home are no longer in use or have expired, it’s crucial that you teach your kids how to properly dispose of these medications. Especially if a medicine has been recalled for any reason, getting these medicines out of your home is going to be the safest option for your family. To safely do this, the FDA recommends bringing the medicine to a home hazardous waste disposal site. Don’t simply flush the medicine down the toilet, as this could cause the medicine to seep into the groundwater.

If you want to ensure your kids have a knowledge and respect for medicine, use the tips mentioned above to help you teach this valuable information to them.